America has by far the most billionaires in the world, with China not far behind as the ultra-wealthy in the two countries collectively are worth a staggering $7.4 trillion.
Forbes released its annual roster of the world’s richest, with the US boasting a record 813 billionaires worth $5.7 trillion.
China remains second, with 406 super-rich individuals, or 473 if Hong Kong and Macau citizens are included, despite the number of Chinese billionaires falling for the third consecutive year.
A total of 200 billionaires from India made the list, with the Asian country having the third largest number of ultra-wealthy individuals on the list.
Scroll down to explore the list of super-wealthy in the US, China, and more
A record-breaking 813 Americans made the list this year, once again solidifying the US as the country with the most billionaires in the world.
Among the top 20 richest people, fourteen are U.S. citizens, with eight of them ranking in the top ten.
However, the richest person in the world is still French businessman and investor Bernard Arnault, who boasted a staggering $233 billion.
Overseeing the LVMH luxury fashion empire of 75 brands and cosmetics labels, including Louis Vuitton, Sephora and Tiffany & Co, the 75-year-old from Roubaix, France, was worth an estimated $22 billion more than he was 12 months ago, according to Forbes’ calculations.
Followed closely behind is runner-up Elon Musk, whose fortune climbed a more modest $15 billion, reaching $195 billion this year.
The Tesla and Space X founder, who acquired Twitter in October 2022, continues to battle for second place with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
A record-breaking 813 Americans made the list this year, once again solidifying the US as the country with the most billionaires in the world. Pictured: Elon Musk(left) ranked the second richest person in the world and Jeff Bezos(right) filling the fourth spot
Mark Zuckerberg (left) filled the fourth spot, and Larry Ellison (right) Chief Technology Officer at software company Oracle is the entrepreneur in fifth place this year with an estimated person wealth of $141 billion
Bezos had an estimated personal wealth of $194billion this year as Forbes recorded the highest number of billionaires worldwide ever.
Mark Zuckerberg filled the fourth spot, coming in behind X owner Musk as the second-richest social media owner – despite Meta’s ownership of Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp among others.
Zuckerberg nonetheless saw a meteoric rise through 2023, his fortune up some $116 billion thanks to Meta stock nearly tripling amid cost-cutting layoffs and ventures into AI and the metaverse.
Larry Ellison, Chief Technology Officer at software company Oracle is the entrepreneur in fifth place this year with an estimated person wealth of $141billion.
Again, the result is a marked success for the American businessman who last year was estimated to be worth $107 billion.
Other Americans ranking in the top 10 include Warren Buffett, the 93-year-old investor and philanthropist, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the former CEO of Microsoft Steve Ballmer, and the former managing director of Google Larry Page.
Most of the richest Americans have amassed their fortunes in the tech industry, including Sergey Brin, president of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, whose fortune surged by $34 billion to $110 billion last year.
Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Technologies, added an astonishing $41billion to $91billion last year, claiming the sixteenth spot on the list.
Jense Huang, 61, made it into the list of the world’s 20 richest people last year for the first time after his AI computing corporation Nvidia saw share prices rocket 300 percent last year.
Notably, among the most famous newcomers on the list is Taylor Swift, who has amassed an estimated $1.1 billion fortune 17 years into her illustrious career as music’s biggest superstar.
The number of Chinese billionaires has decreased from 496 last year to 406, as the East Asian country grapples with economic slowdown, a slumping property market, and political tensions during the post-pandemic era.
The total wealth of the Chinese billionaires fell to $1.33 trillion from $1.67 trillion last year, and the top ten Chinese billionaire are worth a combined $304 billion, down from $311 billion last year.
The total wealth of the Chinese billionaires fell to $1.33 trillion from $1.67 trillion last year, and the top ten Chinese billionaire are worth a combined $304 billion, down from $311 billion last year. Zhong Shanshan (left) claims the title of the richest Chinese billionaire and followed behind is Zhang Yiming (right), founder of ByteDance and TikTok
Colin Zheng Huang, who was ranked the third richest Chinese on the list, had his fortune surged from $30 billion to $38.9 billion and become China’s richest Internet billionaire after Zhang
India set a record this year with 200 names on Forbes’ list, up from 169 last year, with a combined wealth of nearly a trillion dollars. Mukesh Ambani, is the ninth richest man in the world this year with a wealth of $116 billion
For four years in a row, Zhong Shanshan claims the title of the richest Chinese billionaire and ranks as the 24th richest person in the world.
The founder of the Hong Kong-listed firm Nongfu Spring, a bottled water and beverage producer, dropped out of the top 20 list after his fortune fell from $68 billion last year to an estimated $62.3 billion.
Zhong, who dropped out of school during China’s Cultural Revolution, is the founder and chairman of Nongfu Spring and the majority owner of Covid test supplier Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise.
Followed behind is Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance and TikTok, who was estimated to be worth $43.8billion, down from $45billion last year.
Colin Zheng Huang, who was ranked the third richest Chinese on the list, had his fortune surged from $30 billion to $38.9billion and become China’s richest Internet billionaire after Zhang.
Huang founded PDD Holdings, the Chinese e-commerce company, and successfully introduced its U.S. version, Temu, a budget shopping site last year.
Other Chinese billionaires on the list include William Lei Ding, CEO of Nasdaq- and Hong Kong-listed NetEase, and Ma Huateng, CEO of Tencent. Both are technology tycoons in the country.
India set a record this year with 200 names on Forbes’ list, up from 169 last year, with a combined wealth of nearly a trillion dollars.
Mukesh Ambani, the ninth richest man in the world this year with a wealth of $116 billion, is the first Asian to break into the $100 billion club, according to Forbes.
His Reliance Industries, with shares in petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom, retail and financial services, is the largest private sector corporation in India and the 100 largest worldwide.
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