Microsoft founder Bill Gates again tops Forbes’ list of the world’s richest people, in a year when the number of billionaires rose 13% to 2,043.
According to the magazine’s annual rich list, Mr Gates’ fortune rose to $86 billion, from $75 billion.
Warren Buffett had the second-best year, and the biggest gain since Donald Trump was elected president in November 2016. His $14.8 billion jump in 12 months was enough for him to grab back the number two spot from Amancio Ortega, founder of Spanish clothing chain Zara. Ortega’s fortune was up $4.3 billion since last year, but he still fell to fourth in the world, unable to keep up with the outsize gains of others.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos had the best year of any person on the planet, adding $27.6 billion to his fortune; now worth $72.8 billion, he moved into the top three in the world for the first time, up from number five a year ago.
It was bad news for US President Donald Trump, who slipped 220 spots to 544 and must now rub along on just $3.5bn.
Here’s the list of the top 10.
| Rank | Name | Net Worth | Age | Source | Country of Citizenship | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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#1 | Bill Gates | $86 B | 61 | Microsoft | United States |
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#2 | Warren Buffett | $75.6 B | 86 | Berkshire Hathaway | United States |
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#3 | Jeff Bezos | $72.8 B | 53 | Amazon.com | United States |
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#4 | Amancio Ortega | $71.3 B | 80 | Zara | Spain |
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#5 | Mark Zuckerberg | $56 B | 32 | United States | |
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#6 | Carlos Slim Helu | $54.5 B | 77 | telecom | Mexico |
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#7 | Larry Ellison | $52.2 B | 72 | software | United States |
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#8 | Charles Koch | $48.3 B | 81 | diversified | United States |
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#8 | David Koch | $48.3 B | 76 | diversified | United States |
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#10 | Michael Bloomberg | $47.5 B | 75 | Bloomberg LP | United States |
Forbes said the $1bn fall in his wealth was due to the slow US property market.
There were 183 tech billionaires on the Forbes list, with a combined $1 trillion in wealth.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg moved up to number five for the first time, after his fortune rose $11.4 billion in 12 months. Meanwhile Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico, once the world’s richest man, fell to number six, the first time he’s been out of the top five in a dozen years.
There are also 15 new self-made women, all but one of whom are from Asia Pacific. That includes 10 from China and the first ever from Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, who took her budget airline, VietJet Air, public in February 2017.
The sole American self-made woman newcomer is Thai Lee, who was born in Thailand but moved to the U.S. as a child and now runs tech reseller SHI, reportedly the nation’s largest woman-owned business by sales. Altogether there are 227 women on list, including 10 who cofounded or own businesses with a spouse or a brother and thus share the fortune.
