In the past 10 years, more than half of the new wealth created globally has been directed to the pockets of the richest one percent of humanity. But between 2020 and 2021 alone, that rate accelerated still further, with the richest one percent getting 63 percent of all new wealth, leaving 99 percent of the world population with just 37 percent of new global revenue. In the category of wealthiest athlete, Michael Jordan and Vince McMahon have the highest net worth at over $3 billion each. Today, Mark is the CEO and chair of Meta, with Forbes ranking him as the third wealthiest individual in 2024. A scion of wealth, Arnault’s ascent is also intertwined with his family’s success in the construction business.

Net Worth: $64.3 Billion Age: 61 Source of Wealth: Koch Industries Citizenship: U.S.

In addition to SpaceX, Musk also leads Tesla, as well as holding stakes in the social media platform X, AI company xAI, and tunnelling firm Boring Co. Brin cofounded search engine Google with fellow Stanford computer science PhD candidate Larry Page. Like Page, he currently serves as a board member of Google’s parent company Alphabet and is a controlling shareholder. Arnault’s father made millions in the construction business; to get his start, Arnault used $15 million of that fortune to buy Christian Dior. He has since built the largest luxury goods company in the world with some 70 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Cash Flow Management for Small Businesses Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Moet & Chandon, Sephora and jeweler Tiffany & Co.

Net Worth: $31.2 Billion

• As of January 1, the 10 richest people on the planet are worth nearly $1.47 trillion—$30 billion more than a month earlier.
• Initially, Page held the position of CEO until 2001 and later resumed the role from 2011 to 2015.
• 60 people from the 2012 list fell below a billion dollars of assets in 2013, and eight others from the 2012 list died.
• As we look towards the future, it will be interesting to see how these trends evolve and shape the landscape of wealth in the years to come.
• Demonstrating his unwavering philanthropic commitment, Buffett has expressed his intention to donate 99 percent of his fortune.

Two-thirds of the list members are wealthier compared to the previous year, including Mark Zuckerberg, whose net worth increased by $112.6 billion. The L’Oréal heiress has kept her title of the world’s richest woman for the third year in a row, thanks to a 12% rise in the cosmetics giant’s stock in the last 12 months. Besides pledging $230 million for Notre-Dame Cathedral’s reconstruction, she has hired a managing director for her investment firm, Téthys Invest, where she backs projects including French private hospital operator Elsan. Larry Ellison, with a net worth of $93 billion, is the co-founder, chairman, and chief technology officer of software company Oracle.

Net Worth: $32.6 Billion

• That surge in funds is good news for the billionaires, but bad news for everyone else.
• These 20 people are 30% wealthier than they were a year ago, on average, far outpacing the 12% average jump in wealth across the entire list.
• After dropping out of the University of Chicago in 1966, Ellison moved to California and worked as a computer programmer.
• In 2022, after working at Inditex for 15 years, his daughter Marta Ortega Pérez became chairperson of the company.
• For eight days in June 2023, Ellison overtook Jeff Bezos as the third richest person in the world following a rise in Oracle’s share price.
• After dropping in the Forbes ranking, Musk became the world’s richest person again on June 8, 2023 and held onto the number one spot for the remainder of 2023.

Denver Broncos owner Rob, who chaired the $611 billion (sales) company from 1992 until 2015, still sits on its board, alongside son-in-law Greg Penner and nephew Steuart Walton. Alice, the richest woman in America, has mainly focused on building the Crystal Bridges art museum in the family’s hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas. In March, she broke ground on the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, set to open its doors in Bentonville in 2025. He personally invested alongside Microsoft, which has been benefiting from its own early bets on artificial intelligence, including an estimated 49% stake in ChatGPT developer OpenAI. Shareholders are bullish, too, driving up Microsoft stock 31% over online bookkeeping the past year. Far and away the richest person in America—and the world—for the second year in a row, Musk has spent much of the past 12 months picking fights.

There are 46 new women who earned five richest people in the world a spot on the 2024 list, some on account of stock rallies and others through inheritance. The richest new women are two sisters, Märta Schörling Andreen and Sofia Högberg Schörling of Sweden. Their father, billionaire investor Melker Schörling, died in December 2023 and he left his fortune to his daughters, age 39 and 45.

• His last public relationship was with singer Grimes, with whom he has two children, a son named X Æ A-12 and a daughter called Exa Dark Sideræl.
• But between 2020 and 2021 alone, that rate accelerated still further, with the richest one percent getting 63 percent of all new wealth, leaving 99 percent of the world population with just 37 percent of new global revenue.
• He has also shown an interest in flying car companies, investing in both Kitty Hawk and Opener, although Kitty Hawk ceased operations in 2022.
• In 2006, the company purchased YouTube, the top platform for user-submitted videos.