War, the pandemic and falling stock markets have taken a toll on the fortunes of many of the planet’s richest people this year. Forbes has found 2,668 billionaires worldwide for the 2022 World’s Billionaires list, down from last year’s record of 2,755 . Together, they are worth $12.7 trillion (€11.58 trillion), a figure that is also below the record $13.1 trillion (€11.94 trillion) on the 2021 list.
In all, 329 people dropped off the billionaires list this year, the most since the 2009 financial crisis . That includes 169 “one-year wonders” newcomers to the 2021 ranking , including Bumble’s Whitney Wolfe Herd and Peloton’s John Foley, who debuted a year ago and have since dropped from the list.
Still, 236 newcomers join the ranks this year , including pop star Rihanna, Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and venture capitalist Josh Kushner. Barbados, Bulgaria, Estonia and Uruguay each earned their first billionaires. And, despite the volatile year, 1,050 billionaires are richer than they were a year ago.
Nobody is richer than Elon Musk, who tops the list of the world’s billionaires for the first time . As of March 11, when we insured the net worth, Musk was worth an estimated $219 billion (€199.66 billion), after adding $68 billion (€62 billion) to his fortune over the past year thanks to a 33% rise in the share price of his electric vehicle maker Tesla.
Musk has overtaken Jeff Bezos, who falls to No. 2 for the first time in four years due to a 3% drop in Amazon shares and a surge in charitable donations, which wiped out $6 billion ($5.47 billion). million euros) of its net worth. French luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault, who added $8 billion to his fortune last year, remains the world’s third-richest person. Rounding out the top 5 are Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
There are 86 members of the list under 40 , including newcomers like Melanie Perkins, 34-year-old co-founder and CEO of graphic design platform Canva, and Vlad Yatsenko, 38-year-old co-founder and CTO of digital bank Revolut. An even more impressive set: The 12 under 30s who made this year’s list , including the world’s youngest billionaire, 19-year-old German pharmacy chain heir Kevin David Lehmann, and newcomer Gary Wang , 28, American co-founder of Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange FTX, one of 19 billionaires getting rich off crypto and blockchain technology.
Which countries have the most billionaires
The United States still has more billionaires than any other country , with 735, up from 724 last year. China follows in second place, with 607 (including Hong Kong and Macau), followed by India (166), Germany (134), and Russia (83). Mukesh Ambani from India remains the richest person in Asia. With an estimated value of $90.7 billion (€82.69 billion), he remained No. 10 worldwide, enough to narrowly surpass fellow Indian Gautam Adani, whose fortune rose by nearly $40 billion (€36.47 billion), to an estimated $90 billion (€82.05 billion), as shares of its listed companies have soared.
The biggest losses are in Russia and China. Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and the ensuing onslaught of sanctions, sent the Russian stock market and the ruble tumbling, resulting in 34 fewer Russian billionaires on the list . The fortunes of the 83 Russians who clung to their status as billionaires have almost all stagnated or waned for a year. The total wealth of Russian billionaires fell by more than $260 billion (€237.04 billion), according to our calculations, from $584 billion (€532.43 billion) last year to $320 billion. dollars (291.74 billion euros) this year.
China’s super-rich fared little better, with 87 fewer Chinese nationals on the 2022 list amid a government crackdown on tech companies, weaker stocks and real estate troubles. In total, China’s billionaires are about $500 billion (€455.85 billion) poorer than a year ago, worth $1.96 trillion (€1.79 trillion), compared with the 2.5 billion dollars (2.5 billion euros) of 2021.
Forbes found 327 female billionaires worldwide . Most inherited her wealth, including the world’s richest woman, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, whose grandfather founded beauty giant L’Oréal. But 101 women on the list are self-made billionaires, the richest being Fan Hongwei, who chairs Chinese chemical fiber supplier Hengli Petrochemical and is worth an estimated $18.2 billion ($16.59 billion). euros).
The total number of billionaires and their combined fortune
Overall, 1,891 billionaires, or 71% of the list (up from 72% last year), were self-made , meaning they founded or co-founded a company or established their own fortune (as opposed to inheriting it).
In addition to the 329 people whose fortunes dipped below $1 billion this year, 30 other billionaires have died , including Publix Super Markets heiress Carol Jenkins Barnett, who was 65, and Edward “Ned” Johnson III, of 91, who took over Fidelity, his father’s company in 1977 and built it into one of the largest money managers in the US.
Forbes used stock prices and exchange rates on March 11 to calculate net worth. For the 2021 list, we measure wealth on March 5, 2021.
The 10 richest people in the world
1 – Elon Musk
Net worth: 219 billion dollars (199.66 billion euros)
Source of wealth: Tesla, SpaceX
Country: USA
2 -Jeff Bezos
Net worth: 171 billion dollars (155.90 billion euros)
Source of wealth: Amazon
Country: USA
3 – Bernard Arnault
Net worth: 158 billion dollars (144.05 billion euros)
Source of wealth: LVMH
Country France
4 – Bill Gates
Net worth: 129 billion dollars (117.61 billion euros)
Source of wealth: Microsoft
Country: USA
5 – Warren Buffett
Net worth: 118 billion dollars (107.58 billion euros)
Source of wealth: Berkshire Hathaway
Country: USA
6 – Larry Page
Net worth: 111 billion dollars (101.20 billion euros)
Source of wealth: Google
Country: USA
7 – Sergei Brin
Net worth: 107 billion dollars (97.55 billion euros)
Source of wealth: Google
Country: USA
8 – Larry Ellison
Net worth: 106 billion dollars (96.64 billion euros)
Source of Wealth: Oracle
Country: USA
9 – Steve Ballmer
Net worth: 91.4 billion dollars (83.33 billion euros9
Source of wealth: Microsoft
Country: USA
10 – Mukesh Ambani
Net worth: 90.7 billion dollars (82.69 billion euros)
Source of wealth: diversified
India country