A quick glance at the Forbes annual ranking of the world’s billionaires
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Forbes, the US business bible, has issued its traditional Rich List for 2019, its 33rd annual ranking of the world’s billionaires, featuring the planet’s wealthiest individuals. These are some of the highlights:
There are 2,153 billionaires on the 2019 list, down from 2,208 in 2018.
For the second year running, Amazon owner Jeff Bezos remained in the top spot, increasing his net worth to $131 billion, up $19 billion from 2018.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who held the top spot for the longest period of time, remained in the No. 2 position with a fortune of $96.5 billion, up from $90 billion last year.
Bernard Arnault, the chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury-goods company, remains the richest person in Europe for two years running. Arnault held onto his position as the fourth-wealthiest person in the world by increasing his fortune to $76 billion, up $4 billion from the previous year.
The only other European billionaire in the top 20 is Amancio Ortega (ranked 6th), who founded retail group Inditex which owns brands such as Zara.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg notably dropped three places to No. 8, as his fortune fell by $8.7 billion.
The youngest Kardashian family member, the 21-year-old Kylie Jenner has become the world’s youngest self-made billionaire. She reached the milestone earlier than Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg who became a billionaire aged 23.
President Trump’s net worth is unchanged from a year ago at $3.1 billion, but he rises in the ranks to No. 715, up from No. 766 in 2018.
Giovanni Ferrero, owner amongst other things of the Nutella brand, is Italy’s richest man with estimated wealth of $22.4 billion putting him 39th on the Forbes rich list.
The wealthiest single individual in the UK, is James Ratcliffe, founder of the chemical group Ineos, and worth $12.1bn.
Leonid Mikhelson is the richest Russian and is ranked 32th. The net worth of Mikhelson’s assets is estimated at $24 bln. Mikhelson is the Chief Executive Officer of the Russian natural gas producer Novatek,
There are 252 women on this year’s billionaires list, down from 256 in 2018.
The richest self-made woman is real estate mogul Wu Yajun of China, worth an estimated $9.4 billion.
The countries with the most female billionaires are the United States (87, up from 82 last year).
The average net worth of this year’s billionaires is $4 billion.
The Top 20 billionaires have a combined net worth of $1.2 trillion, the highest amount ever. The minimum net worth to make the Top 20 was $38.8 billion, $200 million less than 2018.
Regionally, Asia-Pacific boasts the most billionaires, with 767, followed by the United States with 607 and Europe with 545.
