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War, pandemic and sluggish markets hit the world’s billionaires this year. There are 2,668 of them on Forbes’ 36th-annual ranking of the planet’s richest people—87 fewer than a year ago. They’re worth a collective $12.7 trillion—$400 billion less than in 2021. The most dramatic drops have occurred in Russia, where there are 34 fewer billionaires than last year following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and China, where a government crackdown on tech companies has led to 87 fewer Chinese billionaires on the list.
Still, Forbes found more than 1,000 billionaires who are richer than they were a year ago. And 236 newcomers have become billionaires over the past year—including the first ever from Barbados, Bulgaria, Estonia and Uruguay. America still leads the world, with 735 billionaires worth a collective $4.7 trillion, including Elon Musk, who tops the World’s Billionaires list for the first time. China (including Macau and Hong Kong) remains number two, with 607 billionaires worth a collective $2.3 trillion. We used stock prices and exchange rates from March 11, 2022 to calculate net worths. See below for the full list of the world’s billionaires and our methodology. For daily updated net worths of all 2,668 billionaires, check out our real-time billionaires rankings.
I operate on the physics approach to analysis. You boil things down to the first principles or fundamental truths in a particular area and then you reason up from there.
ELON MUSK
Elon Musk is working to revolutionize transportation both on Earth, through electric car maker Tesla — and in space, via rocket producer SpaceX.
NET WORTH $219 B
ON FORBES LISTS
- #1Billionaires 2022
- #2Forbes 400 2021
- #2Billionaires 2021
- #7Forbes 400 2020
- #31Billionaires 2020
I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all.
JEFF BEZOS
Jeff Bezos founded e-commerce giant Amazon in 1994 out of his garage in Seattle. He stepped down as CEO to become executive chairman in July 2021.
NET WORTH $171 B
ON FORBES LISTS
- #2Billionaires 2022
- #1Forbes 400 2021
- #1Billionaires 2021
- #1Forbes 400 2020
- #1Billionaires 2020
I see myself as an ambassador of French heritage and French culture. What we create is emblematic. It’s linked to Versailles, to Marie Antoinette.
BERNARD ARNAULT
Bernard Arnault oversees the LVMH empire of some 70 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora.
NET WORTH $158 B
ON FORBES LISTS
- #3Billionaires 2022
- #3Billionaires 2021
- #3Billionaires 2020
- #4Billionaires 2019
Money has no utility to me beyond a certain point. Its utility is entirely in building an organization and getting the resources out to the poorest in the world.
BILL GATES
Bill Gates turned his fortune from software firm Microsoft into a diversified fortune including investments zero-carbon energy.
NET WORTH $129 B
ON FORBES LISTS
- #4Billionaires 2022
- #4Forbes 400 2021
- #4Billionaires 2021
- #2Forbes 400 2020
- #2Billionaires 2020
Rational people don’t risk what they have and need for what they don’t have and don’t need.
WARREN BUFFETT
Known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors of all time.
ON FORBES LISTS
- #5Billionaires 2022
- #8Forbes 400 2021
- #6Billionaires 2021
- #4Forbes 400 2020
- #4Billionaires 2020
You never lose a dream; it just incubates as a hobby.
LARRY PAGE
Larry Page stepped down as CEO of Alphabet, the parent of Google, in December 2019 but remains a board member and a controlling shareholder.
ON FORBES LISTS
- #6Billionaires 2022
- #5Forbes 400 2021
- #8Billionaires 2021
- #8Forbes 400 2020
- #13Billionaires 2020
Obviously everyone wants to be successful, but I want to be looked back on as being very innovative, very trusted and ethical and ultimately making a big difference in the world.
SERGEY BRIN
Sergey Brin stepped down as president of Alphabet, parent company of Google, in December 2019 but remains a controller shareholder and a board member.
ON FORBES LISTS
- #7Billionaires 2022
- #6Forbes 400 2021
- #9Billionaires 2021
- #9Forbes 400 2020
- #14Billionaires 2020
When people start telling you that you’re crazy, you just might be on to the most important innovation in your life.
LARRY ELLISON
Larry Ellison is chairman, chief technology officer and cofounder of software giant Oracle, of which he owns about 35%.
ON FORBES LISTS
- #8Billionaires 2022
- #7Forbes 400 2021
- #7Billionaires 2021
- #5Forbes 400 2020
- #5Billionaires 2020
Computer science is the operating system for all innovation.
STEVE BALLMER
Steve Ballmer is the high-wattage former CEO of Microsoft, who led the company from 2000 to 2014.
ON FORBES LISTS
- #9Billionaires 2022
- #9Forbes 400 2021
- #14Billionaires 2021
- #6Forbes 400 2020
- #11Billionaires 2020
Anything and everything that can go digital is going digital. India cannot afford to be left behind.
MUKESH AMBANI
Mukesh Ambani chairs and runs $74 billion (revenue) Reliance Industries, which has interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom and retail.
NET WORTH $90.7 B
ON FORBES LISTS
- #10Billionaires 2022
- #10Billionaires 2021
- #21Billionaires 2020
Being an entrepreneur is my dream job as it tests ones tenacity. I could never take orders from anyone.
GAUTAM ADANI
Infrastructure tycoon Gautam Adani controls Mundra Port, India’s largest, in his home state of Gujarat.
ON FORBES LISTS
- #11Billionaires 2022
- #24Billionaires 2021
- #155Billionaires 2020
- #167Billionaires 2019
- #154Billionaires 2018
Organizations resist innovation and those that do inevitably fail because people are more comfortable with what they know than with what they don’t.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG
Michael Bloomberg cofounded financial information and media company Bloomberg LP in 1981.
ON FORBES LISTS
- #12Billionaires 2022
- #10Forbes 400 2021
- #20Billionaires 2021
- #14Forbes 400 2020
- #16Billionaires 2020
When you live for others’ opinions, you are dead. I don’t want to live thinking about how I’ll be remembered.
CARLOS SLIM HELU
Mexico’s richest man, Carlos Slim Helu and his family control América Móvil, Latin America’s biggest mobile telecom firm.
ON FORBES LISTS
- #13Billionaires 2022
- #16Billionaires 2021
- #12Billionaires 2020
- #5Billionaires 2019
Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the granddaughter of the founder of L’Oreal, is the richest woman in the world.
ON FORBES LISTS
- #14Billionaires 2022
- #12Billionaires 2021
- #15Billionaires 2020
- #15Billionaires 2019
- #18Billionaires 2018
We may not have the power to create the world we want immediately, but we can all start working on the long term today.
MARK ZUCKERBERG
Facebook, the social network Zuckerberg runs, has been an information hub during the pandemic, but has come under scrutiny for spreading vaccine misinformation.
ON FORBES LISTS
- #15Billionaires 2022
- #3Forbes 400 2021
- #5Billionaires 2021
- #3Forbes 400 2020
Jim Walton is the youngest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton.
ON FORBES LISTS
#16Billionaires 2022
#11Forbes 400 2021
#18Billionaires 2021
#11Forbes 400 2020
#8Billionaires 2020
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