Her Kerry A. Dolan
The past year is unlike any other, and we are not talking about the pandemic. We saw a barrage of public offerings, the rise of cryptocurrencies and the eruption of equity values. The number of billionaires included in Forbes's 35th annual list of the richest people on the planet has expanded dramatically, reaching 2.755 members - 660 more than last year. Collectively, his fortune amounted to 13,1 trillion. dollars, from 8 trillion. dollars that was the property of the members of the 2020 list.
At the same time, there was a record number of new entrants to the list, with 493 new entrants - almost one new billionaire every 17 hours, with 210 of them coming from China and Hong Kong and 98 from the US. The richest newcomer to the list, with a fortune of $ 38,2 billion, is Miriam Adelson from Nevada, who inherited the casino empire of her husband Sheldon Adelson after his death in January. Other notable newcomers include film and television producer Tyler Perry, Bumble dating app co-founder Whitney Wolfe Herd - who also holds the title of the world's youngest self-made billionaire - and European banker Guillant Checkilla com.
Also, 250 people who had dropped from the list in the past returned dynamically. Overall, 86% of all billionaires saw their fortunes grow compared to a year ago.
Ο Jeff Bezos remains the richest man on the planet for the fourth consecutive year, with his fortune amounting to 177 billion dollars, an increase of 64 billion dollars compared to 12 months ago, thanks to the significant rise in the share of Amazon.
Ο Elon Musk -which was also the largest gainer in dollar terms- jumped to second place on the list, with a fortune of $ 151 billion, as its fortune expanded by $ 126,4 billion compared to last year, that it was in 31st place with 24,6 , $ 705 billion. The main reason for its rise was the impressive earnings of the Tesla share, which strengthened by XNUMX%.
The French tycoon in the luxury goods industry Bernard Arnault maintained its position at No. 3 in the rankings, but its fortune almost doubled to $ 150 billion, from $ 76 billion a year ago, due to a 86% increase in LVMH, which owns a number of well-known brands such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior as well as the cosmetics retail chain Sephora.
The ten richest people on the planet have a combined fortune of 1,15 trillion. increased by 2/3 from the 686 billion dollars held by the corresponding ten last year. Europe's billionaires became $ 1 trillion richer than 12 months ago.
In addition, this year, there are four croissants with assets over $ 100 billion - compared to just one (Bezos) on the 2020 list. In addition to Bezos, Musk and Arnault, the $ 100 billion "barrier" was broken. Bill Gates, which tops this year's list with $ 124 billion, thanks to the rise in shares it owns, such as those of Microsoft, Canadian Railways and tractor company Deere & Company.
The top five of this year's list is completed by the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, with a fortune of $ 97 billion. Zuckerberg saw his fortune grow by $ 42,3 billion from a year earlier, thanks to an 80% rise in Facebook shares over the past 12 months as people around the world used social networking platforms. belonging to him to stay in touch.
Ο Warren Buffett is the sixth richest man in the world, with a fortune of $ 96 billion. It is worth noting that this is the first year since 1993 that the respected investor who runs Berkshire Hathaway is not in the top five. But this is not because the 90-year-old "Prophet of Omaha" had a bad year - on the contrary, his fortune has increased by $ 28,5 billion more than the 2020 list.
The geographical distribution
The US still has the most billionaires of any country, with 724 entries on this year's list, but China closes the gap with 698 entries (including 71 from Hong Kong and 1 from Macau). Last year, the US had 614 billionaires and China 456 (including 66 from Hong Kong and 1 Macao). India has the third highest number of billionaires, with 140 entries.
In total, the 1.149 billionaires from Asia-Pacific have a combined fortune of 4,7 trillion. US billionaires combined hold $ 4,4 trillion. dollars.
The first ten
# 1 | Jeff Bezos
Net worth: $ 177 billion
Source of wealth: Amazon
# 2 | Elon Musk
Net worth: $ 151 billion
Source of wealth: Tesla, SpaceX
# 3 | Bernard Arnault
Net worth: $ 150 billion
Source of wealth: Luxury items
# 4 | Bill Gates
Net worth: $ 124 billion
Source of wealth: Microsoft
# 5 | Mark Zuckerberg
Net worth: $ 97 billion
Source of wealth: Facebook
# 6 | Warren Buffett
Net worth: $ 96 billion
Source of wealth: Berskshire Hathaway
# 7 | Larry Ellison
Net worth: $ 93 billion
Source of wealth: Software
# 8 | Larry Page
Net worth: $ 91.5 billion
Source of wealth: Google
# 9 | Sergey Brin
Net worth: $ 89 billion
Source of wealth: Google
# 10 | Mukesh Ambani
Net worth: $ 84.5 billion
Source of wealth: Miscellaneous
See the total list of billionaires of 2021.
Source: Capital.gr