10 Top World Billionaires 2018

Capitalism’s global conquest continues as entrepreneurs around the globe mint fortunes in everything from cryptocurrencies to telecom to bridal dresses.
Forbes has pinned down a record 2,208 billionaires from 72 countries and territories including the first ever from Hungary and Zimbabwe. This elite group is worth $9.1 trillion, up 18% since last year.
Their average net worth is a record $4.1 billion. Americans lead the way with a record 585 billionaires, followed by mainland China with 373. Centi-billionaire Jeff Bezos secures the list’s top spot for the first time, becoming the only person to appear in the Forbes ranks with a 12-figure fortune. Bezos’s fortune leapt more than $39 billion, the list’s biggest one-year gain ever.

He moves ahead of Bill Gates, who is now number 2. It is the biggest gap between no. 1 and 2 since 2001. Bernard Arnault, with a fortune of $72 billion, reclaims the title of richest European for the first time since 2012. There are 259 newcomers including the first ever cryptocurrency billionaires; two Canadians whose toy company is behind Hatchimals and PAW Patrol; two Americans who founded online retailer Wayfair; and a 35-year-old heiress who runs In-N-Out Burger. Even in such a strong year, 121 dropped out due to falling fortunes or political headwinds, including all 10 Saudi Arabians.

1. Jeff Bezos - CEO and Founder, Amazon.com

Amazon's chief Jeff Bezos is the first person with a net worth surpassing $150 billion in the 3 decades that Forbes has tracked the richest Americans.

He owns 16% of e-commerce colossus Amazon, which he founded in a garage in Seattle in 1994.

Bezos attended Princeton and worked at a hedge fund before quitting to sell books online.

His other passion is space travel: His aerospace company, Blue Origin, is developing a reusable rocket that Bezos says will carry passengers.

Bezos purchased The Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million.

In Sept. 2018 he announced the Bezos Day One Fund, a $2 billion pledge to help homeless families and create Montessori-inspired preschools in the U.S.

2. Bill Gates - Cofounder, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

With his wife Melinda, Bill Gates chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private charitable foundation.

The foundation works to save lives and improve global health, and is working with Rotary International to eliminate polio.

Gates has sold or given away much of his stake in Microsoft -- he owns just over 1% of shares -- and invested in a mix of stocks and other assets.

He remains a board member of Microsoft, the software firm he founded with Paul Allen in 1975.

In late 2016, Gates announced the launch of a $1 billion Breakthrough Energy investment fund with about 20 other people.

To date, Gates has donated $35.8 billion worth of Microsoft stock to the Gates Foundation.

3. Warren Buffet - CEO, Berkshire Hathaway

Known as the "Oracle of Omaha," Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors of all time.

Buffett runs Berkshire Hathaway, which owns more than 60 companies, including insurer Geico, battery maker Duracell and restaurant chain Dairy Queen.

The son of a U.S. congressman, he first bought stock at age 11 and first filed taxes at age 13.

He's promised to give away over 99% of his fortune. So far he's donated $35 billion, much of it to the foundation of friends Bill and Melinda Gates.

In 2010, he and Gates launched the Giving Pledge, asking billionaires to commit to donating half their wealth to charitable causes.

4. Bernard Arnault & family - Chairman and CEO, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton

One of the world's ultimate taste-makers, Bernard Arnault oversees an empire of 70 brands including Louis Vuitton and Sephora.

Record results at LVMH and a megadeal to buy out nearly all of Christian Dior helped boost Arnault's fortune by $30.5 billion in one year.

Arts patron is the visionary behind the $135 million Frank Gehry-designed Foundation Louis Vuitton museum in Paris' Bois de Boulogne, opened in 2014

5. Mark Zuckerberg - Cofounder, Chairman and CEO, Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, has seen his net worth soar as the social network's stock price has skyrocketed.

In April 2018, he testified before Congress after it was revealed that Facebook shared users' data with political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

Zuckerberg started Facebook at Harvard in 2004 at the age of 19 for students to match names with faces in class.

He took Facebook public in May 2012 and still owns nearly 17% of the stock.

In December 2015, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, pledged to give away 99% of their Facebook stake over their lifetimes.

6. Amancio Ortega 

Amancio Ortega is one of the richest men in Europe and the wealthiest retailer in the world.

A pioneer in fast fashion, he cofounded Inditex, known for its Zara fashion chain, with his ex-wife Rosalia Mera (d. 2013) in 1975.

He owns about 60% of Madrid-listed Inditex, which has 8 brands, including Massimo Dutti and Pull & Bear, and 7,500 stores around the world.

Ortega typically earns more than $400 million in dividends a year.

He has invested his dividends primarily into real estate in Madrid, Barcelona, London, Chicago, Miami and New York.

7. Carlos Slim Helu & family - Honorary Chairman, América Móvil

Mexico's richest man, Carlos Slim Helu and his family control America Movil, Latin America's biggest mobile telecom firm.

With foreign telecom partners, Slim bought a stake in Telmex, Mexico's only phone company, in 1990. Telmex is now part of America Movil.

He also owns stakes in Mexican construction, consumer goods, mining and real estate companies and 17% of The New York Times.

His son-in-law Fernando Romero designed the Soumaya Museum in Mexico City, home to Slim's extensive, eclectic art collection.

8. Charles Koch - CEO, Koch Industries

Charles Koch has been chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, America's second largest private company, since 1967.

The conglomerate has some $100 billion in revenues from businesses including pipelines, chemicals, Dixie cups, and Stainmaster carpets.

His father, Fred Koch, started the business in 1940 and improved a method of refining heavy oil into gasoline.

The Kansas native owns a 42% stake in the firm, as does his brother, David; they bought their two other brothers' shares in 1983.

Koch has funded a number of think tanks, including the libertarian Cato Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute.

9. David Koch - Director Emeritus, Koch Industries

David Koch shares majority control of Koch Industries, U.S's second largest private firm, with his brother Charles.

Koch stepped down from his role as executive vice president in July 2018, citing health concerns; he was named director emeritus.

Koch Industries, which has revenues of $100 billion, operates pipelines, produces fertilizer and makes Dixie cups and Quilted Northern toilet paper.

A well-known philanthropist, David is a donor to New York's Lincoln Center and Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

David Koch ran as the Libertarian Party's vice presidential candidate in 1980 on a ticket with Ed Clark; they won 1% of the vote.

10. Larry Ellison - CTO and Founder, Oracle

Larry Ellison cofounded software firm Oracle in 1977 to tap into the growing need for customer relationship management databases.

He gave up the Oracle CEO role in 2014 but still serves as chairman of the board and chief technology officer.

As part of Oracle's push into cloud computing, it acquired cloud-software firm Netsuite for $9.3 billion in 2016.

In May 2016, Ellison pledged $200 million to the University of Southern California for a cancer treatment center.

In March 2018, Ellison launched a wellness startup called Sensei, whose first project is hydroponic farming on the Hawaiian island Lanai.