In terms of politics, philanthropy, and the global economy, billionaires have a significant impact. According to Forbes, there will be 2,668 billionaires worldwide in 2022. Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of TSLA, is the most powerful of them all. In 2022, he became the richest man in the world.
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The people on this list hold even more power and are members of a club that is even more exclusive. A lot of them started huge tech companies and still have a lot of money invested in those businesses.However, these billionaires can still borrow against their wealth to avoid selling shares, and delaying (or eliminating for heirs) taxation on unrealized capital gains.
Since multi-billionaires can offset their reported income with a variety of tax deductions, some on this list have avoided paying income tax in recent years.
The richest people's net worth can fluctuate with market valuations due to the large proportion of their wealth in publicly traded stocks. For instance, Tesla's share price increased by nearly fifty percent in 2021, resulting in a rise in Musk's net worth. He currently owns 16 percent of the business. His total assets as of September 2022 were $241 billion.
In contrast, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder, and CEO of Meta Platforms (META) dropped out of the top 10 in February 2022 when the company's share price plummeted following a disappointing earnings report. In November 2022, it was reported that Zuckerberg had a net worth of $36.1 billion.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the ten richest people on the planet as of the same date are listed below. Unless otherwise noted, all figures are current as of Dec. 10, 2022.
1. Elon Musk
- Age: 51
- Residence: Texas
- Co-founder and CEO: Tesla
- Net Worth: $203 billion
- Tesla Ownership Stake: 15% ($90.6 billion)
- Other Assets: Space Exploration Technologies ($46.9 billion private asset), The Boring Company ($3.33 billion private asset), Twitter ($16.2 billion public asset)
The richest man on the planet is Elon Musk. He was born in South Africa, attended a Canadian university, and then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania to earn bachelor's degrees in physics and economics. Musk withdrew from Stanford University two days after enrolling in a graduate physics program to launch Zip2, one of the earliest online navigation services. He reinvested a portion of this startup's profits in the development of X.com, the online payment system that was eventually acquired by PayPal Holdings (PYPL) after being sold to eBay (EBAY).
Musk rose to his current position as CEO of the electric vehicle manufacturer when he became a significant funder of Tesla Motors, which is now known as Tesla. Tesla manufactures energy storage devices, automobile accessories, and solar power systems in addition to its electric vehicle line. In 2016, Tesla acquired SolarCity. Space Launch Rockets are developed by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), and Musk serves as CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX.
Tesla shares rose 740 percent in 2020, propelling Musk's wealth up the rankings. Tesla became the largest company to join the S&P 500 in December 2020. Musk became the richest person in the world in January 2021, and he has held that title ever since. On November 6, 2021, he asked his Twitter (TWTR) audience if he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock in response to criticism that unrealized capital gains are a way to avoid paying taxes. He then sold $16.4 billion worth of shares throughout the remainder of 2021.
To support the implementation of a wealth tax, Massachusetts Democrat U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren cited a media report that Musk did not pay any income taxes in 2018. Furthermore, assuming that you opened your eyes for two seconds, you would acknowledge I will pay a bigger number of duties than any American in history this year," Musk answered on Twitter.
Musk's lead in the wealth rankings around the world has continued to rise as a result of private transactions that increased SpaceX's reported valuation and the rise in Tesla shares in 2021. In November 2021, he reached a high of $340 billion. In April 2022, Musk started a campaign to privatize Twitter, which resulted in a $44 billion buyout. The deal would be financed by $21 billion of Musk's own money. Before the buyout was announced, Musk sold 9.6 million shares of Tesla, which were worth about $8.5 billion.
Musk decided to withdraw from the Twitter buyout in July 2022. To prevent the buyout from taking place, Twitter filed a lawsuit against Musk. After suing the company back, Musk changed his mind and stated that he would still be willing to acquire Twitter. He received a nearly 80 percent stake in the business when the deal was finalized in October 2022.
2. Bernard Arnault
Age: 73
- Residence: Paris
- CEO and Chair: LVMH (LVMUY)
- Net Worth: $138 billion Christian
- Dior Ownership Stake: 97.5% ($109 billion total)
- Other Assets: Moelis & Company equity ($20.9 billion public asset), Hermès equity (undisclosed stake), and $8.85 billion in cash.
Bernard Arnault is the chair and CEO of LVMH, the largest luxury goods company in the world. He is a French national. Sephora, Louis Vuitton, Hennessey, and Marc Jacobs are among the LVMH brands.
Arnault's massive stake in Christian Dior SE, the holding company that controls 41.2% of LVMH, accounts for the majority of his wealth.
Through his family-owned holding company, Groupe Familial Arnault, he holds shares in Christian Dior SE in addition to an additional 6.2% stake in LVMH.
Arnault, an engineer by training, took over Ferret-Savinel, his father's construction company, in 1971, where he first demonstrated his business acumen. In 1979, he changed Ferret-Savinel into Férinel Inc., a real estate company.
3. Gautam Adani
- Age: 60
- Residence: Gurgaon, India
- Founder and Chair: Adani Group
- Net Worth: $125 billion
- Adani Enterprises, Power. and Transmissions Ownership Stakes: 75% each ($72.24 billion)
- Other Assets: 65% of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone ($12.1 billion public asset), 61% of Adani Green Energy ($23.8 billion public asset), 37% of Adani Total Gas ($17.9 billion public asset)
In March 2022, Gautam Adani, the founder of the Adani Group, became wealthier than Mukesh Ambani. Adani owns significant stakes in six important Indian companies through his ownership of the Adani Group. These stakes include a 75 percent stake in Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, and Adani Transmissions, as well as a 65 percent stake in Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone, a 61 percent stake in Adani Green Energy, and a 37 percent stake in Adani Total Gas.
As of November 1, 2022, the Adani Group's companies have a market capitalization of $246.8 billion. With Adani Power, Adani made its debut in the 2009 market for power generation. In 1988, Adani started Adani Enterprises to import and export goods. His company received approval in 1994 to construct a harbor facility at Mundra Port, which is now India's largest private port.
Adani worked in the diamond industry before dropping out of college. Adani is currently India's largest port operator, thermal coal producer, and coal trader. He bought a 74% stake in India's second-busiest airport, Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, in 2020. In 1997, the billionaire was kidnapped and held against his will. During the terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008, Adani was also in the Taj hotel.
4. Jeff Bezos
- Age: 58
- Residence: Washington
- Founder and Executive Chair: Amazon (AMZN)
- Net Worth: $126 billion
- Amazon Ownership Stake: 10% ($102 billion)
- Other Assets: Blue Origin ($9.15 billion private asset), The Washington Post ($250 million private asset), and $14.1 billion in cash
When Jeff Bezos resigned from D.E. Shaw, a major hedge fund, in 1994, he set up Amazon.com in a garage in Seattle. David E. Shaw, his former boss, had initially rejected
his proposal to start an online bookstoreEven though it initially began by selling books, Amazon has since evolved into a one-stop shop for everything and is expected to surpass Walmart as the largest retailer worldwide by 2024. Some of Amazon's unexpected expansions, such as acquiring Whole Foods in 2017 and entering the pharmacy industry simultaneously, demonstrate the company's pattern of constant diversification.Before transferring 4% of Amazon to his ex-wife MacKenzie Scott as part of their divorce, Bezos owned as much as 16% of the company in 2019. Due to the increased demand for online shopping amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon's share price rose 76% in 2020. Bezos became executive chair of the e-commerce giant on July 5, 2021, when he resigned as CEO.
5. Bill Gates
- Age : 67
- Residence: Washington
- Co-founder: Microsoft (MSFT)
- Net Worth: $111 billion
- Microsoft Ownership Stake: 1.3% ($23.9 billion)
- Other Assets: Cascade Investment LLC ($51.66 billion public assets), $54 billion in cash
In 1975, while Bill Gates was a student at Harvard, he and his childhood friend Paul Allen went to work on new software for the first generation of microcomputers. Gates dropped out of Harvard during his junior year to co-found Microsoft with Allen following the project's success. Microsoft, the largest software company in the world, also makes a line of personal computers, sells video game systems and related game devices, and offers email services through its Exchange server. It has recently made significant investments in cloud services.
In 2008, Gates made the transition from CEO to board chair. In 2004, he joined the board of Berkshire Hathaway. On March 13, 2020, he resigned from both boards. The majority of Bill Gates's wealth is held by Cascade Investment LLC. Cascade is a privately held investment vehicle that owns a variety of stocks, including Republic Services (RSG), Canadian National Railway (CNR), and Deere (DE). It also owns private investments in energy and real estate.
6. Warren Buffett
Image Credit - CNBC - Age: 92
- Residence: Nebraska
- CEO: Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
- Net Worth: $103 billion
- Berkshire Hathaway Ownership Stake: 16% ($102 billion)
- Other Assets: $1.05 billion in cash
7. Larry Ellison
- Age: 78
- Residence: Hawaii
- Co-founder, Chair, and CTO: Oracle (ORCL)
- Net Worth: $93.7 billion
- Oracle Ownership Stake: 40%+ ($65.6 billion)
- Other Assets: Tesla equity ($10.2 billion public asset), $17.2 billion in cash and real estate
8. Larry Page
- Age: 49
- Residence: California
- Co-founder and Board Member: Alphabet (GOOG)
- Net Worth: $87.8 billion
- Alphabet Ownership Stake: 6% ($73.7 billion total)
- Other Assets: $14.1 billion in cash
9. Mukesh Ambani
- Age: 65
- Residence: Mumbai, India
- Owner: Reliance Industries
- Net Worth: $87.6 billion
- Reliance Ownership Stake: 42% ($84.2 billion total)
- Other Assets: $410 million in real estate
10. Sergey Brin
- Age: 49
- Residence: California
- Co-founder and Board Member: Alphabet (GOOG)
- Net Worth: $84 billion
- Alphabet Ownership Stake: 6% ($69.9 billion total)
- Other Assets: $14.1 billion in cash
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