The 10 richest people in the world (and origin of their fortune)

April 3, 2024

On more than one occasion we will have heard that money does not give happiness. And the truth is that as long as we have satisfied our basic needs and consider that there is an equity between what we do and what we get to have more or less money does not have to mean being more or less happy. Moreover, although the concept of wealth was born linked to money nowadays, it is increasingly taken into account that there are many other types of wealth.

However, having a good economic capacity makes it easier to live experiences or simply obtain more goods and services, something that the vast majority of people would like to have more capital. That is why there is often curiosity to know who are the richest people in the world and how they have reached that position, something that has generated the creation of lists like the ones that Forbes performs every year.

Throughout this article we will see what are the ten largest fortunes in the world at an economic level.

The 10 richest people in the world

Next we will see who are the people who possess greater economic wealth in the world, extracted from the data obtained from the list prepared by Forbes about the biggest fortunes in the world in 2018.

1. Jeff Bezos

While his name may not be as well known as that of others who follow him on this list, Jezz Bezos is at 54 years old the person who in 2018 has had the greatest fortune in the world: approximately has 112,000 million in heritage . This amount not only makes him the richest person on the 2018 list, it makes him the richest person in history (known).

This immense amount does not come from nothing: Jeff Bezos is the founder and CEO of Amazon (besides owning 16% of that company), the well-known web of electronic commerce (among other things, as it is gradually expanding and adding services like the recent Amazon Prime Video). And while this is their main source of wealth, he is also a majority shareholder of "The Washington Post" and the Blue Origin aerospace company . Interestingly, he has been chosen as one of the worst bosses in the world by the unions in 2014.

2. Bill Gates

Until recently the richest man in the world (being surpassed by Jeff Bezzos in the last year), Bill Gates is at 62 years one of the two founding members of Microsoft , company from which most of his immense fortune comes. This fortune is estimated at 91,300 million dollars.

However, its participation in Microsoft is currently minimal: although it is still a member of the board of the company it has less than 1% of shares, having sold or given most of them. In addition, he has made multiple investments, and is highly recognized for the creation, together with his wife, of the largest private charitable foundation: the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He has also starred in several campaigns that sought other great fortunes to contribute to a better world and to participate in charities.

3. Warren Buffett

With 87 years of age, the so-called Oracle of Omaha has around 87,000 million dollars. It is one of the most successful entrepreneurs and investors and with a greater eye for business, and owns a large number of companies and companies, including Duracell. Together with Bill Gates, he is one of the entrepreneurs who has also decided to carry out great works of charity and charity. He is one of the owners of the Berkshire Hathaway holding company.

4. Bernard Arnault

The fourth position among the richest in the world is for a citizen of French origin. With 69 years of age, Bernard Arnault owns a fortune of 75,000 million dollars (approximately 72,000 million euros). He is the president of the conglomerate Louis Vuiton Moët Hennessy or LVMH , a multinational group that owns brands as well known as Louis Vuitton, Loewe, Christian Dior, Sephora or Bulgari.

5. Mark Zuckerberg

The fifth richest person in the world and the youngest in the list is none other than the creator of the most used social network in the world: Facebook. It owns around 17% of the shares of the company , which he founded even without having finished his career at Harvard, and enjoys a fortune of 73,200 million dollars. He has also been giving away a large part of his shares and contributes to different research and charity works.

6. Amancio Ortega

The sixth position in this list configured mainly by US citizens is for one of the best-known Spanish entrepreneurs: Amancio Ortega, 81 years old. It is about the founder of Inditex , group which includes brands such as Zara, Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti or Bershka. In addition to this he has also participated in other businesses such as real estate.Its assets amount to approximately 71,000 million dollars.

7. Carlos Slim

With 67,100 million dollars in his possession, Carlos Slim is the sixth of the richest men in the world. This 78-year-old Mexican has achieved his fortune over the years, directing companies such as Grupo Carso , which controls companies such as the telephone operator Telmex or the mining and chemical company Frisco. He also owns companies such as Prodigy or a large part of The New York Times stock.

8 and 9. Charles and David Koch

With 82 and 77 years respectively, these two American brothers have an equivalent fortune (which is why they appear together in this list), which is estimated at around 60,000 million dollars. This comes from their role as managers and co-owners of the Koch Industries group , which has companies such as Invista or Koch Minerals. This group is mainly engaged in the extraction and preparation of oil and minerals and the production of chemical products such as fertilizers and chemical equipment, among others.

10. Larry Ellison

The tenth highest fortune in the world is that of Larry Ellison, who has 58.5 billion dollars in equity at 73 years of age. We are before the founder of Oracle Corporation, one of the most important technology companies and the first level of work with databases and in the cloud. This company has been done with systems like Siebel. However, he retired from the company's management in 2014, although he remained as CEO.

Common elements

While each of the members of this list has their own life, personality characteristics, beliefs and opinions about the different areas of life, it is possible to visualize how many of them have elements in common.

All of them have manifested throughout their lives the fact of having not only business and business vision but also of the existence of social needs that could need to be corrected.

As well they have been characterized by their perseverance and by knowing how to face the risks , leaving your comfort zone and risking losing. On the other hand, they have demonstrated capacity for flexibility and adaptation to change in a liquid company like ours, and to deal with multiple competitors by offering a differentiated product or service that is sufficiently different and original to be easily recognizable to the consumer.

While some large fortunes are the product of inheritance, it is relevant to note that most of the richest people started from the bottom, and even some began to work during adolescence. With regard to training, all of them came to start university education, although some would end up leaving it . In any case other people who have achieved great fortunes have done so regardless of their academic background.

However, despite these similarities other personal attitudes can vary greatly: while some are known and controversial for their attitudes to the environment, their lack of empathy for their employees or their extremist political ideologies others have starred in major charity campaigns, helped fight diseases and try to use and even give away part of his fortune in order to try to improve the situation of the rest of the world.

Also in some cases they try to lead a normalized and austere life regardless of their economic power, while others show behaviors and ways of being quite more eccentric.