Richest people in the world

Who is the richest person in the world?

Extreme wealth can be extremely volatile; just look at the huge changes reflected in the latest definitive list of the richest people in the world. Two men have been thrown. A few more have seen their fortunes plummet. But a large number of tycoons also saw their wealth increase, even as income inequality became more dramatic and a pandemic ravaged the world.

Each year, Forbes tries to quantify and rank the richest people in the world with its annual list of billionaires. In April 2022, he published his latest summary. Here’s a countdown of the 20 richest people on the planet in net worth in the spring of 2022, as well as a look at who was rejected from the 2021 Forbes list.

19. (EMPAT) Zhao Changpeng (Canada)

Executive Director, Binance

Age: 44
Equity: $ 66.2 billion

Crypto has joined the club

Zhao Changpeng is the CEO of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

He is a Chinese-Canadian programmer named “CZ”.

19. (tie) Rob Walton (USA)

President, Walmart

Age: 77
Equity: $ 65 billion

descended from Walmart

Rob Walton is the eldest son of Sam, the founder of Walmart.

Walton and his wife, Melani, are the main donors to a proposed project to build Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota.

18. Alice Walton (USA)

Heir to Walmart

Age: 72
Equity: $ 65.3 billion

A medical school for the 21st century

In the spring of 2021, Alice Walton announced a plan to build a state-of-the-art medical school in Bentonville, Arkansas.

The project, called Whole Health School of Medicine and Health Sciences, is scheduled to begin in 2022.

17. Zhong Shanshan (China)

Founder and President of the Nongfu Spring Beverage and Bottled Water Company

Age: 67
Equity: $ 65.7 billion

A big sou

In September 2020, Nongfu’s initial public offering doubled Zhong’s wealth.

Once again with effervescence

He is the richest person in China, according to Forbes.

Here, soda water bottles produced by beverage company Nongfu Spring go on sale in a supermarket on June 29, 2021 in Shanghai, China.

16. Jim Walton (USA)

heir to Walmart; President and CEO of Arvest Bank Group, Inc.

Age: 73
Equity: $ 66.2 billion

Give a billion

Jim Walton is the youngest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton.

Seen here with brothers Rob (left) and Alice, Jim Walton donated $ 1.2 billion from his Walmart shares in 2019. He reportedly donated them to a number of charities, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

15. Mark Zuckerberg (USA)

Founder, President and CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook)

Age: 37
Equity: $ 67.3 billion

Taking a fall

Last year, the fortune of the founder of Facebook took a look.

One complainant filed a lawsuit accusing his company of misleading the public about how it handles misinformation and hate speech. And investors have welcomed Zuckerberg’s plans for the company’s future.

An increasingly private island

In March 2021, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, bought 600 acres on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

Combined with their existing 700-acre property on the island, the couple now owns more than 2 square miles of land, or 2.5% of Kauai’s land mass.

14. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers (France)

President of the family Holdings of L’Oréal and granddaughter of the founder of L’Oréal

Age: 68
Equity: $ 74.8 billion

The richest woman in the world

One of the richest women in the world — and the richest on this list — Bettencourt Meyers, along with her family, owns 33% of the L’Oreal cosmetics company.

In 2019, the giant recorded its best sales growth in more than a decade.

13. Carlos Slim Helu and family (Mexico)

Honorary President, Mobile America

Age: 82
Equity: $ 81.2 billion

A new way of thinking

Slim Helu has gone a little further.

He has advocated a three-day work week. The problem: people should work 11 hours a day, a compensation that, according to him, will generate great benefits for workers and employers.

12. Michael Bloomberg (USA)

Co-founder, Bloomberg LP

Age: 80
Equity: $ 82 billion

Wasteful

In 2020, the former mayor of New York City invested approximately $ 1 billion in a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, including $ 275 million in anti-Trump advertising.

He left the race in March 2020, supporting favorite Joe Biden and transferring his campaign cash to the Democratic Party.

11. Gautam Adani and family (India)

Founder, Adani Group

Age: 59
Net worth: $ 90. billion

Port control

Together with his family, Adani controls the largest port in India, in his home state of Gujarat, which is shown here.

It also has stakes in an airport, a mine and other companies.

10. Mukesh Ambani (India)

President of Reliance Industries

Age: 64
Equity: $ 90.7 billion

What a wedding!

In 2018, Ambani’s daughter, Isha, got married in Bombay in an extravagance that is said to have cost $ 100 million.

Beyoncé reportedly acted for the new couple.

9. Steve Ballmer (USA)

Former CEO of Microsoft; current owner of the Los Angeles Clippers

Age: 66
Equity: $ 91.4 billion

Rooting for the Clippers

Formerly known as Microsoft’s 30th employee, Ballmer ran the company from 2000 to 2014.

He now spends most of his time worrying about his Los Angeles basketball team. In April 2022, the Ballmer Sports and Entertainment Arena at Ballmer Stadium in Los Angeles received a new name, the Kia Forum.

8. Larry Ellison (USA)

Co-founder, Oracle

Age: 77
Equity: $ 106 billion

Buy an island

Ellison reportedly lives on the Hawaiian island of Lanai … most of which he bought directly in 2012.

In 2018. Ellison took a seat on the Tesla board.

7. Sergey Brin (USA)

Majority shareholder, Alphabet Inc.

Age: 48
Equity: $ 107 billion

Take a step back

Alphabet is Google’s parent company. Brin and his billionaire partner Larry Page co-founded Google in 1998, while both were doctors. Stanford students.

In 2019, Brin retired as chairman of Alphabet, but remains a board member and employee.

6. Larry Page (USA)

Majority shareholder, Alphabet Inc.

Age: 49
Equity: $ 111 billion

Come fly with me?

Like many tech executives, Page has taken some of his wealth and turned it into futuristic startups.

For example, he is a founding investor in the space exploration company Planetary Resources. He’s also funding “flying car” startups called Kitty Hawk and Opener.

5. Warren Buffett (USA)

CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

Age: 91
Equity: $ 118 billion

A new tax?

Buffett has said he believes the richest people in the United States should pay more taxes. There are nearly 30,000 families in the United States with more than $ 100 million in assets, including Buffett.

A recently proposed tax would also affect the approximately $ 700 billion in the United States; these households would be subject to a new minimum tax of 20%, making sure they don’t pay lower tax rates than many low- and middle-income Americans.

4. Bill Gates (USA)

Co-founder, Microsoft

Age: 66
Equity: $ 129 billion

A high profile divorce

In May 2021, Bill and Melinda French Gates announced that they were divorcing after 27 years of marriage.

French Gates later opened up about the break-up: “Like I said, it’s not one thing, there were a lot of things …