The creamy layer: Meet the 20 richest people on the planet

The very wealthiest people on the planet are worth a staggering $1.2 trillion—a sum roughly equivalent to the annual economic output of Mexico. In aggregate, their riches represent 13 percent of the total fortune of all 2,208 billionaires worldwide. The minimum figure for admission to this august club: $39 billion, up by 28 percent from $30.4 billion a year ago.


1. Jeff Bezos
$112 billion 
US
The richest person on Earth, Amazon’s chief is the first centibillionaire atop our annual ranking. Shares of his ecommerce colossus rose by 59% in 12 months, helping lift his fortune by $39.2 billion, the biggest one-year gain ever recorded. (The $27.6 billion increase he logged in 2017 ranks third.) Bezos also owns the Washington Post and aerospace firm Blue Origin.

2. Bill Gates
$90 billion 
US
Cedes the top spot for only the sixth time since 1995. The Microsoft co-founder’s net worth rose by $4 billion in the past year, but that was no match for Bezos’s epic increase.

3. Warren Buffett
$84 billion
US
In January, the octogenarian promoted two Berkshire Hathaway executives to vice chairman roles—a step toward a much-anticipated succession plan. Buffett, who says he’s in “remarkably good health”, continues to run Berkshire, whose stock is up by 16% since last year.  

4. Bernard Arnault
$72 billion
France
Record results at his luxury empire LVMH and a deal to buy out nearly all of Christian Dior helped boost Arnault’s fortune by $30.5 billion.  

5. Mark Zuckerberg
$71 billion 
US
Facebook’s CEO faces pressure over his social media giant’s role in Russia’s election meddling. Still, the company’s shares rose by 32% in the past year, adding $15 billion to his net worth. 

Illustration: Michael Witte

6. Amancio Ortega
$70 billion
Spain
Most of his fortune is tied up in Inditex, best known for fashion chain Zara. Its shares have sagged, helping knock $1.3 billion off his net worth.

7. Carlos Sslim Helu
$67.1 billion
Mexico
Slim is worth $12.6 billion more than a year ago, due mostly to a 39% jump in the stock of his telecom firm, América Móvil.  

8 (Tie) Charles Koch
$60 billion
US  
In November, his $100 billion (sales) Koch Industries launched Koch Disruptive Technologies, a venture-capital arm run by his son Chase; it has already led a $150 million investment in an Israeli medical-device startup.  

8 (Tie) David Koch
$60 billion
US  
The Koch Industries executive vice president and his brother Charles made news in November when their investment arm put $650 million toward Meredith Corp’s $2.8 billion purchase of struggling magazine publisher Time Inc.

10. Larry Ellison
$58.5 billion
US  
Even as Oracle faces competition from Salesforce and Amazon in the cloud ­market, its stock has risen by 13%. Ellison, who owns about a quarter of the company, is $6.3 billion richer.  

11. Michael Bloomberg
$50 billion
US
New York City’s former mayor continues to run his financial-information and media firm, Bloomberg LP. A gun-control organisation he backs, meanwhile, is forming a new initiative geared toward students in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

12. Larry Page
$48.8 billion
US
The Google co-founder, now CEO of its parent, Alphabet, has reportedly been in talks with Saudi Arabia to build a technology hub inside the kingdom. Page’s fortune grew by $8.1 billion over the past year.

13. Sergey Brin
$47.5 billion
US
Page’s partner as Google’s co-founder is America’s richest immigrant. Now Alphabet’s president, Brin is reportedly spending over $100 million on the world’s largest airship for both personal luxury travel and delivering aid to remote locations.

14. Jim Walton
$46.4 billion
US
The youngest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton sat on the company’s board until 2016. He runs the family’s regional bank, Arvest.

15. S Robson Walton
$46.2 billion
US
Sam Walton’s oldest son was Walmart’s chairman for 23 years. He’s now one of three family members still involved in the company; he and Steuart Walton, the son of Jim Walton, sit on its board. His son-in-law Gregory Penner is chairman.

16. Alice Walton
$46 billion
US
Sam Walton’s only daughter has no role in the family ­business but still holds plenty of Walmart shares, making her the richest woman in the world.

17. Ma Huateng
$45.3 billion
China
Ma is Asia’s wealthiest person for the first time, thanks in part to his firm Tencent’s ­WeChat, a ubiquitous social-messaging app with nearly 1 billion active users. Tencent also has stakes in Tesla, Snapchat parent Snap and music-streaming service Spotify.

18. Françoise
Bettencourt Meyers
$42.2 billion
France
Her mother, L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, died in September 2017; Bettencourt Meyers and her family inherited the fortune.

19. Mukesh Ambani
$40.1 billion
India
The Indian tycoon is back in the Top 20 for the first time since 2012.

20. Jack Ma
$39 billion
China
Ma took ecommerce behemoth Alibaba to new heights in 2017, inking its first Olympic sponsorship and scoring a streaming agreement with Disney. Alibaba’s shares have increased by 76% since last year, boosting him into the  Top 20 for the first time.