Who are the Richest People in the World in 2018?
In a world where the poor and the barely well-off outnumbers the rich, it takes a real great feat for anyone to bear the label of being the richest people in the world. But holding the position of the world’s richest is not a permanent thing. Time and time again, we have seen shift in the names of people who make it into the top 10 for many different reasons, some philanthropical while others simply as a result of mishaps or bad money decision-making. While some are able to hold the spotlight among the highest ranks, being at the top of the ranking is oftentimes uneasy and is often a place of contention among the multi-billionaire list.
List of Richest People in the World
You might be wondering, who now then comprised the top richest people at the present which many, especially people in the business sector, consider as effigies of their own unique worldly successes?
Well, let us take a look at the updated list.
- Jeff Bezos
Amazon founder and the present richest person in the world, Jeff Bezos. The advent of e-Commerce gave rise to lucrative venture which can turn anyone from rags-to-riches. No other person possibly best epitomized this notion than the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, who had been in the business since the early commercialization of the internet. But his amassed wealth was not only as a result of him selling books online, much of Bezos’ later success was credited to his business venturing to a wider scope which consequently made it the biggest of its kind. As per CNBC, Amazon is now worth over $430 billion. It is not only Amazon that is Jeff Bezos’ source of riches, however. He also owns the publishing company, The Washington Post, the grocery chain, Whole Foods, as well as the private space company, Blue Origin. As of March 2018, Bezos has a net worth of $112 billion, making him the richest man in the planet to date.
- William “Bill” Gates
Microsoft co-founder, William “Bill” Gates. For a while the richest person who made great riches selling computer programs and operating systems, William Gates has come up and down from the ranks as among the richest people in the world. Whereas Steve Jobs was at the time the face of Apple, Bill Gates was on the other hand the façade which represented Microsoft that he himself co-built from the ground-up starting on 1975. For a long time, Gates was the CEO of Microsoft until he stepped down in 2000 and was the company’s greatest shareholder until 2014. When not engaging in business, Gates along with his wife dabble in philanthropical endeavors via their own built foundation and alternatively as a founder of the so-called “The Giving Pledge.” At the present, William Gates has a net worth of $90 billion.
- Warren Buffett
Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Renowned for being an investor as a kid, Warren Buffett has the early making of a wise financial planner. Not only did his early enterprise with investment molded him as among the best investors around, he is also a CEO of a company which, in turn, owns many other companies—specifically, around 60 of them. Despite being affluent, Buffett is notoriously known for being thrift. By context, this multi-billionaire spends too little for a person of his financial caliber. How’s a sub-$4 breakfast at McDonald’s, as per HBO Documentary titled “Becoming Warren Buffett”? Like other billionaires such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffett is a member of The Giving Pledge. But unlike most members, Buffett pledged to donate 99% of his total riches. To date, Warren Buffett has a net worth of $84 billion, making him the third richest people in the world next to Bill Gates.
- Bernard Arnault
French billionaire, Bernard Arnault. You may be out of the loop in the business trends to not know this person. But if you know fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, and Sephora, then you ought to know this guy—he is the CEO of the company behind them all. Although a civil engineer by career, Arnault made a leapt to business after inheriting the family company Groupe Arnault and consequently owning Christian Dior, a fashion brand, along the way. Bernard Arnault’s entry into the richest people in the world is only fairly recent which was as a result of him taking full command of his acquired brand, Christian Dior, eventually causing the billionaire to accrue $5 billion in the process, as per Forbes. Bernard Arnault has an estimated net worth of $72 billion.
- Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook founder, CEO, and Chairman, Mark Zuckerberg. When you look at the billionaires that made their riches through self-effort, all of them had one thing in common: they are more than 33 years of age when they held the title. Facebook founder/CEO and Chairman, Mark Zuckerberg was a phenomenal inclusion in the list after attaining his billionaire status at just the age of 33 which was considered to be the youngest in history. Zuckerberg and wife, Priscilla, vowed to donate 99% of their amassed wealth via Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Presently, Mark Zuckerberg has a net worth of $72 billion.
- Amancio Ortega
Europe’s richest person, Amancio Ortega. The name Amancio Ortega reverberates across Europe as the richest person in the continent. Regarded as a self-made billionaire, Ortega is the founder of the Inditex fashion group which consist of the Zara clothing chains. Amancio Ortega owes his wealth to his own-built company as 59% owner whose business spans 7000 branches across the globe. However, the success of his business is contributed by its fast and customer-centric approach which implies the need to replenish stocks twice every week, according to CNBC. Ortega’s endeavor in the fashion business has accumulated him a net worth of $70 billion.
- Carlos Slim Helu
Mexico’s wealthiest businessman, Carlos Slim Helu. As an owner of as much as 200 unique companies from various industries spanning across Mexico and a biggest mobile phone company in Latin America, Carlos Slim Helu makes for the richest Mexican to date. Helu’s success as a business tycoon, however, is owed to his father, a Lebanese who immigrated to Mexico who found success in retail and real estate, Business Insider reported. Nowadays, Carlos Slim Helu has a net worth amounting to $67.1 billion, making him the 7th and last to make this list of richest people in the world.
