The coronavirus pandemic is creating two completely different economies. On one hand, millions of people are out of work and falling behind on rent or mortgage payments. And on the other, the stock market is hitting all-time highs. This got us thinking about the tippy top of inequality. Where do the 30 richest men in the world live, how big are their fortunes, and how did they make their money?
- Jeff Bezos is easily the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $191.2 B.
- 16 out of the 30 wealthiest people in the world come from the U.S., including 3 out of 4 people worth over $100B.
- None of the top 30 richest men in the world come from the Southern Hemisphere.
- Elon Musk is now the second wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of about $153.5 B, thanks to the meteoric rise of Tesla’s stock in 2020.
We found our information on the 30 richest men in the world thanks to the real time billionaire tracking tool from Forbes. We created a map of the world showing where each billionaire is from combined with a color-coded and sized circle corresponding to their estimated net worth as of December 31, 2020. Our map provides an easy to understand snapshot of the tippy-top of the wealthiest men in the world.
Top 10 Richest Men in the World
| Rank | Name | Net Worth | Source of Wealth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeff Bezos | $191.2 B | Amazon |
| 2 | Elon Musk | $153.5 B | Tesla |
| 3 | Bernard Arnault & family | $151.9 B | LVMH |
| 4 | Bill Gates | $120 B | Microsoft |
| 5 | Mark Zuckerberg | $99.9 B | |
| 6 | Larry Ellison | $87.7 B | Software |
| 7 | Warren Buffett | $86.8 B | Berkshire Hathaway |
| 8 | Zhong Shanshan | $78.6 B | Beverages, Pharmaceuticals |
| 9 | Larry Page | $76.6 B | |
| 10 | Mukesh Ambani | $76.5 B | Diversified |
The first and most obvious insight in our global map of the 30 richest men is that they all come from the Northern Hemisphere, and in particular the U.S.. In fact, the U.S. is home to 16 out of the 30 people in our visualization. Only 4 people crack $100B, and 3 are from the United States. Jeff Bezos easily boasts the highest net worth in the world ($191.2 B), followed by Elon Musk ($153.5 B) and Bernard Arnault and family ($151.9). To put these numbers in perspective, Bezos, Musk and Arnault combined control more money than the value of the entire annual GDP of Argentina ($496.6B vs. $445.4B).
The single biggest contributor to these billionaires’ net worth is the stock price of the companies they founded. For example, Jeff Bezos personally owns more than 10% of Amazon, or about 55 million shares. Amazon’s share price recently passed $3,200, and Bezos has unloaded $10B this year alone. This means that whenever Amazon’s price rises or falls, Bezos’ net worth moves in the same direction. This is especially true for Elon Musk, the infamous CEO of Tesla, whose stock has surged to record highs and recently joined the S&P 500. Tesla’s stock performance has catapulted Musk’s net worth into the stratosphere ($153.5 B).
Almost all of the richest people in the world first started out as the owner of a small business. If you are building your business empire and in need of a loan, check out our small business loan calculator to start the process of shopping around for the best deal.
Data: Table 1.1