On last year’s Forbes list, there were only six tycoons who had broken the record of having a fortune of more than US$100 billion.
The novelty is that in this year’s list, published this Tuesday, there are 14 members of the exclusive club to which only those with a net worth of at least 12 digits enter.
Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, the richest man in Latin America, had not managed to enter the exclusive group of so-called “hundred-billionaires” because his wealth was US$93 billion.
This time, however, he did it.
To get an idea of the magnitude of a US$100 billion fortune, just look at the size of a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), that is, the sum of all the goods and services that a nation produces in a given country. anus.
Thus, the individual wealth of each of these 14 magnates is greater than the GDP of countries such as Panama, Uruguay, Costa Rica or Bolivia.
Chase Peterson-Withorn, editor senior Forbes wealth magazine, said it had been an “amazing” year for the world’s richest people.
“Even in times of financial uncertainty for many, the super-rich continue to prosper,” he noted.
Forbes said there will be a record 2,781 billionaires in 2024, 141 more than the previous year and 26 more than the previous record in 2021.
The elite is richer than ever and accumulates a wealth of US$14.2 trillion.
This is the list of the “14 Club”, the most exclusive group of tycoons on the planet, according to Forbes.
1. Bernard Arnault (France)
Net worth: US$233 billion
For the second year in a row Arnault is the richest person in the world. Arnault’s wealth grew 10% in 2023 thanks to another record year for his luxury conglomerate, LVMH, owner of Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Sephora.
2. Elon Musk (USA)
Net worth: US$195 billion
As the ranking constantly changes, Musk has won and lost the title of “richest in the world” several times, as the valuation of SpaceX, Tesla and the social network X (formerly Twitter) evolve.
3. Jeff Bezos (USA)
Net worth: US$194 billion
Bezos is much richer this year thanks to Amazon’s great stock market performance.
4. Mark Zuckerberg (USA)
Net worth: US$177 billion
For the executive director of Meta, the waters have been troubled. After the social media giant’s stock plunged 75% from its highest level in 2021, it has nearly tripled in value over the past year.
5. Larry Ellison (USA)
Net worth: US$141,000 billion
In the last year, the shares of the technology company Oracle rose more than 30%, boosting its fortune. Although he stepped down as the company’s CEO, Ellison remains president, chief technology officer and its largest shareholder.
6. Warren Buffett (USA)
Net worth: US$133 billion.
Considered one of the most successful investors of all time, Buffett runs Berkshire Hathaway, a conglomerate that has dozens of companies, including insurer Geico, battery maker Duracell and restaurant chain Dairy Queen.
Berkshire shares are at record levels, up 30% from last year.
7. Bill Gates (USA)
Net worth: US$128 billion.
The Microsoft co-founder was the richest person in the world for 18 of the 23 years in the period from 1995 to 2017.
Despite his gigantic wealth, Gates has dropped down the list due to tough competition in the technology sector, a costly divorce in 2021, and his donations to charities, according to Forbes.
8. Steve Ballmer (USA)
Net worth: US$121 billion.
The former Microsoft CEO led the company from 2000 to 2014, after the dot-com crisis. After retiring from Microsoft, Ballmer bought the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team of the NBA (National Basketball Association), whose value has grown in recent years. Today it is the fifth most valuable team in the NBA.
9. Mukesh Ambani (India)
Net worth: US$116 billion.
Ambani’s wealth has grown substantially thanks to the boom in shares of his conglomerate, Reliance Industries. The company has interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecommunications, retail and financial services.
10. Larry Page (USA)
Net worth: US$114,000 million.
Co-founder and member of the board of directors of Alphabet, parent company of Google. Along with Sergey Brin, they remain the largest individual shareholders of the technology giant.
11. Sergey Brin (Russia/USA)
Net worth: US$110 billion.
Co-founder and board member of Alphabet. Brin resigned as president of the company in December 2019, but remains a majority shareholder in the company along with Larry Page.
12. Michael Bloomberg (USA)
Net worth: US$106 billion.
Co-founder of the financial information and media company Bloomberg LP. He currently owns 88% of the business. He was mayor of New York City for 12 years.
13. Amancio Ortega (Spain)
Net worth: US$103 billion.
His fortune increased last year thanks to a 43% increase in the shares of his clothing company, Inditex, which manages the Zara chain. His real estate portfolio includes logistics, residential and office properties primarily in Europe and the United States.
14. Carlos Slim (Mexico)
Net worth: US$102 billion.
The businessman was the richest person in the world and still remains the richest in Latin America. His fortune grew in the last year thanks to an increase in the Mexican peso and a 60% jump in the share price of his industrial conglomerate, Grupo Carso.
Slim and his family control América Móvil, the largest mobile telecommunications company in Latin America.
A growing club
In the last decade, the wealth of the club’s members increased 255%, a much greater increase than that of the average billionaire.
Because most of the fortunes are invested in the financial markets, assets rise and fall constantly.
This is how Bill Gates briefly reached the “one hundred billionaire” mark in 1999, before his net wealth fell by almost half during the dot-com crisis.
No one managed to break the record again for nearly two decades, even when the markets were making a lot of money, just before the Great Recession in 2008-2009.
The story continued like this, until Jeff Bezos finally broke the mark again in 2017, becoming the second member of the tycoon club with US$100 billion, thanks to the spectacular rise in Amazon’s market value.
And it was not until 2021 that Bezos was no longer alone at the top, when Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault and Bill Gates also reached the top.
Nowadays, with the rise of mega-riches around the world, joining the club is becoming more and more common.
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