World's 50 Richest People

Bill Gates saw the potential in PCs before anyone else truly grasped the commercial value of the concept. His foresight allowed him to build Microsoft into a $400 billion behemoth, and made him a passionate believer in the system that allowed him to do so. ”Some people, through luck and skill, end up with a lot of assets. If you’re good at kicking a ball, writing software, investing in stocks, it pays extremely well. Capitalism has worked very well,” he said in 2010. To those not as enraptured with capitalism, he offered a curt suggestion: “Anyone who wants to move to North Korea is welcome.”

To make digesting the ranking and our work easier, what follows is a simple list of the 50 richest. Taken together, it is a roll of familiar names (people like Warren Buffett & Mark Zuckerberg), as well unfamiliar ones.

1. Bill Gates
Net Worth: $76 B
Source of wealth: Microsoft

2. Carlos Slim Helu & family
Net Worth: $72 B
Source of wealth: telecom

3. Amancio Ortega
Net Worth: $64 B
Source of wealth: retail

4. Warren Buffett
Net Worth: $58.2 B
Source of wealth: Berkshire Hathaway

5. Larry Ellison
Net Worth: $48 B
Source of wealth: Oracle

6. Charles Koch
Net Worth: $40 B
Source of wealth: diversified

6. David Koch
Net Worth: $40 B
Source of wealth: diversified

8. Sheldon Adelson
Net Worth: $38 B
Source of wealth: casinos

9. Christy Walton & family
Net Worth: $36.7 B
Source of wealth: Wal-Mart

10. Jim Walton
Net Worth: $34.7 B
Source of wealth: Wal-Mart

11. Liliane Bettencourt & family
Net Worth: $34.5 B
Source of wealth: L’Oreal

12. Stefan Persson
Net Worth: $34.4 B
Source of wealth: H&M

13. Alice Walton
Net Worth: $34.3 B
Source of wealth: Wal-Mart

14. S. Robson Walton
Net Worth: $34.2 B
Source of wealth: Wal-Mart

15. Bernard Arnault & family
Net Worth: $33.5 B
Source of wealth: LVMH

16. Michael Bloomberg
Net Worth: $33 B
Source of wealth: Bloomberg LP

17. Larry Page
Net Worth: $32.3 B
Source of wealth: Google

18. Jeff Bezos
Net Worth: $32 B
Source of wealth: Amazon.com

19. Sergey Brin
Net Worth: $31.8 B
Source of wealth: Google

20. Li Ka-shing
Net Worth: $31 B
Source of wealth: diversified

21. Mark Zuckerberg
Net Worth: $28.5 B
Source of wealth: Facebook

22. Michele Ferrero & family
Net Worth: $26.5 B
Source of wealth: chocolates

23. Aliko Dangote
Net Worth: $25 B
Source of wealth: cement, sugar, flour

23. Karl Albrecht
Net Worth: $25 B
Source of wealth: retail

25. Carl Icahn
Net Worth: $24.5 B
Source of wealth: investments

26. George Soros
Net Worth: $23 B
Source of wealth: hedge funds

27. David Thomson & family
Net Worth: $22.6 B
Source of wealth: media

28. Lui Che Woo
Net Worth: $22 B
Source of wealth: casinos

29. Dieter Schwarz
Net Worth: $21.1 B
Source of wealth: retail

30. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud
Net Worth: $20.4 B
Source of wealth: investments

31. Forrest Mars Jr
Net Worth: $20 B
Source of wealth: candy

31. Jacqueline Mars
Net Worth: $20 B
Source of wealth: candy

31. John Mars
Net Worth: $20 B
Source of wealth: candy

34. Jorge Paulo Lemann
Net Worth: $19.7 B
Source of wealth: beer

35. Lee Shau Kee
Net Worth: $19.6 B
Source of wealth: diversified

36. Steve Ballmer
Net Worth: $19.3 B
Source of wealth: Microsoft

36. Theo Albrecht Jr & family
Net Worth: $19.3 B
Source of wealth: Aldi, Trader Joe’s

38. Leonardo Del Vecchio
Net Worth: $19.2 B
Source of wealth: eyeglasses

39. Len Blavatnik
Net Worth: $18.7 B
Source of wealth: diversified

40. Mukesh Ambani
Net Worth: $18.6 B
Source of wealth: petrochemicals, oil & gas

40. Alisher Usmanov
Net Worth: $18.6 B
Source of wealth: steel, telecom, investments

42. Michael Otto & family
Net Worth: $18.4 B
Source of wealth: retail, real estate

42. Masayoshi Son
Net Worth: $18.4 B
Source of wealth: internet, telecom

42. Phil Knight
Net Worth: $18.4 B
Source of wealth: Nike

45. Tadashi Yanai & family
Net Worth: $17.9 B
Source of wealth: retail

46. Gina Rinehart
Net Worth: $17.7 B
Source of wealth: mining

47. Mikhail Fridman
Net Worth: $17.6 B
Source of wealth: oil, banking, telecom

48. Michael Dell
Net Worth: $17.5 B
Source of wealth: Dell

49. Susanne Klatten
Net Worth: $17.4 B
Source of wealth: BMW, pharmaceuticals

50. Abigail Johnson
Net Worth: $17.3 B
Source of wealth: money management