Who are the richest people in the world?
Most people have a pretty good idea, even if they’re not an entrepreneur, or interested in the subject at all for that matter.
As you’re reading this, you probably already have names popping into your head as to who will appear on the list of the richest.
Let’s find out in this article, where we list the top 25 richest people in the world as of 2018. These are the game-changers, and the people who have helped transform and re-shape the world.
The 25 Richest People in the World
There’s been a huge fluctuation in the net worth of these billionaires in the past year. But, you can find out more about that below!
The stats given here in regards to net worth have come from Forbes directly. These are the top 25 richest people in the world in 2018:
25. Lee Shau Kee
Net Worth: $31.6 Billion
Lee Shau Kee is the co-founder of Sun Hung Kai, a successful property development company. He grew up in a very poor family, but today he is worth over $30 billion.
24. Li Ka-Shing
Net Worth: $34.9 Billion
Li Ka-Shing is one of the most influential businessmen in Asia, and is the current chairman of CK Hutchison Holdings, and CK Asset Holdings. However, he plans to step down from the throne this year. As of March 2018, Li Ka-Shing’s net worth is roughly $34.9 Billion.
“Vision is perhaps our greatest strength… it has kept us alive to the power and continuity of thought through the centuries, it makes us peer into the future and lends shape to the unknown.” – Li Ka-Shing
23. Hui Ka Yan
Net Worth: $35.5 Billion
Hui Ka Yan is the current chairman for the Hong Kong-listed real estate developer, China Evergrande Group, of Shenzhen. The company is active in residential and commercial property.
As of this year, Hui Ka Yan’s net worth is $35.5 billion.
22. Mukesh Ambani
Net Worth: $39.6 Billion
Mukesh Ambani is an Indian business magnate, currently chairman, managing director and largest shareholder of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).
Ambani has been the richest man in Asia for a while now, and this year, he made it onto the list of the richest worldwide! As of 2018, Mukesh Ambani’s net worth is $39.6 billion.
“Today I see a billion people as a billion potential consumers, an opportunity to generate value for them and to make a return for myself” – Mukesh Ambani
21. Steve Ballmer
Net Worth: $40 Billion
Steve Ballmer is the current owner of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, and he is also the former CEO of Microsoft. As of 2018, Steve Ballmer’s net worth is estimated at $40 billion.
20. Sheldon Adelson
Net Worth: $40.1 Billion
Sheldon Adelson is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist.
He is also the founder, chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which owns the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
Sheldon has recently managed to climb onto the list of the top 20 richest people worldwide in 2018, with a new estimated net worth of $40.1 billion.
“I look at every business and ask, How long can this last? How can I identify the status quo and change it?” – Sheldon Adelson
19. Alice Walton
Net Worth: $41.6 Billion
Alice Walton is the daughter of Sam Walton, and heiress to the Walmart fortune. She founded the Llama Company in 1988, but it has since closed down.
“I know the price of lettuce. You need to understand price and value. You buy the best lettuce you can at the best price you can.” – Alice Walton
18. S. Robson Walton
Net Worth: $41.8 Billion
Rob Walton is the eldest son of Sam Walton, and served as the chairman for Walmart, after his father’s death, up until 2015.
Further more, he briefly surpassed his brother Jim recently on this list of the richest people in the world. However, he’s now fallen back to his original spot.
17. Jim Walton
Net Worth: $41.9 Billion
Jim Walton is the son of Sam Walton, who was the founder of the world’s largest retail chain, ‘Walmart’. He is on the Walmart board of directors, and CEO of his own company, Arvest Bank.
In 2018, Jim Walton’s net worth is $41.9 billion.
16. Jack Ma
Net Worth: $42.2 Billion
Jack Ma is the founder of Alibaba, and although he’s been one of the richest people in Asia for several years, he’s only just made it onto the list of the richest people in the world this year.
Jack was rejected from multiple jobs, including KFC when it was first introduced to China. Today, Jack Ma’s net worth is estimated to be $42.2 billion, launching him to the 16th spot on this list.
“Help young people. Help small guys. Because small guys will be big. Young people will have the seeds you bury in their minds, and when they grow up, they will change the world.” – Jack Ma
15. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers
Net Worth: $44.5 Billion
Francoise Bettencourt Meyers became the reigning L’Oreal heiress when her mother, Liliane Bettencourt, passed away in 2017. She now runs the holding company as chairwoman, with her family owning 33% of L’Oreal.
14. Sergey Brin
Net Worth: $49.6 Billion
Sergey Brin and Larry Page co-founded Google back in 1998, in just a small simple garage. The duo have taken Google to the top, putting Sergey Brin just behind Page in this list of the richest people worldwide.
13. Ma Huateng
Net Worth: $50.9 Billion
Ma Huateng is a Chinese business magnate, investor, philanthropist, engineer, internet and technology entrepreneur. He’s also the founder of Tencent, which is the most valuable company in Asia.
Huateng is another of the richest in Asia, who made it on this list in 2018, with an estimated net worth of $49.3 billion in 2018.
12. Michael Bloomberg
Net Worth: $52.1 Billion
Michael Bloomberg is an American entrepreneur and politician. Bloomberg is the founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P, the financial data and media company. Bloomberg is now 74 years old and one of the richest people in the world.
Michael Bloomberg lost a couple of billion dollars from his net worth in the past few months, which has caused him to drop from 9th to 12th on this list. His net worth is now estimated at $52.1 billion.
11. Larry Page
Net Worth: $53.5 Billion
Larry Page is the co-founder of Google, which was founded back in a garage in 1998.
Google, no doubt, has become the most successful search engine in the world, and the company has gone on to make various acquisitions such as YouTube. Google’s success has made Larry Page one of the richest people in the world.
10. David Koch
Net Worth: $61.8 Billion
David Koch is Charles Koch’s brother, and serves as the Executive Vice President of Koch Industries. David and Charles both own a 42% stake in the conglomerate.
Koch appears 10th on this list of the richest people in 2018, and with a net worth of $61.8 billion.
9. Charles Koch
Net Worth: $61.8 Billion
Charles Koch is an American businessman and philanthropist.
Koch is the co-owner and CEO of Koch industries. Koch Industries now includes process and pollution control equipment and technologies; polymers and fibers; minerals; fertilizers; commodity trading and services; forest and consumer products; and ranching.
Koch made this year’s list of the richest people, and with an impressive net worth of $61.8 billion!
8. Larry Ellison
Net Worth: $64.1 Billion
Larry Ellison is the co-founder of the Oracle Corporation, and he was also the company’s CEO until September 2014. Over the years, Oracle has become an incredibly successful tech company, now being 39 years old and employing over 136,000 people.
Larry Ellison is 8th on this list of the richest people in the world, with a net worth of $64.1 billion.
7. Amancio Ortega
Net Worth: $70.5 Billion
Amancio Ortega is a Spanish entrepreneur and founder of the Inditex fashion group. Inditex owns Zara, and Zara is one of the most popular clothing chains worldwide.
Ortega recently dropped down to the 7th richest man in the world, after other players on the list have been making some serious moves. He’s also lost over $11 billion from his net worth in recent months.
6. Carlos Slim Helu
Net Worth: $70.5 Billion
Carlos Slim Helu is a Mexican businessman and investor; owner of the conglomerate ‘Grupo Carso’. The conglomerate’s portfolio consists of brands in many different industries, such as health care, media, energy, real estate and retail.
Carlos is 6th on this list of the richest people in the world, with a net worth of $70.5 billion. In recent months, Carlos Slim has lost almost $6 billion from his net worth, and dropped from 4th to 6th.
5. Mark Zuckerberg
Net Worth: $74.6 Billion
We all know Mark Zuckerberg as the founder of Facebook. Facebook has become the most popular and most valuable social media company in the world. And it all started in Mark’s dorm room at Harvard University.
Mark Zuckerberg has recently moved up a position on the list this year, after gaining an ridiculous $30 billion in net worth, now making him the 5th richest man in the world.
It’s expected that he will continue to climb the list in the future, and maybe even make it to the top. Considering how young he is, it’s not out of his reach.
“I think a simple rule of business is, if you do the things that are easier first, then you can actually make a lot of progress.” – Mark Zuckerberg
4. Bernard Arnault
Net Worth: $75.7 Billion
Bernard Arnault is the CEO of LVMH (Louis Vitton Moet Hennessey).
Ultimately, the company was formed from merging the two businesses together. Louis Vitton is the very successful luxury fashion brand, and Moet Hennessey is the merged champagne and cognac manufacturers.
Bernard has been making serious movements up this list in the past year. In fact, at the beginning of 2017, he was at 14th. Now, a year later, he’s placed at 4th on the list of the 20 richest people on earth in 2018.
3. Warren Buffett
Net Worth: $91.3 Billion
Warren Buffett is an American entrepreneur and investor, and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett is the most successful investor worldwide, and millions of other traders look up to him because of his success.
Warren Buffett is the 3rd richest man in the world, with an incredible net worth of $91.3 billion. However, despite this fact, Buffett still lives in the home he purchased back when he didn’t even know what a billion dollars looked like.
What a humble guy!
2. Bill Gates
Net Worth: $92.2 Billion
Bill Gates is the founder of Microsoft, and was the richest man in the world for several years running. Gates founded Microsoft in 1975 with Paul Allen, and has since become the largest PC software company worldwide.
Last year, Bill Gates has gained an incredible $10 billion in additional net worth! This has put him at an estimated net worth of $92.2 billion overall. However, he’s recently been overtaken by the next man on this list…
“It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” – Bill Gates
1. Jeff Bezos
Net Worth: $130.5 Billion
Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon, one of the biggest and most popular companies on the web. Amazon started as a simple online bookstore in Jeff’s bedroom, and the initial sales were slow.
In 2018, Jeff Bezos has become the richest man in the world, after adding a whopping $40 billion to his net worth last year! Amazon is making major moves, after recently acquiring wholefoods, launching drone shipping and a bunch of other strong ideas.
Jeff Bezos is the first man ever to reach the $100 billion mark, which is just insane! Click the ‘Next’ button below to view a complete summary of the richest people in 2018.
Summary
Finally, Here’s a quick recap of the top 25 richest people in the world in 2018:
- Jeff Bezos
- Bill Gates
- Warren Buffett
- Amancio Ortega
- Mark Zuckerberg
- Bernard Arnault
- Carlos Slim Helu
- Larry Ellison
- Charles Koch
- David Koch
- Larry Page
- Michael Bloomberg
- Ma Huateng
- Sergey Brin
- Francoise Bettencourt Meyers
- Jack Ma
- Jim Walton
- S. Robson Walton
- Alice Walton
- Sheldon Adelson
- Steve Ballmer
- Mukesh Ambani
- Hui Ka Yan
- Li Ka-Shing
- Lee Shau Kee
There is a new richest man in the world: Jeff Bezos.
Awesome list! There were a lot of people that I didn’t know about. The quotes were great!
tbh i expected carlos slim helu to be no.1
Pls i nid some1 to help me on my business. may god grant u longlife wit gud health
Hey I can help generate more money for your business.
The way I would go about this is conduct a free audit, then come back to you with solutions you can implement quickly to multiply your revenue.
Hit me up on Telegram, my handle is @jrmyfranck
I Shall Be Among The Richest Men That Will Rule The World
Imagine if Pewdiepie was in there xD
I want to be richest person to very quickly.
I am a powerful money magnet
I am a multi multi Billionaire
I am financially abundant and money comes to me naturally.
Money is following to me like a river
bill gates I love you I am a big big divotee.
Please bill gates bleesing and fulfilling my dreams
I am struggling to pay my school fees but others have been blessed with a lot of money and properties. Oh God ! , answer my prayers for these rich men help me .
If lika shing is 2nd richest in aisa and is 19th richest in world, don’t you think richest man in aisa should the 19th richest in place of lika shing.. Just a thought.
Haha.. the richest man in asia is on #18… Wang is listed in front of Li….xD
Name what bill gates can’t buy
Peace, long life, trianquility and sound health.
Air,it can move away from him anytime,and he can never call it back.
Morals, compassion, honesty,love and a willingness to help others. The things you can’t buy with money are far more valuable then anything money can buy. J/S God Bless
I have business idea and taken many risk in business. But know enough capital to carry on.
i thought jack ma would be there
Jack is #3 richest in asia behind Wang and Li… he should be within 30~ on the world list
Jack Ma is number #23 in the world, which is why you won’t find him on this list.
Bill gate is a money magnet, I pray God will take this far in life becoming one of the 1000 richest men in the world
Comment: is it true that they are richest people, I know that their are some people that reach, but kept silent simply because the empty vessel makes noise, the one with water doesn’t make noise
but I like to be one of them.
I also want to be one of them.
I know this people to a risk in life to get whatever they have now. There are remodels we she look after and do same. Its my prayer I meet one of this people for them to imput thier knowlgde in me to become like them. Whatever they have today, they struggled and I want to be a risk taker like them
i want to be counted among the billionaires
All i need is philanthropist who would empower me with my my business
i need money to start my business and help the needy.
I am the richest person in the world because I’m content with what I have. I do not have much, in fact it may be laughable to someone but I tell you I feel I’m richer than Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.
No.1 is Jeff Bezos not Bill Gates
Nope, Bill Gates is still the richest man in the world!
Well, hope that there is nothings wrong for being rich or poor. Suppose if all the peoples of this world becomes equally rich or poor, then will not the world stop functions its basic regular courses. That’s why doesn’t the rich one are just being rich for the poors and the poors are just being poor for the riches. Where else there could be who is being rich or poor for themselves alone, don’t they needs each other to create things either good or bad just as the positive and negative current needs each other to produce either useful or harmful effects, therefore isn’t that they seem like to have an equal weight if the poor and the rich one are to be weighed on a pairs of a balanced scales.
the richest soul winner in the world
Some are extremely wealthy while some are extremely poor, what are the rich people doing special that others ain’t doing? I wonder.
Not trying to argue with you or anything but why do you think they have the obligation to help the poor?
Bill gates my mentor and an icon to me
Jeff Bezos is the richest in, I think he is my role model wish I had money…
Bill gates is richest man in the world
Where is mukesh amabani
he’s from India, he became the 20 th ranked businessmen in the world.
Great read! Very inspiring to say the least. Anything is possible. If we all put in the work and aspire to one day be an additional helping hand to the world, I don’t see why we won’t be able to do it. Probably not top 20, but a life of abundance and fulfillment.
Thanks for letting me know the rich guys .
God is the giver of whatever we have today so let us not forget to thank God.
Remember to help the needy like me who is struggling to earn a living . God bless us all whether the rich or poor.
Make Money, Save Money, Invest Money—Repeat. That is the formula for creating wealth.
wealth on earth maybe….
God bless all multi-billioners in the world with divine light, love and power! More blessings of financial prosperity and spirituality, with goodwill and the will to do good!
I pray that God will open up their heart to give, I know some are giving, they should never get tired. God gave some people riches so that they can bless others. Many of us need empowerment. I wish they will help
So true……they are so blinded by the money they forget why they were blessed with it……
Mukesh ambani is great person
I dreamed to appear on this list no matter how I always fail, but I am inspired by this men that good to fail big and discover the reason for your failure.Only few and very few decades i gonna be on this list and don’t forget to push young ambitious guys like us forward.Together we can
Putin is number 1
What is the profession of jeff bezos?
CEO of Amazon.
Carlos Slim Helu has dropped bigtime. So the space now is dominated by Tech.
its easy to beat all of these guys! all you need is a time machine 🙂
Most of these people came up on the horizon of the wealth due to the hard work, wisdom and their farsightedness; further, they are blessed with the Goddess of wealth. most of them are kind and large hearted, peace lovers and generous. So we must respect them and delight our self open heartedly in their pleasure. The “Universal power” will automatically bless upon us. It is a Law of the Universe.