The 10 richest billionaires in the world in 2024: What position are Elon Musk, Zuckerberg and Bill Gates in?
The threshold to be among the ten wealthiest people in the world is having at least $141 billion but the person at the top has almost twice that much.
Getting to the top typically requires time, dedication and being in the right place at the right time. There are quite a few that have been fortunate enough have amassed wealth beyond the wildest imagination to become billionaires. But that wealth is not generally in a bank account per say, but stored in the financial assets that they’ve accumulated.
According to Forbes, there are now more billionaires, 2,781, than ever in the world, 26 more than the last record setting year, 2021. But there are some that have gone well beyond simple building a fortune above the billion-dollar mark. In order to be among the top ten, one needs to have at least $141 billion and the top three have more than $200 billion to their name.
The 10 richest billionaires in the world in 2024: What position are Elon Musk, Zuckerberg and Bill Gates in?
Of the top ten richest billionaires, all but two made their fortunes in technology.
One of those, Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha, held the title of the world’s richest person for much of the late 1990s and into the 2000s. His value investing approach and prophetic acumen to building wealth over the past 60 years resulted in his ownership, through Berkshire Hathaway, an investing conglomerate, of substantial stakes in several of America’s largest companies.
He has dedicated a large portion of the wealth he has accumulated to philanthropic efforts, teaming up with fellow top ten lister and co-founder of Microsoft to donate large chunks of wealth to the Gates Foundation. Currently Buffet has $144 billion and is Number Nine on the list of the 10 richest billionaires in the world in 2024.
He and Bill Gates switched places a couple of times at the top of the richest billionaires list. Currently, Gates has a fortune of $162 billion and sits at Number Six on the list. The other founder of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, holds the position of eighth richest billionaire in the world according to Bloomberg with $145 billion to his name.
Below them, at Number Ten, is Sergey Brin with a meager $141 billion. Brin, along with Larry Page, started Google, now Alphabet, in a garage in Silicon Valley. Page for his part has done slightly better over the years, amassing a fortune that stands at $150 billion. He comes in seventh out of the top ten.
When Bloomberg’s list came out, Larry Ellison was in fifth place with $180 billion. However, a stroke of luck at the beginning of September catapulted him to second place when the stock of Oracle, the software company he co-founded with Bob Miner and Ed Oates, saw a bump in value.
Previously one position above him was Bernaud Arnault who is worth $196 billion. The French businessman founded LVMH, a luxury conglomerate that owns several French fashion brands and is one of the biggest companies in Europe.
Topping out the list, prior to Ellison’s leap, are Mark Zuckerberg with $203 billion, Jeff Bezos with $208 billion and Elon Musk with $262 billion.
However, as all of these billionaires’ wealth, and those who didn’t make the top ten, is based on the assets, generally shares in their companies and others, that they possess, all these billionaires can see large swings in what their net worth is.