Ask a person, who is the richest man in the world? You are very likely to hear the name Bill Gates.
This stands true to this day, the Microsoft founder and philanthropist continues to be the richest man in the world, but what about his competitors who are classified amongst the richest of the World?
For that, Forbes released a list of the world’s billionaires ranked according to their worth in the year 2016. Here’s the list of the top ten people with the highest net worth in the world.
1. Bill Gates – Worth $75 Billion
The world’s richest man for 17 years and running. He is a renowned philanthropist and heads Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the biggest NGOs in the world.
Even though he founded Microsoft he continues to sell his shares in the company every year. He currently owns just 2.5% of Microsoft’s shares right now which he founded back in 1975.
2. Amancio Ortega – Worth $67 Billion
The second richest man in the world and the richest man in Europe (Spain).
He is the founder of Inditex, the largest clothing retailer in the world. He entered the textile manufacturing business back in 1963 with his family and later went on to establish Zara (a clothing brand) with his wife.
Louis Vuitton fashion director Daniel Piette called Inditex “possibly the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world.”
3. Warren Buffett – Worth $60.8 Billion
Just like Bill Gates is the richest in the world for several years now, Warren Buffett used to be the second richest and was overtaken only this year.
Owner, Chairman of the board and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Conglomerate, he is also a philanthropist like Bill Gates.
He annually “gifts” $2.9 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stocks to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Despite being a billionaire he lives in a humble house in Omaha, Nebraska which he bought for $31,500 back in 1958.
4. Carlos Slim Helu – Worth $50 Billion
The richest man in Mexico and the fourth richest in the world.
He owns America Movil, the biggest telecom company in Mexico. He also owns the largest stake in The New York Times with at 17%. He was the second richest man in the world back in 2015 with a worth of $77.1 Billion.
He was hard hit in 2015 and early 2016 by the Mexican telecom regulations, a weaker Mexican peso and economic decline in Brazil which caused his value to decline by a sharp $27.1 billion.
5. Jeff Bezos – Worth $45.2 Billion
The founder and CEO of the world’s biggest and most famous online store, Amazon.com.
He originally started by selling books online and has expanded over time to sell almost everything you could think of. Jeff is also the founder of an aerospace company, Blue Origin. At Blue Origin they’re developing a reusable space craft that can take people to space.
He is also an avid Star Trek fan and starred as an alien in the 2016 film, Star Trek Beyond.
6. Mark Zuckerberg – Worth $44.6 Billion
Almost everyone knows him. This is because he is the founder and CEO of the world’s biggest social networking platform Facebook.
Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan decided to give away 99% of Facebook’s stock over their lifetime to advance human potential. This was back in December 2015.
Since then the company’s stocks value has increased over 15% which resulted in Mark getting to 6th place in terms of wealth in the world.
7. Larry Ellison – $43.6 Billion
Founder and Owner of Oracle and currently the 7th richest man in the world.
He used to be the third richest but he dropped in ranking back in 2007 when he was overtaken by Oracle’s competitors in tech.
He started out by making databases for the Central Intelligence Agency of US. He founded Oracle in 1977 and made it a public entity in 1986, just a day before Microsoft became public.
Even though he gave up the CEO role in the company in 2014, he is still Oracle’s chairman and chief technology officer.
8. Michael Bloomberg – $40 Billion
The owner of Bloomberg L.P., a privately held financial software, data and media company which mostly focuses on business news online (at bloomberg.com)
He started with an entry level job in 1966 at a Wall Street investment bank called Salomon Brothers. He rose to head of equity trading and then head of information services until he was fired in 1981.
The same year he founded Bloomberg LP along with Tom Secunda, Chuck Zegar, and Duncan MacMillan.
He is also the ex-mayor of New York City and left his post in early 2015 to resume work at Bloomberg. His company made $9 Billion in revenues in 2014.
9th and 10th Charles Koch and David Koch – Worth $39.6 Billion
The Koch brothers inherited the oil and gas refinery business from their father in 1967 when he died.
Since then they expanded the firm into Koch Industries with $100 Billion in sales volume. Koch Industries indulges in chemicals manufacturing, pipelines and commodities trading.
The older brother Charles Koch inherited the company as the CEO initially. Now the brothers share control of the Koch Industries.
Charles publicly compared the 2016 presidential election candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as choosing between a cancer or a heart attack.
The younger brother holds the record of most points scored in a basketball game in MIT. David left the university as an all time scoring leader.
Honorary Mention
Shahid Khan, ranked #205th richest by Forbes – Worth $5.9 Billion
The only billionaire of Pakistani origin in the list of top 500 richest persons in the world (Forbes).
He started with just $500 in his pocket when he moved to the US at the age of 16. He got admission in University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and started working part time as dish washer at a local joint.
He is an engineer by trade and has come a long way from his humble beginnings. His break-through design for a one-piece truck bumper was what drove him to success.
He owns an automobile parts manufacturer Flex-N-Gate which has more than $5 Billion in sales.
He owns US National Football League’s Jacksonville Jaguars as well as Fulham FC which he bought in 2013.
