For almost 40 years, Forbes has been counting and documenting the wealthiest people in the world. The first billionaire list included only 140 names when it was first published in 1987. Eventually, more people, due to a booming global economy and growing industries, became billionaires. The cumulative net worth of these billionaires amounts to $16.1 trillion, which is nearly $2 trillion more than in 2024. This increase is further evidence of high net worth individuals’ ability to hang on to their wealth even in unstable economic situations. The U.S. continues to be the strongest representation in this club, now with a record of 902 billionaires in 2025. This demonstrates that the U.S. economy is stable, and tech companies, banks, and entrepreneurs continue to create enormous wealth. China (including Hong Kong) has the second most billionaires, with 516. India is now in third, with 205 billionaires, which clearly demonstrates the growing influence of that country on the world stage. The data is based on stock quotes and exchange rates as of March 7, 2025. Financial markets are always changing, so Forbes will have the updated net worth of all 3,028 billionaires through its ongoing live tracking of their net worth. The fact that billionaires continue to collectively accumulate wealth indicates that the process of creating wealth at a global level continues to grow. Wealth is being created across the economy and in various sectors such as tech, finance, retail, and manufacturing. The issue of economic inequality is still an active point of discussion; yet the rising worth of billionaires demonstrates that there are tremendous opportunities available to everyone in a global economy. Hete is the list of Top 10 richest billionaires of the world in 2025.
10. Steve Ballmer ($118 B)-
The dynamic and enthusiastic Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft, led the technology giant from 2000 to 2014, having started with Microsoft as its 30th employee in 1980, and left Stanford’s MBA program to do so. After the dot-com bust, Ballmer guided Microsoft. He also guided Microsoft in competing with Google in the search engine space and Apple in mobile. The same year he exited the company, he paid $2 billion for the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, which Forbes reported is now worth $4.65 billion. Since leaving Microsoft in 2014, Ballmer's charitable endeavors have zeroed in on philanthropy, and the Ballmer Family has directed over $4 billion to the charitable effort. In 2022, he and his wife, Connie, committed to provide $425 million to the University of Oregon for a new institute focused on tackling issues associated with children's behavioral and mental health in the Oregon state.
9. Amancio Ortega ($124 B)-
Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega is one of the most successful clothiers in the world.A pioneer in fast fashion, Ortega co-founded Inditex—most famous for its Zara brand—in 1975 with his late ex-wife, Rosalia Mera.Ortega owns about 60% of Inditex, a publicly traded business based in Madrid with eight brands—Massimo Dutti and Pull & Bear among them—and 5,000 stores worldwide.His daughter, Marta Ortega Pérez, became chairwoman of Inditex in 2022 after 15 years with the company.Ortega, who receives more than $400 million a year in dividends, invests most of his wealth in real estate throughout Europe and North America.
8. Sergey Brin ($138 B)-
In December 2019, Sergey Brin resigned from his position as president of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, although he still holds a seat on the board and has a controlling shareholding in the business.Brin is originally from Russia and immigrated to the United States when he was six years old, with his family fleeing anti-Semitic discrimination.Brin was a cofounder of Google with Larry Page in 1998. He and Page met when they were both doctoral candidates in computer science at Stanford University.Google went public in 2004 and its corporate structure was reorganized through having a newly established parent company called Alphabet, in 2015.Rumors are circulating that Brin has invested $250 million in a company that focuses on developing airship technologies called LTA Research.
7. Larry Page ($144 B)-
In 2019, Larry Page, an innovative entrepreneur and co-founder stepped down as Alphabet's CEO— what has been pitched as Google's parent company—but maintained a board of directors and a controlling interest with a proper level of ownership and influence over the company's future. Page has had significant influence at Google and Alphabet in making the company what it is today. He had served as CEO until 2001, when the company hired Eric Schmidt to take over the role. He second became the CEO again in 2011 after Google began to rapidly expand in an age of explosive growth. In 2015, during a corporate restructuring, he was elevated to the position of CEO of Alphabet, a company created to oversee Google and the rapidly growing subsidiaries of the corporate portfolio. While Page doesn't operate the business on a day-to-day basis anymore, he is still heavily engaged as a principle part of the direction of Alphabet. As an innovator, that legacy lives on, as he invests and works on a long list of futuristic projects that push technology into the next boundaries.
6. Warren Buffett ($154 B)
Warren Buffett, commonly known as the "Oracle of Omaha," is one of the most successful investors ever.As chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, he presides over a large conglomerate that includes major brands like Geico, Duracell and Dairy Queen restaurants.The son of a congressman, Buffett bought his first stock when he was only 11 years old and he filed his first tax return when he was just age 13.He is committed to philanthropy and has pledged to donate 99% of his wealth. In total, he has donated about $62 billion, with the majority of his support going to the Gates Foundation and the philanthropic efforts of his kids.Buffett co-founded the Giving Pledge in 2010 with Bill Gates, encouraging billionaires to donate at least half their wealth to philanthropy.
5. Bernard Arnault & family ($178 B)-
Bernard Arnault is chairman of LVMH, the leading global luxury company with a portfolio of 75 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora.LVMH made headlines in 2021 when it announced plans to buy U.S. jeweler Tiffany & Co for $15.8 billion in what is considered the largest acquisition of a luxury brand ever. Through his holding company Agache, Arnault is a backer of the venture capital company Aglaé Ventures which counts Netflix and ByteDance – the parent company of TikTok - among its investments.With a family background in construction, Arnault used $15 million from his father’s construction business to buy Christian Dior in 1984 to position himself in the luxury market. All five of his children have roles at LVMH, and in July 2022, he suggested a restructuring of Agache into a limited partnership.LVMH was also a key sponsor of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games, and Arnault contributed along with his - company a total of 200 million euros to the restoration of Notre Dame cathedral and the building reopened in December 2024.
4. Larry Ellison ($192 B)-
Larry Ellison is the cofounder, chairman, and chief technology officer of Oracle, the software conglomerate in which he owns an estimated 40 percent of the company.After serving as CEO for 37 years, he relinquished CEO duties in 2014 but remains involved in the company's direction.Oracle has grown substantially by acquiring numerous companies, with the largest acquisition to date being $28.3 billion for electronic health records company Cerner in 2021.In 2020, Ellison made a permanent move to the Hawaiian island of Lanai, which he acquired almost entirely in 2012 for $300 million.Larry Ellison was on Tesla's board from December 2018 until August 2022. Upon resigning as a director, Ellison owned 45 million split-adjusted shares of Tesla stock while serving as a board member.
3. Jeff Bezos ($215 B)-
In 1994, Jeff Bezos founded the online commerce giant Amazon from the garage of his Seattle, Washington, home.He led the company for about 30 years, until he stepped down as CEO in July 2021, when he transitioned to executive chairman while still holding slightly less than 10% of the company.After he divorced from his wife, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, in 2019, after approximately 25 years of marriage, Jeff Bezos gave a quarter of his then-16% stake in Amazon to Scott as part of the divorce settlement.In 2020, Bezos, who is an advocate for the environment as well, committed to contributing $10 billion to various environmental efforts via the Bezos Earth Fund. He had already distributed around $2 billion to various climate grant recipients.In addition to Amazon, he also owns the Washington Post and is the owner of Blue Origin, a private aerospace firm which focuses on making rockets, and in July of 2021, he launched himself into space on one of Blue Origin's rockets.In November of 2022, in an interview with CNN, Bezos stated his plan to give away most of his fortune while he is still alive, although he provided no details.
2. Mark Zuckerberg ($216 B)-
Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook at the age of 19 in 2004 as a way for students to meet by matching its members with photos of their classmates. In 2012, he took the company public and presently owns about 13% of Facebook's stock. In 2021, Facebook changed its name to Meta as it began the process of developing the metaverse. In 2015, Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan pledged that they would give away 99% of their shares in Meta during their lifetimes to philanthropy.
1. Elon Musk ($342 B)-
Elon Musk has co-founded seven companies, including Tesla, the electric vehicle manufacturer, SpaceX, the commercial rocket company, and xAI, a company investigating artificial intelligence. He holds an estimated 12% of Tesla's shares, not including any options, but has pledged more than half of his shares in the company, as collateral for personal loans that total an estimated $3.5 billion based on the pledged collateral.In early 2024, a judge in Delaware voided the agreement that Musk had made regarding stock options for 9% more Tesla stock that he agreed to in 2018. Forbes has declared that the stock options have been reduced by half while he is appealing.SpaceX was founded in 2002. SpaceX has an estimated valuation of $350 billion following a private sale of shares in December 2024; Musk has an estimated ownership stake in the company of 42%.In 2022, he purchased Twitter for an enterprise value of $44 billion and rebranded the platform as X. As of August 2024, Forbes has estimated that the company's value has fallen by nearly 70%.Musk owns an estimated 54% of xAI, which is the artificial intelligence company he founded in 2023. According to a report in November 2024, private investors have valued xAI at $50 billion.
