There are only 9 People in the World with Net Worths of over $100 billion

With Microsoft’s ex-CEO Steve Ballmer joining the roster of the centi-billionaire club, the list of the $100-billion club has now grown from eight to nine members.

It’s no surprise that the billionaires with a wealth of over $100 billion are mostly US-based. Jeff Bezos is the richest of all with over $210 billion wealth, followed by Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg. The Facebook CEO is followed by Google Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and Warren Buffett ranks eighth.

Read more about the $100 billion club here.

The richest people in the world:

Jeff Bezos

With a net worth of $210 billion, the Amazon founder leads the pack and is currently the wealthiest man on the planet. Bezos had rather humble beginnings. He founded Amazon out of his garage in 1994. Since then, Amazon has become the largest e-commerce website in the world. Amazon is also a dominant force in the streaming business, thanks to Prime. Bezos made big headlines during the pandemic as his wealth grew exponentially due to the online shopping surge. Bezos is an avid philanthropist. Synonymous with large donations, last year, Bezos gave away a whopping $10 billion to launch the Bezos earth fund. In fact, he stepped down as the CEO of Amazon to devote more time to philanthropy and other projects. Amongst other things, Bezos owns The Washington Post and Blue Origin, an aerospace company that is currently into making commercially viable rockets. In 2019, his divorce hit global headlines, after he transferred a quarter of his stake in Amazon to his wife Mackenzie.

Bernard Arnault

Europe’s richest man helms the legendary fashion group LVMH ( Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy). The group owns luxury labels such as Fendi, Christian Dior, and Givenchy. The rise of the fashion industry in China significantly boosted the revenue of LVHM in the first quarter of 2021. In January 2021, LVHM signed a deal with the American jeweller maker Tiffany & Co worth $15.8 billion. It is believed to be the largest luxury brand acquisition in history. Bernard Arnault got into fashion by raising $15 million from his dad’s small construction business. From the money earned, he bought Christan Dior in 1985. In addition to being a fashion tycoon, Arnault is also an art enthusiast. He is known to have several rare paintings from Pablo Picasso, Damien Hirst, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk loves innovation. The founder of Tesla and Space X is currently the third wealthiest man in the world with a net worth of $160 billion. Tesla is revolutionising land transportation with its range of high-tech, eco-friendly cars and with Space X, Musk has never been shy of exploring the outer universe. He was born in South Africa and later moved to Canada before settling in Los Angeles, US. He holds the citizenship of those three countries. Interestingly, this Stanford drop-out centibillionaire is also a bit of a TV personality having made cameos in shows like The Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons, and South Park.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates is a name long been associated with wealth and charity. The co-founder of Microsoft has a net worth of $129 billion, making him one of the richest people in the world. He is also the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the world’s largest charitable foundations. Gates first wrote a computer program at the age of 13, and in 1975, he founded Microsoft. Bill Gates is not a person you often see in the public eye and is known to live a relatively simple lifestyle. In March 2020, Gates stepped down from the Microsoft board, amassing 1% of the company’s shares. In May 2021, Bill and Melinda Gates announced their divorce, but the couple has pledged to continue co-chairing the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Mark Zuckerberg

The Facebook founder has a net worth of $126 billion. By his sophomore year at Harvard, Zuckerberg had already found expertise in computer programming. He had developed two softwares – CourseMatch and FaceMash. In 2004, he founded Facebook and today, along with Instagram, which it owns, Zuckerberg runs two of the most powerful social media sites in the world. In 2015, Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan pledged to donate 99% of their net worth during their lifetime. Zuckerberg was caught in the eye of the storm in 2018 when it was alleged that Facebook had shared users’ data with the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.

Larry Ellison

Larry Ellison is the chief technology officer and co-founder of Oracle. He commands a net worth of $110 billionm, making him one of the richest people in the world. A leader in Customer relationship Software, Oracle is amongst the most illustrious names in the technology space. In March 2018, Ellison founded Sensei, a wellness startup. In the same year, he was named to the board of Tesla. Unlike some of his more humble billionaire contemporaries, Ellison is known for his extravagant splurges. However, he does not ignore philanthropy. He has announced that he would give away 95% of his wealth through a private trust.

Larry Page

Larry Page co-founded Google with Sergey Brin in 1998. Page held the CEO position of Google till 2011, before becoming the CEO of Google’s new parent company, Alphabet. He stepped down as the CEO of Alphabet in 2019 but remains a controlling shareholder and board member. Page is a founding investor for Planetary Resources, a company that specialises in space explorations. He has also entered the flying car business by investing in two related companies – Kitty Hawk and Opener.

Sergey Brin

The Google co-founder, like Larry Page, stepped down from Alphabet in 2019 from his role as the President. Though, he remains a controlling shareholder and a board member of the company. Sergey Brin met Larry Page when he was pursuing his PhD at Stanford University. The duo built a search engine as a part of their PhD requirement, but it ended up becoming so popular on the Stanford campus that the two left their PhD aspirations to devote time to their start-up Google. In 2017, Brin caught the media attention by participating in a protest against Donald Trump’s immigration policies at the San Francisco International Airport. Speaking of his current business ventures, Brin is reportedly working on an advanced air-ship project.

Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett is widely believed to be the most successful investor in the 20th century, and definitely one of the richest people in the world. With a net worth of over $101 billion, Buffet is at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway, a group encompassing more than 60 companies from diverse lines of business. Buffett started at the tender age of 11, and he started filing taxes at the age of 13. Buffett is big with charity. He has given more than $41 billion to various foundations, including Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He has pledged to donate 99% of his wealth to charity. In 2010, Buffet and Bill Gates launched “Giving Pledge”, urging the ultra-rich to donate at least half of their wealth to society.

(Main image credit: Shutterstock)

This story first appeared on Lifestyle Asia India.