The Richest People in the World in 2024
The combined wealth of the 10 richest individuals in the world amounts to $1.44 trillion.
Using data from Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List, we provide a snapshot of the richest people in the world as of February 2024.
Bernard Arnault Ahead of Elon Musk
Bernard Arnault overtook Elon Musk as the richest person in 2024 due to a 21% decline in Musk’s wealth, from $245.3 billion to $194.6 billion.
The billionaire chairman and CEO of the global luxury goods company LVMH runs dozens of luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Sephora, and Tiffany & Co. The French businessman also has investments in businesses such as Netflix and ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.
The cumulative net worth of the top five richest individuals grew 4% in 2023, to $904.9 billion.
Among women, the richest person, L’Oréal’s Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, saw her fortune grow by $1.2 billion in 2023.
In China, Zhong Shanshan, the chairman and founder of bottled water and beverage producer Nongfu Spring, remains the country’s richest person with a net worth of $60.5 billion.
In India, the list is topped by Mukesh Ambani. The chairman of Reliance Industries, which has interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom, retail, and financial services, has a $102.1 billion fortune.
How Fortunes Have Changed
Just as in 2023, Mark Zuckerberg saw the most significant growth in his fortune among the top 10 richest individuals. The Facebook co-founder’s net worth surged by over $45 billion by February 2024 compared to November 2023, after Meta’s latest results far exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, sending its shares up.
Zuckerberg’s net worth growth of 39% moved him from 7th to 4th, overtaking Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Larry Ellison.
Meanwhile, Larry Ellison, Oracle’s chief technology officer and former CEO, saw his net worth retreat by $3 billion after the company reported disappointing revenue in 2023.
Dataset
| Rank | Richest Overall | Net Worth | Source | Country |
| 1 | Bernard Arnault & family | $212.1B | LVMH | France |
| 2 | Elon Musk | $194.6B | Tesla, SpaceX | United States |
| 3 | Jeff Bezos | $192.4B | Amazon | United States |
| 4 | Mark Zuckerberg | $161.8B | United States | |
| 5 | Larry Ellison | $144.0B | Oracle | United States |
| 6 | Warren Buffett | $128.7B | Berkshire Hathaway | United States |
| 7 | Bill Gates | $123.1B | Microsoft | United States |
| 8 | Larry Page | $120.3B | United States | |
| 9 | Steve Ballmer | $119.2B | Microsoft | United States |
| 10 | Sergey Brin | $115.4B | United States | |
| Rank | Richest Women | Net Worth | Source | Country |
| 1 | Francoise Bettencourt Meyers & family | $99.5B | L'Oréal | France |
| 2 | Alice Walton | $64.8B | Walmart | United States |
| 3 | Julia Koch & family | $60.1B | Koch Industries | United States |
| 4 | Jacqueline Mars | $39.8B | Candy, pet food | United States |
| 5 | MacKenzie Scott | $34.5B | Amazon | United States |
| 6 | Miriam Adelson & family | $33.8B | Casinos | United States |
| 7 | Gina Rinehart | $30.2B | Mining | Australia |
| 8 | Rafaela Aponte-Diamant | $30.0B | Shipping | Switzerland |
| 9 | Savitri Jindal & family | $29.4B | Steel | India |
| 10 | Abigail Johnson | $28.6B | Fidelity | United States |
| Rank | Richest in China | Net Worth | Source | Country |
| 1 | Zhong Shanshan | $60.5B | Beverages, pharmaceuticals | China |
| 2 | Zhang Yiming | $43.4B | TikTok | China |
| 3 | Colin Huang | $42.7B | E-commerce | China |
| 4 | William Ding | $32.0B | Online games | China |
| 5 | Ma Huateng | $30.8B | Online games | China |
| 6 | Jack Ma | $24.6B | E-commerce | China |
| 7 | He Xiangjian & family | $23.0B | Home appliances | China |
| 8 | Eric Li | $14.5B | Automobiles | China |
| 9 | Qin Yinglin | $14.3B | Pig breeding | China |
| 10 | Wang Wei | $12.9B | Package delivery | China |
| Rank | Richest in India | Net Worth | Source | Country |
| 1 | Mukesh Ambani | $112.1B | Diversified | India |
| 2 | Gautam Adani | $79.0B | Infrastructure, commodities | India |
| 3 | Shiv Nadar | $34.9B | software services | India |
| 4 | Savitri Jindal & family | $29.4B | Steel | India |
| 5 | Cyrus Poonawalla | $25.2B | Vaccines | India |
| 6 | Dilip Shanghvi | $24.4B | Pharmaceuticals | India |
| 7 | Kumar Birla | $19.6B | Commodities | India |
| 8 | Kushal Pal Singh | $17.9B | Real estate | India |
| 9 | Lakshmi Mittal | $16.7B | Steel | India |
| 10 | Radhakishan Damani | $16.7B | Retail, investments | India |
| Rank | Richest in Tech | Net Worth | Source | Country |
| 1 | Jeff Bezos | $192.4B | Amazon | United States |
| 2 | Mark Zuckerberg | $161.8B | United States | |
| 3 | Larry Ellison | $144.0B | Oracle | United States |
| 4 | Bill Gates | $123.1B | Microsoft | United States |
| 5 | Larry Page | $120.3B | United States | |
| 6 | Steve Ballmer | $119.2B | Microsoft | United States |
| 7 | Sergey Brin | $115.4B | United States | |
| 8 | Michael Dell | $72.9B | Dell Technologies | United States |
| 9 | Jensen Huang | $61.4B | Nvidia | United States |
| 10 | Zhang Yiming | $43.4B | TikTok | China |
| Rank | Richest in Finance | Net Worth | Source | Country |
| 1 | Warren Buffett | $128.7B | Berkshire Hathaway | United States |
| 2 | Michael Bloomberg | $96.3B | Bloomberg LP | United States |
| 3 | Ken Griffin | $37.2B | Hedge funds | United States |
| 4 | Stephen Schwarzman | $36.8B | Investments | United States |
| 5 | Jim Simons | $30.7B | Hedge funds | United States |
| 8 | Thomas Peterffy | $29.4B | Discount brokerage | United States |
| 6 | Jeff Yass | $28.9B | Trading, investments | United States |
| 7 | Abigail Johnson | $28.3B | Fidelity | United States |
| 9 | R. Budi Hartono | $25.8B | Banking, tobacco | Indonesia |
| 10 | Daniel Gilbert | $24.8B | Quicken Loans | United States |
| Rank | Richest in Media | Net Worth | Source | Country |
| 1 | David Thomson & family | $62.0B | Media | Canada |
| 2 | Rupert Murdoch & family | $18.6B | Newspapers, TV network | United States |
| 3 | Donald Newhouse | $11.2B | Media | United States |
| 4 | John Malone | $9.9B | Cable television | United States |
| 5 | David Geffen | $8.1B | Movies, record labels | United States |
| 6 | Dmitri Bukhman | $6.8B | Online games | Israel |
| 7 | Igor Bukhman | $6.8B | Online games | Israel |
| 8 | Blair Parry-Okeden | $6.4B | Media, automotive | United States |
| 9 | Jim Kennedy | $6.4B | Media, automotive | United States |
| 10 | Mark Cuban | $6.2B | Online media, Dallas Mavericks | United States |
| Rank | Richest in Sports | Net Worth | Source | Country |
| 1 | Stanley Kroenke | $15.7B | Sports, real estate | United States |
| 2 | Jerry Jones | $13.6B | Dallas Cowboys | United States |
| 3 | Robert Kraft | $11.1B | Manufacturing, New England Patriots | United States |
| 4 | Arthur Blank | $8.2B | Home Depot | United States |
| 5 | Stephen Bisciotti | $7.2B | Staffing, Baltimore Ravens | United States |
| 6 | Gayle Benson | $6.1B | New Orleans Saints | United States |
| 7 | Denise York & family | $5.8B | San Francisco 49ers | United States |
| 8 | Janice McNair | $5.6B | Energy, sports | United States |
| 9 | John Henry | $5.1B | Sports | United States |
| 10 | Arturo Moreno | $4.9B | Billboards, Los Angeles Angels | United States |
