The 8 Richest People in the World

Global Economy

Almost a quarter of the richest people in world made their fortunes in technology and the majority of the world’s richest people were self-made billionaires. Here are the 8 richest people in world, their net worth, country where they reside and the industry in which they earned their fortune.

1. Bill Gates

  • Net worth-$87.4 billion
  • Country-USA
  • Self-Made
  • Industry-Tech

His source of wealth was self-made as the co-founder of Microsoft. Gates still sits on the board of Microsoft, however, he is no longer actively involved in the company.

2. Amancio Ortega

  • Net worth-$66.8 billion
  • Country-Spain
  • Self-Made
  • Industry-Fashion

At the age of 14, Ortega started as a delivery boy for a small town dress shop and now controls Inditex, one of the largest fashion empires on earth.

3. Warren Buffett

  • Net worth-$60.7 billion
  • Country-USA
  • Self-Made
  • Industry-Diversified investments

Warren Buffett purchased his first shares in the stock market at the age of 11. He bought shares in Cities Service Preferred at $38 each and sold them for a profit of $5. He worked as a securities analyst before starting his own investment firm and buying Berkshire Hathaway, a textile company. His portfolio includes investments in Dairy Queen, General Motors, Coca-Cola, Fruit of the Loom, Geico and American Express.

4. Jeff Bezos

  • Net worth-$56.6 Billion
  • Country-USA
  • Self-Made
  • Industry-Tech

In 1994, Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com in his garage and operated it as an online book retailer. In 1997, the company went public and now includes everything from food to electronics. In 2014, Amazon.com generated $89 billion in sales. Bezos also has investments in Blue Origin, his privately owned space company, which launched its first spacecraft in 2015 and the Washington Post newspaper that he bought in 2013. In 2016, Bezos invested millions in a company that is creating one blood test that will detect every form of cancer.

5. David Koch

  • Net worth-$47.4 billion
  • Country-USA
  • Self-made
  • Industry-diversified investments

David Koch is the executive vice president of Koch Industries, which manufactures a range of products, including fertilizer, asphalt, Dixie Cups and Biodiesel. Koch is one of the worlds most generous donators and has pledged to contribute more than $1.2 billion to hospitals, education, cancer research and cultural institutions.

6. Charles Koch

  • Net worth-$46.8 billion
  • Country-USA
  • Self-made
  • Industry-diversified investments

Charles Koch, brother to David Koch, is the chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, which is the second-largest private company in America. The company generates $115 billion in sales and employs 100,000 people.

7. Larry Ellison

  • Net worth-$45.3 billion
  • Country-USA
  • Self-made
  • Industry-tech

In 1977, Larry Ellison and two colleagues started a programming firm. The company landed a contract to build a database-management system for the CIA. The contracted project was known as project code Oracle, which grew into the company that is known today as the Oracle Corp. Oracle Corporation is the second largest software maker. Ellison reduced his salary in 2010 from $1 million to $1, but with his stock awards, he still takes in over $60 million in compensation.

8. Mark Zuckerberg

  • Net Worth-$42.8 billion
  • Country-USA
  • Self-made
  • Industry-technology

In 2004, 19-year old Mark Zuckerberg launched TheFacebook.com, which is now a popular social network known as Facebook. Currently Facebook attracts more than one-billion users a day and is worth more than $275 billion. Zuckerberg is now 31 years old and the youngest of the richest people in the world.

The individual listed above are 2016’s eight richest people in the world.  But, have you ever been curious about who the richest person of all time was? The richest person of all time was Mansa Musa. Musa was born in 1280 and lived until 1337 and his fortune was worth $400 billion.

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