The World's Billionaires 2015 edition was the 29th annual ranking of The World's Billionaires by Forbes magazine. The list estimated the net worth of the world's richest people. The new list was released online on March 2, 2015. As of 2015, Bill Gates had been placed at the top of this list 16 times.
Annual list Bill Gates was again named the richest person in the world in Forbes Magazine's annual list of the world's billionaires. This is the 16th time that the founder of Microsoft has claimed the top spot. Carlos Slim, Mexican business magnate, came in second as he had in 2014. Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway placed third while the founder of Zara, Amancio Ortega of Spain, slipped down a position from last year to number four. Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle rounded off the top five. Christy Walton was the highest ranking female at number eight. America's Evan Spiegel, co-founder of photo messaging app Snapchat, became the youngest billionaire this year at the age of 24. At age 99, David Rockefeller maintained his position as the oldest billionaire to make the list.
In the 29th annual list of global billionaires, ist.cord 1,826 billionaires were named with an aggregated net worth of $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion in 2014. 46 of the billionaires on the list are under the age of 40. A record number of 290 people joined the list for the first time, of whom 25% hail from China, which produced a world-leading 71 newcomers. The United States came in second, with 57, followed by India, with 28, and Germany, with 23. Mark Zuckerberg, the social media magnate and founder of Facebook, was placed at number 16 with $33.4 billion. Self-made billionaires made up the largest number of people on the list with 1,191 positions while just 230 came into their wealth through inheritance. The number of billionaires who inherited a portion but are still working to increase their fortunes is 405.
The United States has the largest number of billionaires. The number of Russian billionaires declined the most; being down to 76 billionaires from 111 of 2014. Russia is now placed behind China, Germany and India. Iceland again has a billionaire in the list after a gap of five years with the entry of Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson. Guatemala has a billionaire, Mario Lopez Estrada, for the first time in history.
Monarchs and other royalty are not included in the list.
Wealth rankings Legend Icon DescriptionHas not changed from the previous year's listHas increased from the previous year's listHas decreased from the previous year's list
No. name Net worth (USD) Age Citizenship Source(s) of wealth Image $79.2 billion 60United StatesMicrosoft $77.1 billion 75MexicoTelmex $72.7 billion 84United StatesBerkshire Hathaway $64.5 billion 78SpainInditex Group $54.3 billion 70United StatesOracle Corporation $42.9 billion 79United StatesKoch Industries $42.9 billion 74United StatesKoch Industries $41.7 billion 60United StatesWal-Mart $40.6 billion 66United StatesWal-Mart $40.1 billion 92FranceL'Oreal
Top 100 No.NameCitizenshipAgeNet Worth USD billionSource(s) of wealth1Bill GatesUnited States5979.20Microsoft2Carlos Slim HeluMexico7577.10Telecom3Warren BuffettUnited States8472.70Berkshire Hathaway4Amancio OrtegaSpain7864.50Zara5Larry EllisonUnited States7054.30Oracle6Charles KochUnited States7942.90Diversified6David KochUnited States7442.90Diversified8Christy WaltonUnited States6041.70Wal-Mart9Jim WaltonUnited States6740.60Wal-Mart10Liliane BettencourtFrance9240.10L'Oréal11Alice WaltonUnited States6539.40Wal-Mart12S. Robson WaltonUnited States7139.10Wal-Mart13Bernard ArnaultFrance6637.20LVMH14Michael BloombergUnited States7335.50Bloomberg LP15Jeff BezosUnited States5134.80Amazon.com16Mark ZuckerbergUnited States3033.40Facebook17Li Ka-shingHong Kong8633.30Diversified18Sheldon AdelsonUnited States8131.40Casinos19Larry PageUnited States4129.70Google20Sergey BrinUnited States4129.20Google21Georg SchaefflerGermany5026.90Ball bearings22Forrest Mars, Jr.United States8326.60Food22Jacqueline MarsUnited States7526.60Food22John Franklyn MarsUnited States7826.60Food25David ThomsonCanada5725.50Media26Jorge Paulo LemannBrazil7525.00Beer27Lee Shau KeeHong Kong8724.80Real estate28Stefan PerssonSweden6724.50H&M29George SorosUnited States8424.20Hedge funds29Wang JianlinChina6024.20Real Estate31Carl IcahnUnited States7923.50Investments32Maria Franca FissoloItaly9723.40Nutella, chocolates33Jack MaChina5022.70E-commerce34Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal AlsaudSaudi Arabia5922.60Investments35Steve BallmerUnited States5821.50Microsoft35Phil KnightUnited States7721.50Nike37Beate Heister & Karl Albrecht Jr.Germanyn/a21.30Supermarkets38Li HejunChina4721.10Solar power equipment39Mukesh AmbaniIndia5721.00Petrochemicals, oil & gas40Leonardo Del VecchioItaly7920.40Eyeglasses41Len BlavatnikUnited States5720.20Diversified41Tadashi YanaiJapan6620.20Retail43Charles ErgenUnited States6220.10Dish Network44Dilip ShanghviIndia5920.00Pharmaceuticals45Laurene Powell JobsUnited States5119.50Apple, Disney46Dieter SchwarzGermany7519.40Retail47Michael DellUnited States5019.20Dell48Azim PremjiIndia6919.10Software49Theo Albrecht, Jr.Germany6419.00Aldi, Trader Joe's50Michael OttoGermany7118.10Retail, real estate51Paul AllenUnited States6217.50Microsoft, investments52Joseph SafraBrazil7617.30Banking53Anne Cox ChambersUnited States9517.00Media54Susanne KlattenGermany5216.80 BMW, pharmaceuticals55Pallonji MistryIreland8516.30Construction56Ma HuatengChina4316.10Internet media57Patrick DrahiFrance5116.00Telecom58Thomas & Raymond KwokHong Kongn/a15.90Real estate59Stefan QuandtGermany4815.60BMW60Ray DalioUnited States6515.40Hedge funds60Vladimir PotaninRussia5415.40Metals62Serge DassaultFrance8915.30Aviation62Robin LiChina4615.30Internet search64Donald BrenUnited States8215.20Real estate65Francois PinaultFrance7814.90Retail66Shiv NadarIndia6914.80Information technology67Aliko DangoteNigeria5714.70Cement, sugar, flour68Mikhail FridmanRussia5014.60Oil, banking, telecom69Hinduja brothersUnited Kingdomn/a14.50Diversified69Ronald PerelmanUnited States7214.50Leveraged buyouts71Cheng Yu-tungHong Kong8914.40Diversified71Alisher UsmanovRussia6114.40Steel & mining, telecom, investments73Henry SyPhilippines9014.20Diversified73Viktor VekselbergRussia5714.20Metals, energy75Masayoshi SonJapan5714.10Internet, telecom76James SimonsUnited States7614.00Hedge funds77German Larrea Mota VelascoMexico6113.90Mining77Rupert MurdochUnited States8313.90Media77Johanna QuandtGermany8813.90BMW80David & Simon ReubenUnited Kingdom7213.70Investments, real estate81Dhanin ChearavanontThailand7513.60Food82Iris FontbonaChile7213.50Mining82Lui Che WooHong Kong8513.50Casinos82Lakshmi MittalIndia6413.50Steel85Abigail JohnsonUnited States5313.40Money management85Luis Carlos SarmientoColombia8213.40Banking87Lei JunChina4513.20Smartphones87Charoen SirivadhanabhakdiThailand7013.20Beverages89Alexey MordashovRussia4913.00Steel, investments89Marcel Herrmann TellesBrazil6513.00Beer91Gerald Cavendish GrosvenorUnited Kingdom6312.60Real estate92Hans RausingSweden8812.50Packaging92Jack TaylorUnited States9212.50Enterprise Rent-A-Car94Charles ButtUnited States7712.30Supermarkets94Gina RinehartAustralia6112.30Mining96Vagit AlekperovRussia6412.20Lukoil96Harold HammUnited States6912.20Oil & gas96Patrick Soon-ShiongUnited States6312.20Pharmaceuticals99Stefano PessinaItaly7312.10Drugstores100Richard KinderUnited States7012.00Pipelines100Elon MuskUnited States4312.00Tesla Motors100Stephen SchwarzmanUnited States6812.00Investments
See also List of wealthiest families
The World's Billionaires 2014
References