Louis Vuitton boss Bernard Arnault becomes richest man in the world worth $211BN as number of billionaires drops but they’re still worth $12.2trillion: Musk, Bezos and Gates make top 10 and Le Bron James and Jimmy Buffett join ranks for the first time
- Elon Musk is now the second richest celebrity in the world
- Newcomers have landed on the list, such as Red Bull’s Mark Mateschitz
Frenchman Bernard Arnault has dethroned former number one on Forbes’ richest billionaires list, Elon Musk.
Musk, 51, is now just the second richest billionaire in the world, falling to Arnault, 74 the chairman of French luxury goods giant LVMH — which owns brands like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Tiffany & Co.
The two had been trading places on the outlet’s daily Real-Time Billionaires list over the past few months, but Arnault superseded the Tesla billionaire after his net worth grew more than $50billion to $211billion.
The number of billionaires in the world has dropped to 2,640 this year, but the richest people are still worth $12.2 trillion according to Forbes Billionaires 2023.
Elsewhere on the top ten list are the likes of Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, 92, Microsoft Founder Bill Gates, 67 and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, 59.
Musk and Arnault had been trading places on the outlet’s daily Real-Time Billionaires list over the past few months, but Arnault superseded the Tesla billionaire after his net worth grew more than $50billion to $211billion
The latest addition to the top 50 is Austrian Mark Mateschitz, 30, worth $34.7 billion, who inherited his father Dietrich Mateschitz’ company Red Bull.
The 2,640 billionaires on Forbes’ 2023 edition hail from 77 countries around the globe, up from 75 last year.
The two new additions are Panama and Armenia, who both added one billionaire.
Mark Mateschitz (left) inherited Red Bull from his father and founder Dietrich Mateschitz (right)
Stanley Motta, a Panamanian investor whose portfolio of Latin American companies includes Panamanian bank Banco General, joins the list, as does Ruben Vardanyan, an Armenian investment banker and politician who made his fortune in Russia during the 1990s (and who last year renounced his Russian citizenship).
The U.S. again maintains its reign as home to the most billionaires, at 735–the same number as last year. Despite nearly 50 Americans, including Kanye West and Sam Bankman-Fried, dropping from the ranks and some dying, more than 60 U.S. citizens joined the billionaire ranks for the first time this year, including LeBron James and Jimmy Buffett.
James is the first active NBA player to become a billionaire and has raked in upwards of $900 million off the court, from business ventures and endorsement deals with the likes of PepsiCo, Walmart and his lifetime sponsor, Nike.
Meanwhile singer-songwriter Buffett turned his classic 1977 song ‘Margaritaville’ into the Margaritaville Holdings empire; he now holds a 28% stake worth an estimated $180 million.
Founded by Buffett in 1985, Margaritaville began to offer resorts, restaurants, housing and more.
Additionally, Rihanna, Jay-Z and Kim Kardashian have been the ones to lead the stars on Forbes’ billionaire list.
See the official list of the world’s top 20 billionaires according to Forbes in 2023.
1. Bernard Arnault (France)
$211 Billion – LVMH Empire
Bernard Arnault, 74, became the world’s richest man this year after his net worth exceeded $200 billion.
The Frenchman first appeared on Forbes’ billionaires list in 1997, when he was worth just $3.6billion.
Bernard Arnault, 74, became the world’s richest man this year after his net worth exceeded $200 billion
But as revenues grew at the more than 70 luxury brands he owns, Arnault was able to vault into the top 20 richest people by 2005, when he was worth $17billion.
For the past three years, Forbes reports, he has been trailing Musk and Bezos in third place on the World Billionaire’s list, but he was able to surpass his competitors in 2022 when shares of LVMH climbed 35 percent and he pulled in revenues of $21.7billion — or €20billion.
Arnault is now planning his succession, proposing a reorganization of his holding company, Agache — which holds the bulk of his stock — to give equal shares to his five children.
In January last year, LVMH made a huge luxury fashion business deal after acquiring Tiffany & Co. for $15.8 billion, while Arnault then promoted his son to leadership of the American jeweler.
LVMH’s acquisition of Tiffany & Co. followed a bitter legal dispute. LVMH backed away as the COVID-19 pandemic hammered luxury goods sales, but ultimately renegotiated a discounted purchase price.
Arnault also invested in Netflix back in 1999 while he also entered the yacht business and bought Princess Yachts in 2008.
Arnault lives in a stunning 150-year-old castle in northwest Saint-Emilion in Bordeaux, France, that has belonged to the billionaire’s family since 1998, while he also owns stunning home in the ultra-prestigious Les Parcs de Saint-Tropez enclave.
2. Elon Musk (United States)
$180 Billion – Tesla, SpaceX
Elon Musk, 51, has been dethroned from the top spot of Forbes’ annual billionaire list following his decision to purchase Twitter for $44billion
Elon Musk, 51, has been dethroned from the top spot of Forbes’ annual billionaire list following his decision to purchase Twitter for $44billion.
He had earned the number one spot on Forbes World Billionaires list last year, when he had an estimated net worth of $216billion, overthrowing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Musk, who was born in South Africa and emigrated to Canada in the late 1980s, owns 21 per cent of Tesla, but about half of his shares were pledged as collateral for loans.
He started out his career by founding his own company – Zip2 – with his brother Kimbal, with the business focused on boosting media companies’ digital assets and building local city guides. In 1999, at the height of the dot com boom, they were bought for $307m by Compaq Computers. Musk took home $21m – he was 27.
3. Jeff Bezos (United States)
$114 billion – Amazon
Bezos’ $114 billion net worth represented a 1-spot drop, according to Forbes
Bezos’ $114 billion net worth represented a 1-spot drop, according to Forbes. The $57 billion reduction in his fortune over the year reportedly beat those seen by other billionaires on the 2023 list, including Musk.
Amazon, which has seen its stock price go down 38% in 12 months, commenced roughly 18,000 planned job cuts in January.
Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 from his garage in Seattle and stepped down as CEO of the company to become the executive chairman in July 2021.
In that year, Bezos sold $8.8 billion worth of his Amazon stock, meaning he now owns just under 10 per cent of the company.
Bezos also owns The Washington Post and Blue Origin, an aerospace company developing rockets.
4. Larry Ellison (United States)
Forbes reported Oracle chairman had a personal fortune of $107 billion
$107 billion – Oracle
Forbes reported Oracle chairman had a personal fortune of $107 billion. In 2022, he was the eighth richest on the list. His boost in rankings was aided by Oracle rise 10% year-over-year in stock price, according to the outlet.
Ellison owns around 35 per cent of software giant Oracle, where he is chairman and chief technology officer as well as co-founder.
He resigned as the CEO of the company in 2014 after 37 years.
Ellison joined Tesla’s board in December 2018, after purchasing 3 million Tesla shares earlier that year.
5. Warren Buffett (Unites States)
$106 billion – Berkshire Hathaway
Buffett holds the Number 5 spot with a fortune of $106 billion, marking a $12 billion drop from 2022
Buffett holds the Number 5 spot with a fortune of $106 billion, marking a $12 billion drop from 2022. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, recently moved to buy up more shares of energy company Occidental Petroleum.
Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska that owns outstanding stocks for a number of different companies. It also completely owns GEICO, Duracell, and Dairy Queen, among several other companies.
It also partially owns at least five per cent of several companies, including American Express, Bank of America, and The Coca-Cola Company – many of which have done well despite the pandemic lockdowns.
6. Bill Gates (United States)
$104 billion – Microsoft
Gates was the richest person in the world from 1995 to 2017 with some exceptions in 2008 and 2010 through 2013
Gates was the richest person in the world from 1995 to 2017 with some exceptions in 2008 and 2010 through 2013.
He dropped out of college to setup Microsoft with his high school friend Paul Allen in 1975, and the software programme became one of the first programmes available for the older generation of computers.
Gates held the CEO position for 25 years and remained its chairman until 2014. In 2020, he decided not to be part of the board and focused on his philanthropic works.
Founding the Gates Foundation with his ex-wife Melinda Gates, he donated roughly $59 billion to the organisation whose other patrons include Warren Buffet. Jeff Bezos overtook him in 2018 to be the world’s richest person.
7. Michael Bloomberg (United States)
$94.5 billion – Bloomberg LP
American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author Michael Bloomberg is at No. 7 in the Forbes Billionaires 2023 Ranking
American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author Michael Bloomberg is at No. 7 in the Forbes Billionaires 2023 Ranking with an estimated net worth of $94.5 billion.
Michael Bloomberg cofounded financial information and media company Bloomberg LP in 1981.
He put in the seed funding for the company and now owns 88% of the business, which has estimated revenues north of $12 billion.
Bloomberg got his start on Wall Street in 1966 with an entry level job at investment bank Salomon Brothers. He was fired 15 years later.
A major philanthropist, he has donated more than $12.7 billion to gun control, climate change and other causes.
He announced a run for president in November 2019 (but dropped out in March 2020), and spent hundreds of millions to defeat Donald Trump in 2020.
8. Carlos Slim Helu & Family (Mexico)
$93 billion – Telecom
With foreign telecom partners, Slim bought a stake in Telmex, Mexico’s only phone company, in 1990
Mexico’s richest man, Carlos Slim Helu and his family control América Móvil, Latin America’s biggest mobile telecom firm.
With foreign telecom partners, Slim bought a stake in Telmex, Mexico’s only phone company, in 1990. Telmex is now part of América Móvil.
He also owns stakes in Mexican construction, consumer goods, mining and real estate companies. He used to own 17% of The New York Times, but sold it.
His son-in-law Fernando Romero designed the Soumaya Museum in Mexico City, home to Slim’s extensive, eclectic art collection.
Slim and his family hold a 79% stake of Grupo Carso, one of Latin America’s largest conglomerates, accounting for over 8% of his fortune.
9. Mukesh Ambani (India)
Mukesh Ambani, who heads India’s richest family, owns the $74 billion company Reliance
$83.4 billion – Diversified
Mukesh Ambani, who heads India’s richest family, owns the $74 billion company Reliance, which is focused on oil and gas as well as telecom and retail.
The Ambani family have seen the likes of Hillary Clinton and Priyanka Chopra attend their family weddings.
They own the Mumbai Indians cricket franchise which features some of the game’s biggest stars and have previously been linked with buying Liverpool or West Ham football clubs.
The family’s Reliance Industries business sparked a price war in India’s telecom market with their launch of Jio, a 4G phone service, in 2016.
10. Steve Ballmer (United States)
Steve Ballmer was the CEO of Microsoft for 14 years between 2000 and 2014
$80.7 billion – Microsoft
Steve Ballmer was the CEO of Microsoft for 14 years between 2000 and 2014.
He joined the company as an employee after dropping out of the MBA program at Stanford.
When he retired in 2014, Ballmer bought the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion.
In 2018, Ballmer invested $59 million in Social Solutions, which creates software for charities and government agencies.
Donald Trump’s $3.2billion fortune falls to $2.5billion as Truth Social wipes $550m from his net worth
Former US president Donald Trump appears in court at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on April 4, 2023
The former president’s fortune dropped from an estimated $3.2 billion last fall to $2.5 billion due to his Truth Social network crashing down.
It comes two years after he was banned from Twitter, and subsequently decided to build his own social media platform in retaliation.
Named Truth Social, the platform sought to boost his fortune by billions.
As soon as he announced the plan, supporters piled into Truth Social’s special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.
Today, the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Regulatory Agency are all examining the venture, looking at things such as trading activity and communications between the SPAC and Trump’s business.
Complicating matters, Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter last year and his reversal of the ban on right-wing figures undermined the need for a more conservative space on the Internet.
Today, shares of Trump’s SPAC are 92% off their highs, trading at $14 apiece, a level that suggests the former president’s business is worth $1.2 billion.
The world’s ten richest women in 2023
French Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, daughter of French Billionaire L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, is pictured as she leaves the Institut de France in Paris
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