It seems that the richest people on the planet are not immune to the coronavirus. As the pandemic stretched its hold on Europe and America, global investment markets collapsed, tanking many estates. Bill Gates, one of the world’s richest men, has said he informed Donald Trump about the menace of a global pandemic during a 2016 meeting with the US president-elect in Trump Tower. Want to know about more members of this top 10 richest people club? Keep reading.
Top 10 Richest People
According to Forbes, there were 2,095 billionaires, 58 less than a year ago, and 226 less than just 12 days earlier, when they initially evaluated these net worths.
1. Jeff Bezos, $145bn
The ex-hedge fund manager adapted online bookseller started Amazon in his garage in 1994. Bezos has invested massively in space technology and also owns The Washington Post newspaper. He is the world’s richest person for the third year in a row, notwithstanding providing $36 billion worth of his Amazon stock to his ex-wife MacKenzie Bezos as part of their divorce settlement last summer.
2. Bill Gates, $106.6bn
A constant fixture at the top 10 richest people list for the past 20 years, the Microsoft founder has bartered or given away much of his stake in the company – he owns just 1% of Microsoft – and now concentrates mostly on his humanitarian work.
3. Bernard Arnault, $91.6bn
Arnault is the richest European on the list. The Frenchman commands an empire of more than 60 brands including Louis Vuitton and Sephora. And he newly overtook Bill Gates to become the second richest man on the planet.
4. Mark Zuckerberg, $78.6bn
Zuckerberg successfully started Facebook in 2004 at the age of 19 and now is among the top five richest men in the world. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the philanthropy that the Facebook founder operates with wife Priscilla Chan, has gotten engaged in the COVID-19 pandemic. The foundation recently declared a $13.6 million plan to investigate the virus’s spread in Northern California.
5. Warren Buffett, $68.8bn
Now in his ninth decade, the Berkshire Hathaway chief executive acknowledged as the “Oracle of Omagh” is one of the most thriving investors of all time. Like Gates, he has promised to give away more than 99% of his wealth to philanthropy.
6. Larry Ellison, $67.3bn
Co-founder of software firm Oracle Corporation, Ellison moved down as CEO in 2014 but still works as chairman of the board and chief technology officer. In February 2020, Ellison’s Porcupine Creek estate, near Palm Springs, California, hosted a fundraiser for Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign.
7. Steve Ballmer, $66.4bn
The retired Microsoft CEO headed the firm from 2000 to 2014 after joining in 1980 as employee number 30, having dropped out of Stanford University’s MBA program. The same year he retired from Microsoft he purchased the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers for $2bn, says Forbes.
8. Larry Page, $63.3bn
In 1998, Page co-founded Google with business associate Sergey Brin. He stepped down as CEO of Alphabet, Google’s parent organization, in December last year but is still a board member. He is a founding investor in space research corporation Planetary Resources and is also financing “flying car” startups Kitty Hawk and Opener.
9. Amancio Ortega, $61.9bn
Ortega stepped down as chairman of Inditex, known for its Zara brand, in 2011 but he still holds almost 60% of its shares. He holds around 60% of Madrid-listed Inditex, which has 8 brands, including Massimo Dutti and Pull & Bear, and 7,500 stores around the world.
10. Sergey Brin, $61bn
The Google co-founder stepped down as president of Alphabet in December, although he continues as a board member. He uses a lot of time on Alphabet’s moonshot research lab X. Brin is reportedly financing a high-tech airship project.
