Bill Gates is the number one richest for the fourth year in a row, and the richest person in the world for 18 out of the past 23 years.
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| Bill Gates |
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos had the best year of any person on the planet, adding $27.6 billion to his fortune; now worth $72.8 billion, he moved into the top three in the world for the first time, up from number five a year ago.
Warren Buffett had the second-best year, and the biggest gain since Donald Trump was elected president in November 2016. His $14.8 billion jump in 12 months was enough for him to grab back the number two spot from Amancio Ortega, founder of Spanish clothing chain Zara. Ortega’s fortune was up $4.3 billion since last year, but he still fell to fourth in the world, unable to keep up with the outsize gains of others.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg moved up to number five for the first time, after his fortune rose by $11.4 billion in 12 months. Meanwhile Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico, once the world’s richest man, fell to number six, the first time he’s been out of the top five in a dozen years.
There were 195 newcomers. Mainland China had the most new ten-figure fortunes with 76. The U.S. was second with 25. Notable newbies include Patagonia sportswear founder Yvon Chouinard; Viking Cruises founder Torstein Hagen of Norway; U.S. hedge fund tycoon Cliff Asness and two of his partners; and John and Patrick Collison, Irish citizens who cofounded San Francisco-based Stripe, which enables online payments. John Collison, age 26, is now the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, just two months younger than Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel. The Collisons are two of just four self-made billionaires in their 20s (the other two are the Snapchat cofounders). There are 56 billionaires under age 40, down from 66 last year, after some aged out and others dropped below the $1 billion mark.
New Australian billionaire Manny Stul may not be a familiar name yet, but his popular Shopkins, grocery-inspired plastic collectibles with names like Kris P. Lettuce and Posh Pear, are a huge hit with American kids.
American President, Donald Trump position on the list tumbled down by about 220 spot to no. 565 in the new list published by forbes.
Of the 2,043 people who made it to the 2017 FORBES list of the World’s Billionaires, 10 of them are black, down from 12 a year ago.
Nigerian cement tycoon Aliko Dangote is still the richest black person in the world, with a fortune estimated at $12.2 billion and No. 105 in the world. He is followed by Saudi-Ethiopian construction magnate Mohammed Al-Amoudi, who is worth $8.4 billion.
This year, two black moguls fall off the ranks of the richest black people on earth, and they are both Nigerian – oil tycoon Femi Otedola and cement mogul Abdulsamad Rabiu. While Otedola fell off the list as a result of the plunging share price of his oil company, Forte Oil, a devaluation of the Nigerian currency, the Naira, was responsible for Rabiu’s ousting. Angolan investor Isabel dos Santos, American media mogul Oprah Winfrey and Nigerian oil woman Folorunsho Alakija are still the only black female billionaires on the FORBES billionaires list.
Oprah Winfrey, chief executive officer of Oprah Winfrey Network LLC, speaks during an interview at "The David Rubenstein Show: Peer to Peer Conversations" event in New York, U.S., on Monday, Dec. 12, 2016. Winfrey, dubbed the "Queen of All Media", has been ranked the richest African-American of the 20th century with a networth of $3 billion, the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and is currently North America's first and only multi-billionaire black person.
Aliko Dangote is not only Africa’s richest man; he’s also the richest black person in the world. Dangote built his fortune trading in cement, sugar and flour but subsequently ventured into manufacturing these commodities. His Dangote Cement is the largest cement producer in Africa with operations in several African countries. In January he announced plans to establish a $100 million truck manufacturing facility in Lagos in partnership with SINOTRUK, a Chinese firm.
Mohammed Al-Amoudi is one of the richest men in the Arab world, but he has deep Ethiopian roots. His mother was Ethiopian and he has been investing heavily in the African country for many years. In Ethiopia, his Midroc Ethiopia Technology Investment Group has investments in gold mining, leather production, agro processing, transport and construction. Outside Ethiopia, he owns oil refineries in Morocco and Sweden and oil fields off West Africa.
In October last year, Nigerian billionaire Mike Adenuga was conferred with the Ghanaian national award of ‘Companion Of The Star of Ghana’, the highest national honors in Ghana on account of his extensive investments in the West African country. Adenuga is one of the largest owners of residential and commercial property in Ghana. His mobile telecom company, Globacom, also has operations in Ghana. Adenuga built his fortune in oil and mobile telecoms. His Conoil Producing was the first indigenous Nigerian oil exploration company to strike oil in commercial quantities in Nigeria. His mobile telecoms company, Globacom, is the second largest operator in Nigeria.
The oldest daughter of Angola’s outgoing president and Africa’s richest woman owns a significant stake in Unitel, the country's largest mobile phone network, and a stake in Banco BIC. Outside Angola, she owns nearly 6% of oil and gas firm Galp Energia (alongside Portuguese billionaire Americo Amorim), and nearly 19% of Banco BPI, the country's fourth-largest bank. She is also a controlling shareholder of Portuguese cable TV and telecom firm Nos SGPS (formerly called Zon).
Oprah, once the queen of daytime TV, is still the richest African-American person in the world. Her once struggling cable channel, OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) is now cash flow positive and is enjoying soaring ratings on the back of a series of successful sitcom and drama collaborations with director Tyler Perry.
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