Editor’s note: This article was first published in January 2018; the ranking, fortunes, ages and children come from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of that month, as do the positions 11-30 and the stakes in Microsoft and Oracle. Ingvar Kamprad died later in 2018.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which tracks the 500 richest men and women in the world, the current ranking is an inspiring one, since a high percentage of the billionaires at the top did not inherit their wealth but are self-made men who came from poverty.
Others simply took advantage of the fastest-growing industry of the era: technology. In fact, 6 of the men in the top 10 built their wealth in the tech sector.
In Bloomberg’s index, the fortunes of these men and women are valued in real time. Since much of their net worth depends on the share price of their own companies, as well as of other companies they hold shares in, we can see changes from one day to the next.
In fact, we can see these billionaires lose and gain hundreds of millions in a matter of hours, as well as the back-and-forth between first and second place.
Who are the richest men in the world in 2018?
1. Jeff Bezos
- Fortune in 2018: $106 billion
- Sector: technology
- Age: 53
- Children: 4
What started out as an online bookseller has ended up becoming the biggest e-commerce giant for every kind of product and service.
Jeff Bezos left a very well-paid job to pursue his dream, and his dream, ironically, has turned out to be far bigger than anything he dreamed of at the start. He is a man who has applied a business philosophy worthy of the greats: sacrificing short-term profits to build a business giant over the long term. See: What Jeff Bezos and other highly successful people were doing at 25.
A quote from Jeff Bezos:
There are two kinds of companies: those that work to try to charge customers more, and those that work to try to charge them less. We will be the second kind.
A book for understanding Bezos and Amazon: The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon (Brad Stone).
2. Bill Gates
- Fortune: $93.3 billion
- Sector: technology
- Age: 62
- Children: 3
The co-founder of Microsoft and the legendary Steve Jobs’s greatest business rival, he held first place among the world’s richest people for years and is at times overtaken by Bezos, depending on how their respective companies’ shares are doing.
Gates doesn’t exactly come from a humble family, but from a financially comfortable one. Even so, together with other tech giants, he has marked a before and after in our lives.
Gates currently still holds 2.4% of Microsoft’s shares, and he has been one of the pioneers (through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) of the idea that billionaires should give their fortunes to philanthropic causes. See: Bill Gates: his fascinating life and career.
A quote from Bill Gates:
Being born poor is not your fault. Dying poor is.
A book for understanding Bill Gates and other great innovators: The Innovators, by Walter Isaacson.
3. Warren Buffett
- Fortune: $83.3 billion
- Sector: diversified
- Age: 87
- Children: 3
Probably the best investor of our time. As a teenager, Warren Buffett was already looking for every possible way to make money, showing his eagerness to do business. By the age of 16 he had managed to make $53,000.
In time he would buy Berkshire Hathaway, a textile company that he turned into a parent company managing some 60 businesses. See: 17 surprising facts about Warren Buffett that not everyone knows.
A quote from Warren Buffett:
Buy companies so wonderful, with a product so easy to sell, that even an idiot could run them, because sooner or later some idiot will.
A book for understanding Warren Buffett: The Tao of Warren Buffett.
4. Mark Zuckerberg
- Fortune: $77.3 billion
- Sector: technology
- Age: 33
- Children: 2
The man who has changed for ever the way we express ourselves and communicate with others. Just for fun, this young man decided to create a website called Facemash, which would give rise to Thefacebook.com. As it grew, the name ended up as Facebook.com, and at a time when MySpace reigned, nobody thought this social network would end up conquering the world.
Zuckerberg is part of our daily lives even if you don’t use his social network, because he went on to buy the most widely used messaging service, WhatsApp, as well as the most popular photo-sharing network, Instagram.
In short, his three apps are the ones responsible for draining our smartphone batteries. See: 15 billionaires and the 15 traits that made them highly successful.
A quote from Mark Zuckerberg:
The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that changes so quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.
A book for understanding Mark Zuckerberg: The Boy Billionaire: Mark Zuckerberg in His Own Words.
5. Amancio Ortega
- Fortune: $76.6 billion
- Sector: textiles
- Age: 81
- Children: 3
From delivery boy for a shirt shop to the richest man in Spain, and at times the richest man in the world. Just as the McDonald brothers pioneered “fast food” in their day, Amancio Ortega has been the forerunner of fast fashion, and the person most responsible for clothing stores now restocking with new garments every single week.
What began as Confecciones GOA ended up becoming one of the largest textile groups in the world: Inditex.
A quote from Amancio Ortega:
When I’m out in the street, I only want to be recognised by my family, my friends and the people I work with.
A book for understanding Inditex and Amancio Ortega: Así es Amancio Ortega, el hombre que creó Zara (This is Amancio Ortega, the man who created Zara).
Given that Ortega has always guarded his privacy and has never approved of or collaborated on an impartial biography, the access he gave the author of this book, and the conversations he granted a writer for the first time, have taken their toll on the end result, which in my opinion is not entirely impartial.
6. Carlos Slim
- Fortune: $64 billion
- Sector: diversified
- Age: 77
- Children: 5
This Mexican businessman, who also held first place in the world rich list for years, built his fortune through his stakes in América Móvil, Telmex and Grupo Carso.
His diversified portfolio of companies also includes a hotel group and a financial group.
A quote from Carlos Slim:
Our premise is, and has always been, to keep firmly in mind that we leave with nothing, that we can only do things while we’re alive, and that a businessman is a creator of wealth who manages it temporarily.
A book for understanding Carlos Slim: Carlos Slim, riqueza y poder: vida y obra (Carlos Slim, wealth and power: his life and work).
7. Bernard Arnault
- Fortune: $62.4 billion
- Sector: consumer goods
- Age: 68
- Children: 5
Bernard Arnault is a Frenchman who has focused his business on luxury, controlling the world’s largest luxury goods group, which besides the Louis Vuitton brand also includes high-profile names such as TAG Heuer watches and Dom Pérignon champagne.
A quote from Bernard Arnault:
I take my time getting close to someone, and I don’t laugh with someone straight away, but that’s more a question of style than anything else.
A book for understanding Bernard Arnault: Louis Vuitton: The Birth of Modern Luxury.
8. Larry Page
- Fortune: $55 billion
- Sector: technology
- Age: 44
- Children: 2
Together with his partner Sergey Brin (No. 10), he looked for a way to organise internet searches at a time when search engines weren’t a good business for companies. They tried to sell the now-famous Google search engine, but even Yahoo refused to buy it, so they set out to take it to the next level.
Later they would diversify into all kinds of internet businesses, including a system for monetising web searches and websites through their two most profitable services: AdSense and AdWords. In time they would buy an unknown, loss-making online video platform (YouTube), which today is the world’s second most used search engine and the largest video platform.
A quote from Larry Page:
When you’re changing the world, you’re working on important things. You feel excited and motivated when you get up in the morning.
A book for understanding Larry Page and Sergey Brin: The Innovators.
9. Larry Ellison
- Fortune: $54.7 billion
- Sector: technology
- Age: 73
- Children: 2
Another university dropout. Although Larry Ellison made his name and fortune as the founder of the legendary database company Oracle, in which he keeps a 25% stake, he also has a diversified investment portfolio in real estate and sport. Specifically, he owns a sailing team and the tennis tournament at Indian Wells, California.
A quote from Larry Ellison:
I’ve had every disadvantage that should have kept me from succeeding. But I have succeeded.
A book for understanding Larry Ellison: The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison.
10. Sergey Brin
- Fortune: $53.6 billion
- Sector: technology
- Age: 44
- Children: 2
Co-founder of Google (Alphabet) and responsible for half of the company’s success, together with his partner Larry Page.
Two quotes from Sergey Brin:
Some say Google is God. Others say it’s Satan. But if you think Google is too powerful, remember that with search engines, unlike other companies, all it takes is one click to go to another search engine.
I feel there’s an existential angst among young people today. I didn’t have that. They see big mountains where I only saw small hills to climb.
A book for understanding the philosophy of Google and its founders, written by Google’s head of people operations: Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead (Laszlo Bock).
Positions 11 to 30
After the 10 richest men in the world, the ranking continues as follows:
- Ingvar Kamprad
- Charles Koch
- David Koch
- Jack Ma
- Rob Walton
- Jim Walton
- Alice Walton
- Françoise Bettencourt Meyers
- Pony Ma
- Mukesh Ambani
- Hui Ka Yan
- Sheldon Adelson
- Steve Ballmer
- Li Ka-shing
- Jacqueline Mars
- John Mars
- Jorge Paulo Lemann
- Wang Jianlin
- Yang Huiyan
- Phil Knight
See also: Ray Dalio: I went from poor to rich thanks to these 4 habits
Featured image: Jérémy Barande / Ecole polytechnique Université Paris-Saclay, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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