(See List) Dangote Makes List As Forbes Releases 100 Richest People In The World In 2026
- By Metropolix ~
- March 12, 2026 --
- 0 Comment
— Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Aliko Dangote
— St. Johnson Adegboyega
They are richer than ever, worth a record $20.1 trillion, up $4 trillion from last year. The U.S. has the most billionaires, with a record 989, including 15 of the top 20. China, including Hong Kong, is next, with 610, and India (229) ranks a distant third. We used stock prices and exchange rates from March 1, 2026. For daily updated net worths of all billionaires, check out our real-time billionaires ranking.
Here are the 100 richest people in the world on the 2026 Forbes World’s Billionaires list.
INFORMATION AS OF MARCH 1, 2026.
#1. Elon Musk | Net worth: $839 billion | Age: 54 | Country/territory: United States | Technology
Elon Musk cofounded seven companies, including electric car maker Tesla, rocket producer SpaceX and artificial intelligence startup xAI.
#2. Larry Page | Net worth: $257 billion | Age: 52 | Country/territory: United States | Technology
Larry Page stepped down as CEO of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, in 2019 but remains a board member and a controlling shareholder.
#3. Sergey Brin | Net worth: $237 billion | Age: 52 | Country/territory: United States | Technology
Sergey Brin stepped down as president of Alphabet, parent company of Google, in 2019 but remains a board member and a controlling shareholder.
#4. Jeff Bezos | Net worth: $224 billion | Age: 62 | Country/territory: United States | Technology
Jeff Bezos founded e-commerce giant Amazon in 1994 out of his Seattle garage.
#5. Mark Zuckerberg | Net worth: $222 billion | Age: 41 | Country/territory: United States | Technology
A 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook in 2004 for students to match names with photos of classmates.
#6. Larry Ellison | Net worth: $190 billion | Age: 81 | Country/territory: United States | Technology
Larry Ellison is chairman, chief technology officer and cofounder of software giant Oracle, of which he owns roughly 40%.
#7. Bernard Arnault & family | Net worth: $171 billion | Age: 77 | Country/territory: France | Fashion & Retail
Bernard Arnault oversees the LVMH empire of 75 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora.
#8. Jensen Huang | Net worth: $154 billion | Age: 63 | Country/territory: United States | Technology
Jensen Huang cofounded graphics-chip maker Nvidia in 1993 and has served as its CEO and president ever since.
#9. Warren Buffett | Net worth: $149 billion | Age: 95 | Country/territory: United States | Finance & Investments
Known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors of all time.
#10. Amancio Ortega | Net worth: $148 billion | Age: 89 | Country/territory: Spain | Fashion & Retail
Amancio Ortega of Spain is one of the wealthiest clothing retailers in the world.
#11. Rob Walton & family | Net worth: $146 billion | Age: 81 | Country/territory: United States | Fashion & Retail
Rob Walton is the eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton.
#12. Jim Walton & family | Net worth: $143 billion | Age: 77 | Country/territory: United States | Fashion & Retail
Jim Walton is the youngest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton (d. 1992).
#13. Michael Dell | Net worth: $141 billion | Age: 61 | Country/territory: United States | Technology
Michael Dell is chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies, which formed in 2016 via Dell’s $60 billion merger with computer storage giant EMC.
#14. Alice Walton | Net worth: $134 billion | Age: 76 | Country/territory: United States | Fashion & Retail
Alice Walton is the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton (d. 1992).
#15. Steve Ballmer | Net worth: $126 billion | Age: 69 | Country/territory: United States | Technology
Steve Ballmer is the high-energy former CEO of Microsoft, who led the company from 2000 to 2014.
#16. Carlos Slim Helu & family | Net worth: $125 billion | Age: 86 | Country/territory: Mexico | Telecom
Mexico’s richest person, Carlos Slim Helú and his family control América Móvil, Latin America’s biggest mobile telecom firm.
#17. Changpeng Zhao | Net worth: $110 billion | Age: 49 | Country/territory: Canada | Finance & Investments
Changpeng Zhao, who goes by CZ, is the founder and former CEO of Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world.
#18. Michael Bloomberg | Net worth: $109 billion | Age: 84 | Country/territory: United States | Finance & Investments
Michael Bloomberg cofounded financial information and media company Bloomberg LP in 1981.
#19. Bill Gates | Net worth: $108 billion | Age: 70 | Country/territory: United States | Technology
Bill Gates helped usher in huge changes in personal technology with software firm Microsoft; now he’s focused on giving away his massive fortune.
#20. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers & family | Net worth: $100 billion | Age: 72 | Country/territory: France | Fashion & Retail
Francoise Bettencourt Meyers is the granddaughter of the founder of L’Oréal.
#21. Mukesh Ambani | Net worth: $99.7 billion | Age: 68 | Country/territory: India | Diversified
Mukesh Ambani chairs and runs $125 billion (revenue) Reliance Industries, which has interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom, retail, media and financial services.
#22. Giancarlo Devasini | Net worth: $89.3 billion | Age: 61 | Country/territory: Italy | Finance & Investments
Giancarlo Devasini is the chairman, and likely the biggest shareholder, of Tether, the largest issuer of crypto stablecoins.
#23. Thomas Peterffy | Net worth: $82.9 billion | Age: 81 | Country/territory: United States | Finance & Investments
A digital trading pioneer, Thomas Peterffy chairs Interactive Brokers, which markets its specialized trading platform to sophisticated investors.
#24. Julia Koch & family | Net worth: $81.2 billion | Age: 63 | Country/territory: United States | Diversified
Julia Koch and her three children inherited a 42% stake in Koch, Inc. (formerly Koch Industries) from her husband, David Koch, who died in 2019 at age 79.
#25. Charles Koch & family | Net worth: $73.8 billion | Age: 90 | Country/territory: United States | Diversified
Charles Koch has been chairman of Koch, Inc., America’s second largest private company by revenue, since 1967. He brought on his first ever co-CEO in 2023.
#26. Zhang Yiming | Net worth: $69.3 billion | Age: 41 | Country/territory: China | Technology
Zhang Yiming is the main cofounder of Chinese tech giant ByteDance, best known for its insanely popular app TikTok, which has more than 1 billion users worldwide.
#27. Zhong Shanshan | Net worth: $68.1 billion | Age: 71 | Country/territory: China | Food & Beverage
Zhong Shanshan is the founder and chairman of Nongfu Spring, a bottled water company that listed its shares in Hong Kong in 2020.
#28. Jeff Yass | Net worth: $67.4 billion | Age: 67 | Country/territory: United States | Finance & Investments
Jeff Yass is a cofounder of Susquehanna International Group, one of Wall Street’s largest and most successful trading firms.
#29. Dieter Schwarz | Net worth: $67.2 billion | Age: 86 | Country/territory: Germany | Fashion & Retail
Dieter Schwarz owns Schwarz Group, a German discount grocery retailer with revenue of more than $200 billion.
#30. Germán Larrea Mota Velasco & family | Net worth: $67.1 billion | Age: 72 | Country/territory: Mexico | Metals & Mining
Germán Larrea Mota Velasco owns the majority of Mexico’s largest copper mining company, Grupo México, which also has operations in Perú and the U.S.
#31. Gautam Adani | Net worth: $63.8 billion | Age: 63 | Country/territory: India | Diversified
Gautam Adani is chairman of the Ahmedabad-headquartered Adani Group, with interests in ports, airports, power generation and transmission, and green energy, among others.
#32. Tadashi Yanai & family | Net worth: $61.8 billion | Age: 77 | Country/territory: Japan | Fashion & Retail
Tadashi Yanai built and runs Tokyo-listed retail clothing empire Fast Retailing, parent of the Uniqlo chain.
#33. Ma Huateng | Net worth: $53.8 billion | Age: 54 | Country/territory: China | Technology
Ma Huateng, also known as Pony Ma, is the chairman and CEO of Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings.
#34. Robin Zeng | Net worth: $53.2 billion | Age: 57 | Country/territory: Hong Kong | Energy
Robin Zeng is the founder, chairman and CEO of Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), one of the world’s largest suppliers of batteries for electric vehicles.
#35. Iris Fontbona & family | Net worth: $52.6 billion | Age: 83 | Country/territory: Chile | Metals & Mining
Iris Fontbona is the widow of Andrónico Luksic, who built a fortune in mining and beverages before dying of cancer in 2005.
#36. Masayoshi Son | Net worth: $51.5 billion | Age: 68 | Country/territory: Japan | Finance & Investments
Masayoshi Son founded and runs investment giant SoftBank Group, which reported net profit of 3.2 trillion yen ($20.5 billion) on sales of 5.7 trillion yen ($37 billion) for the nine months ended December 31, 2025.
#37. Ken Griffin | Net worth: $49.8 billion | Age: 57 | Country/territory: United States | Finance & Investments
Ken Griffin founded and runs Citadel, a Miami-based hedge fund firm that manages $68 billion in assets.
#38. Jacqueline Mars | Net worth: $49.1 billion | Age: 86 | Country/territory: United States | Food & Beverage
Jacqueline Mars owns an estimated one-third of Mars, the candy, food and pet care firm founded by her grandfather.
#38. John Mars | Net worth: $49.1 billion | Age: 90 | Country/territory: United States | Food & Beverage
John Mars and his siblings Jacqueline and Forrest Jr. (d. 2016) inherited stakes in the candy firm Mars when their father died in 1999.
#40. Lukas Walton | Net worth: $48.9 billion | Age: 39 | Country/territory: United States | Fashion & Retail
Lukas Walton is a grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton (d. 1992).
#41. Giovanni Ferrero | Net worth: $48.8 billion | Age: 61 | Country/territory: Italy | Food & Beverage
Giovanni Ferrero is executive chairman of his family’s namesake confections business, which boasts $20 billion in annual sales.
#42. Li Ka-shing | Net worth: $47 billion | Age: 97 | Country/territory: Hong Kong | Diversified
Nicknamed Superman, Li Ka-shing is revered as one of the most influential businessmen in Asia.
#43. Mark Mateschitz | Net worth: $45.8 billion | Age: 33 | Country/territory: Austria | Food & Beverage
Mark Mateschitz is the only child of the late Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, who cofounded energy drink firm Red Bull in 1987.
#44. Gianluigi Aponte | Net worth: $44.5 billion | Age: 85 | Country/territory: Switzerland | Logistics
Gianluigi Aponte and his wife Rafaela each own a 50% stake in MSC, the world’s largest shipping line.
#44. Rafaela Aponte-Diamant | Net worth: $44.5 billion | Age: 80 | Country/territory: Switzerland | Logistics
Rafaela Aponte-Diamant and her husband Gianluigi each own a 50% stake in MSC, the world’s largest shipping line.
#46. Andrea Pignataro | Net worth: $42.6 billion | Age: 55 | Country/territory: Italy | Finance & Investments
Andrea Pignataro is the founder and CEO of ION Group, a London-based financial data and technology firm.
#47. Klaus-Michael Kuehne | Net worth: $41.9 billion | Age: 88 | Country/territory: Germany | Logistics
Logistics magnate Klaus-Michael Kuehne is honorary chairman of Kuehne + Nagel International AG, based in Schindellegi, Switzerland.
#48. Thomas Frist Jr & family | Net worth: $41.1 billion | Age: 87 | Country/territory: United States | Healthcare
Thomas Frist Jr., a former Air Force flight surgeon, founded Hospital Corp. of America with his father in 1968.
#49. Alain Wertheimer | Net worth: $39.4 billion | Age: 77 | Country/territory: France | Fashion & Retail
Alain Wertheimer is the chairman of Chanel, the French luxury brand.
#49. Gerard Wertheimer | Net worth: $39.4 billion | Age: 75 | Country/territory: France | Fashion & Retail
Gerard Wertheimer and his brother Alain own French luxury brand Chanel.
#51. Savitri Jindal & family | Net worth: $39.1 billion | Age: 75 | Country/territory: India | Metals & Mining
Jindal Group, whose interests include steel, power, cement and infrastructure, is chaired by Savitri Jindal, widow of founder Om Prakash Jindal.
#52. Stephen Schwarzman | Net worth: $38.3 billion | Age: 79 | Country/territory: United States | Finance & Investments
The son of a dry goods store owner, Stephen Schwarzman founded private equity firm Blackstone with fellow billionaire Peter Peterson in 1985.
#53. Paolo Ardoino | Net worth: $38 billion | Age: 41 | Country/territory: Italy | Finance & Investments
Paolo Ardoino is CEO of crypto firm Tether.
#53. Jean-Louis van der Velde | Net worth: $38 billion | Age: 62 | Country/territory: Netherlands | Finance & Investments
JL van der Velde is the former CEO of crypto firm Tether and the CEO of its sister company, Bitfinex.
#55. William Ding | Net worth: $37.9 billion | Age: 54 | Country/territory: China | Technology
William Ding is the founder and CEO of NetEase, one of the world’s largest online games companies.
#56. Miriam Adelson & family | Net worth: $37.5 billion | Age: 80 | Country/territory: United States | Gambling & Casinos
Miriam Adelson is the widow of Sheldon Adelson, the former CEO and chairman of casino company Las Vegas Sands, who died at 87 in 2021.
#57. Alexey Mordashov & family | Net worth: $37 billion | Age: 60 | Country/territory: Russia | Metals & Mining
Alexey Mordashov is the majority shareholder in steel company Severstal, which he ran as CEO for 19 years before resigning in 2015.
#58. Colin Huang | Net worth: $36.6 billion | Age: 46 | Country/territory: China | Technology
Colin Huang is the founder of PDD Holdings, the Chinese e-commerce company that changed its name from Pinduoduo in 2023.
#59. Eduardo Saverin | Net worth: $35.9 billion | Age: 43 | Country/territory: Brazil | Technology
Eduardo Saverin cofounded Meta Platforms, formerly Facebook, with Harvard classmate Mark Zuckerberg in 2004.
#60. Eric Schmidt | Net worth: $35.5 billion | Age: 70 | Country/territory: United States | Technology
Eric Schmidt left the board of Google parent company Alphabet in June 2019 after 18 years; he stayed on as a technical advisor until February 2020.
#61. Idan Ofer | Net worth: $34.6 billion | Age: 70 | Country/territory: Israel | Diversified
Idan Ofer is one of two sons of shipping magnate Sammy Ofer, who died in 2011 and was once Israel’s richest man.
#62. Eyal Ofer | Net worth: $33.6 billion | Age: 75 | Country/territory: Israel | Diversified
Eyal Ofer is the chairman of the Monaco-based Ofer Global, active in shipping, real estate, technology, banking, energy and other investments.
#63. He Xiangjian & family | Net worth: $33.2 billion | Age: 83 | Country/territory: China | Manufacturing Entrepreneur
He Xiangjian built Midea Group into one of the world’s largest appliance makers.
#63. Abigail Johnson | Net worth: $33.2 billion | Age: 64 | Country/territory: United States | Finance & Investments
Abigail Johnson has served as CEO of Fidelity Investments since 2014, when she took over for her father, and has been chairman since 2016.
#63. Zheng Shuliang & family | Net worth: $33.2 billion | Age: 80 | Country/territory: China | Metals & Mining
Zheng Shuliang is the vice chairman of China Hongqiao Group, one of the country’s largest aluminum producers founded by her late husband Zhang Shiping.
#66. Marilyn Simons & family | Net worth: $32.5 billion | Age: 75 | Country/territory: United States | Finance & Investments
Marilyn Simons is the widow of hedge fund legend Jim Simons, who died in 2024 at age 86.
#67. Robert Pera | Net worth: $31.7 billion | Age: 48 | Country/territory: United States | Technology
Robert Pera is the founder and CEO of wireless equipment maker Ubiquiti Networks.
#68. Phil Knight & family | Net worth: $31.1 billion | Age: 88 | Country/territory: United States | Fashion & Retail
Phil Knight, cofounder of shoe giant Nike, retired as chairman in 2016 after 52 years at the company.
#68. Michal Strnad | Net worth: $31.1 billion | Age: 33 | Country/territory: Czech Republic | Manufacturing
Michal Strnad is the owner and CEO of Czechoslovak Group (CSG), an industrial holding company that produces ammunition, special army trucks, army vehicles, active radars, among other products.
#70. Lakshmi Mittal | Net worth: $31 billion | Age: 75 | Country/territory: India | Metals & Mining
Lakshmi Mittal serves as chairman of $61.3 billion (revenue) ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel and mining company by output.
#71. Elaine Marshall & family | Net worth: $30.9 billion | Age: 83 | Country/territory: United States | Diversified
Elaine Marshall owns an estimated 16% of $125 billion (revenue) conglomerate Koch, Inc. (formerly Koch Industries) with her two sons.
#71. Shiv Nadar | Net worth: $30.9 billion | Age: 80 | Country/territory: India | Technology Indian IT pioneer
Shiv Nadar cofounded HCL in a garage in 1976 to make calculators and microprocessors with five friends.
#73. Henry Samueli | Net worth: $30.8 billion | Age: 71 | Country/territory: United States | Technology
Henry Samueli is cofounder and chairman of chipmaker Broadcom.
#74. Melinda French Gates | Net worth: $30.3 billion | Age: 61 | Country/territory: United States | Technology
Melinda French Gates is one of the most powerful women in philanthropy. In 2024, she resigned as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation after a nearly 24-year run.
#75. Stefan Quandt | Net worth: $30.1 billion | Age: 59 | Country/territory: Germany | Automotive
Stefan Quandt owns 23.6% of automaker BMW; his sister, Susanne Klatten, the richest woman in Germany, owns 19.1%.
#75. Reinhold Wuerth & family | Net worth: $30.1 billion | Age: 90 | Country/territory: Germany | Manufacturing
Reinhold Wuerth is honorary chairman of the supervisory board of the Wuerth Group, a German hardware manufacturer founded by his father.
#77. Lyndal Stephens Greth & family | Net worth: $30 billion | Age: 51 | Country/territory: United States | Energy
Lyndal Stephens Greth chaired Endeavor Energy Resources, a private oil exploration and production firm that was acquired by Diamondback Energy in 2024.
#78. Len Blavatnik | Net worth: $29.9 billion | Age: 68 | Country/territory: United States | Diversified
Born in Ukraine, raised north of Moscow, Len Blavatnik immigrated to the U.S. in 1978 with his family; he studied computer science at Columbia University and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.
#79. Susanne Klatten | Net worth: $29.7 billion | Age: 63 | Country/territory: Germany | Automotive
Susanne Klatten owns about 19% of automaker BMW; her brother, Stefan Quandt, owns nearly 24%.
#79. Vladimir Potanin | Net worth: $29.7 billion | Age: 65 | Country/territory: Russia | Metals & Mining
Vladimir Potanin acquired a stake in Norilsk Nickel during Russia’s privatization in 1995; today he owns just over a third of the company.
#81. Vagit Alekperov | Net worth: $29.5 billion | Age: 75 | Country/territory: Russia | Energy
A former Caspian Sea oil rig worker, Vagit Alekperov became a deputy minister overseeing the oil industry in the Soviet Union.
#81. François Pinault & family | Net worth: $29.5 billion | Age: 89 | Country/territory: France | Fashion & Retail
François Pinault is honorary chairman of luxury group Kering, which owns fashion brands Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Gucci.
#83. Jack Ma | Net worth: $29.1 billion | Age: 61 | Country/territory: China | Technology
A former English teacher, Jack Ma cofounded Alibaba Group Holding, now one of the world’s largest e-commerce businesses, in 1999.
#84. Prajogo Pangestu | Net worth: $28.6 billion | Age: 81 | Country/territory: Indonesia | Diversified
Son of a rubber trader, Prajogo Pangestu got his start in the timber business in the late 1970s.
#84. MacKenzie Scott | Net worth: $28.6 billion | Age: 55 | Country/territory: United States | Technology
MacKenzie Scott is a philanthropist, author and the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, to whom she was married for 25 years. As part of their 2019 divorce, she received a 4% stake in the online retailer.
#86. Aliko Dangote | Net worth: $28.5 billion | Age: 68 | Country/territory: Nigeria | Manufacturing
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, founded and chairs Dangote Cement, the continent’s largest cement producer.
#87. Peter Thiel | Net worth: $28.4 billion | Age: 58 | Country/territory: United States | Finance & Investments
PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel remains a general partner of venture capital firm Founders Fund, where he is involved in firm strategy and weighs in on its large investments.
#88. Emmanuel Besnier | Net worth: $28.3 billion | Age: 55 | Country/territory: France | Food & Beverage
Emmanuel Besnier is the controlling shareholder of family-held Lactalis, the world’s largest dairy conglomerate, with more than $30 billion in annual revenues.
#88. Leonid Mikhelson & family | Net worth: $28.3 billion | Age: 70 | Country/territory: Russia | Energy
Leonid Mikhelson is the founder and chairman of natural gas producer Novatek.
#90. Daniel Gilbert | Net worth: $27.9 billion | Age: 64 | Country/territory: United States | Finance & Investments
Dan Gilbert cofounded what would become Rocket Mortgage, the second-largest mortgage lender in the U.S., in 1985 at 22 years old.
#90. Lei Jun | Net worth: $27.9 billion | Age: 56 | Country/territory: China | Technology
Lei Jun is cofounder, chairman and CEO of Hong Kong-listed Xiaomi, one of the world’s most popular smartphone brands.
#90. Andreas von Bechtolsheim & family | Net worth: $27.9 billion | Age: 70 | Country/territory: Germany | Technology
Andreas “Andy” von Bechtolsheim is cofounder and chief architect of network switching company Arista Networks.
#93. Pham Nhat Vuong | Net worth: $27.7 billion | Age: 57 | Country/territory: Vietnam | Diversified
Pham Nhat Vuong studied in Russia and started a popular instant noodle business in the Ukraine in the 1990s before moving back to Vietnam.
#94. Vicky Safra & family | Net worth: $27.1 billion | Age: 73 | Country/territory: Greece | Finance & Investments
Vicky Safra and her four adult children inherited their fortune from her late husband and their father, banker Joseph Safra, who died in December 2020.
#95. Jay Y. Lee | Net worth: $27 billion | Age: 57 | Country/territory: South Korea | Technology
Jay Y. Lee is the executive chairman of Samsung Electronics and leader of the country’s biggest conglomerate. He was appointed to the role in 2022, which had been left vacant since the death of his father in 2020.
#95. Cyrus Poonawalla | Net worth: $27 billion | Age: 84 | Country/territory: India | Healthcare
Son of a horse breeder, Cyrus Poonawalla founded Serum Institute of India in 1966 and built it into the world’s largest vaccine maker (by doses).
#97. Rick Cohen & family | Net worth: $26.3 billion | Age: 73 | Country/territory: United States | Technology
Rick Cohen is owner and executive chairman of C&S Wholesale Grocers, the nation’s largest grocery wholesaler, with some $30 billion in annual revenue.
#98. Israel Englander | Net worth: $25.8 billion | Age: 77 | Country/territory: United States | Finance & Investments
Israel Englander founded Millennium Management in 1989 with $35 million. Now, the hedge fund firm manages over $77 billion.
#99. Suleiman Kerimov & family | Net worth: $25.7 billion | Age: 59 | Country/territory: Russia | Finance & Investments
Suleiman Kerimov, a native of Dagestan, has represented the republic in Russia’s Federation Council since 2008. He was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018. The EU and UK sanctioned him in March 2022.
#100. Dilip Shanghvi | Net worth: $25.6 billion | Age: 70 | Country/territory: India | Healthcare
The son of a pharmaceuticals distributor, Dilip Shanghvi borrowed $200 from his father to start Sun Pharmaceutical Industries in 1983 to make psychiatric drugs.
— Culled from Forbes
Compiled by St. Johnson Adegboyega
RELATED ARTICLES
