Richest people in the world
AS of 2021, there are reportedly 2 755 billionaires on earth, with an estimated total net worth of US$13,1 trillion. Of this amount, the top 10 wealthiest people in the world account for US$1,153 trillion, or roughly 8,8 percent, which is impressive when you consider that they represent around 0,36 percent of billionaires. Below are some of the individuals currently considered the wealthiest as at end of September 2021.
Jeff Bezos
Age: 57
Residence: Seattle
Founder and executive chair: Amazon Net worth: US$177 billion
Amazon ownership Stake: 11 (US$178 billion) Other assets: Blue Origin (US$7,15 billion private assets), The Washington Post (US$250 million private assets), and US$13,4 billion in cash
In 1994, Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com in a garage in Seattle, shortly after he resigned from the hedge fund giant D.E. Shaw. In fact, he had originally pitched the idea of an online bookstore to his former boss David E. Shaw, who wasn’t interested.
Though Amazon.com originally started out selling books, it has since morphed into a onestop-shop for everything under the sun, and is arguably the world’s largest retailer. At any rate, it is hard to dispute its self-description as the “Earth’s most customer-centric company”.
Its pattern of constant diversification is evident in some of its unexpected expansions, which include acquiring Whole Foods in 2017 and launching its own branded over-the-counter drugs in August 2017
In 2020, Amazon’s share price skyrocketed on the heightened demand for online shopping as lockdowns forced consumers to stay home. On July 5, 2021, Bezos stepped down as CEO of the e-commerce giant and transitioned to his new role as its executive chair.
Bezos originally took Amazon public in 1997 and went on to become the first man since Bill Gates in 1999 to achieve a net worth of more than $100 billion. Bezos’ other projects include aerospace company Blue Origin; The Washington Post, which he purchased in 2013; and the 10 000-year clock, also known as the Long Now. On July 20, 2021, Bezos, his brother Mark, aviation pioneer Wally Funk, and Dutch student Oliver Daemen completed Blue Origin’s first successful crewed flight, reaching an altitude of just above 62 miles before landing safely.
Elon Musk
Age: 50
Residence: Austin, Texas Co-founder and CEO: Tesla (TSLA)
Net worth: US$151 billion1
Tesla ownership stake: 20 percent (US$125 billion)
Other assets: Space Exploration Technologies (US$29,8 billion private assets) and The Boring Company (US$101 million private assets)
Elon Musk has had his hands in several different companies over the years. Originally enrolled at Stanford University, Musk deferred his attendance to launch Zip2, one of the earliest online navigation services. A portion of the proceeds from this endeavour was then reinvested to create X.com, an online payment system that later became PayPal. While both of these systems were eventually sold to other companies, Musk has maintained his status as CEO and lead designer of his third project, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), which aims to make space exploration more affordable.
In 2004, Musk became a major funder of Tesla Motors (now Tesla), which led to him being retroactively declared a cofounder and his current position as CEO of the electric vehicle
company. In addition to its line of electric automobiles — which include sedans, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and the “Cybertruck” announced in 2019 —Tesla also produces energy storage devices, automobile accessories, merchandise, and, through its acquisition of SolarCity in 2016, solar power systems.
In 2020, Tesla’s stock price experienced an astronomical surge, having risen 705 percent from the start of the year to mid-December. It joined the S&P 500 that same month, the largest company added thus far.
In 2016, Musk founded two more companies, Neuralink and The Boring Company, with him serving as the CEO of the former. Neuralink is developing brain-machine interface devices to help individuals suffering from paralysis and potentially allow users to mentally interact with their computers and mobile devices. The Boring Company, meanwhile, develops boring machines for the purpose of drilling tunnels for underground public transportation systems, which would mitigate traffic congestion in major cities. It also (briefly) sold a handheld flamethrower.
Mark Zuckerberg
Age: 37
Residence: Palo Alto, Calif. Co-founder, CEO, and chair: Facebook (FB) Net worth: US$97 billion Facebook Ownership Stake: 13 percent (US$138 billion)
Other assets: US$3,35 billion in cash and US$225 million in real estate
Mark Zuckerberg first developed Facebook alongside fellow students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes while attending Harvard University in 2004. As Facebook began to be used at other universities, Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard to focus entirely on his growing business. Today, Zuckerberg is the CEO and chair of Facebook, which had more than 2,8 billion monthly active users as of Q1 2021.Facebook is the world’s largest social networking service, enabling its users to create a personal profile, connect with friends and family, join or create groups, and much more. As the website is free to use, most of the company’s revenue is generated through advertising.
Facebook (the company) is also host to several other brands, including photo-sharing app Instagram, which it acquired in 2012; cross-platform mobile messaging service WhatsApp and virtual-reality–headset producer Oculus, both acquired in 2014; Workplace, its enterprise-connectivity platform; Portal, its line of video-calling devices; and Novi, its digital wallet for the Diem payment system. Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, founded the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2015, with each of them serving as co-CEO. Their charity seeks to leverage technology to fix societal ills, such as improving the access and quality of education, reforming both the criminal justice system and the US immigration system, improving housing affordability, and eventually eradicating all diseases. — Investopedia.