Forbes 10 richest. Biographies of the richest and most successful people in the world - success stories, photos, quotes and sayings. The richest people in the world: video

If you are asked who is the richest person of all time, then the name of Bill Gates or Warren Buffett will most likely come to your mind. And although these people are indeed extremely wealthy, they are still far from this list.

The richest of the rich enter a separate club, closed to everyone else. This is a club for men who have made a huge fortune and left a monumental legacy. Here is a list of the 10 richest people in history!

10. Cornelius Vanderbilt

Cornelius Vanderbilt was born in May 1794 to an impoverished farmer and boatman, and his life is a real journey from poverty to wealth. At the age of 11, the boy dropped out of school to start working as a freight forwarder.

By the age of 16, Vanderbilt was already the owner of a two-masted ship, and at the age of 18 he signed a contract with the US government to deliver goods to outposts during the Anglo-American War of 1812. By the end of the war, he had trained in shipbuilding, owned a small fleet of ships, and had a working capital of $10,000.

Over the next 10 years, Vanderbilt gained control of traffic on the Hudson River with his luxury ships and cheap fares. Then he began to expand his transport business, opening steamship lines to New York, Providence and buying the Boston railroad. By 1846 Vanderbilt was a millionaire.

In 1850, Vanderbilt became the largest shipowner in the United States and decided to focus his attention on the railroads. Already in 1863, he became the owner of the New York - Harlem Railroad (New York and Harlem Railroad). However, it didn't stop there. Vanderbilt later bought the Hudson River Railroad and the New York Central Railroad, allowing him to provide the first railroad service from New York to Chicago.

Cornelius Vanderbilt died in 1877 at the age of 83 due to health complications. In today's terms, taking into account the GDP of 1877, the fortune of Cornelius Vanderbilt is almost $ 165 billion.

9. Vasily II Bulgar-slayer


Basil II the Bulgar Slayer was the Byzantine Emperor for 49 years. The son of Emperor Roman II, he was crowned co-emperor in 976. Having come to power, Basil II concentrated on expanding his power both within the Byzantine Empire and beyond. He led his troops to Asia Minor, taking possession of the lands in Georgia and Armenia.

Best known for his swift and successful military campaigns, he eventually expanded the Byzantine Empire, the largest territory in the five centuries prior to his reign. Although Vasily II's fortune exceeds $168 billion in today's money, he left no heirs. After his death, the Byzantine Empire collapsed within half a century.

8. Marcus Licinius Crassus


Marcus Licinius Crassus is an ancient Roman commander and politician who not only turned the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire, but also amassed quite a fortune during his lifetime.

Born into the family of a wealthy consul, Marcus Licinius grew up in a luxurious lifestyle. He later married his late brother's wife, allowing him to forge an alliance between Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Rome.

It was then that he began to make his fortune through proscriptions, becoming the richest man in Rome. He also bought Sulla's citizens for next to nothing, and then resold them at a high price. He also made huge profits from buying and selling slaves who worked in the family's silver mines. At the end of his life in 53 B.C. Crassus owned a fortune of nearly $170 billion.

7. Henry Ford


Known as America's premier industrialist, Henry Ford dramatically transformed the automotive industry and virtually revolutionized America's manufacturing industry. Ford was born July 30, 1863 on the family farm in Wayne County, Michigan. When Henry was only 13 years old, his father gave him pocket watch, which he quickly took apart and just as quickly reassembled.

This was the first of many impressive skills he demonstrated. At the age of 16, he became an apprentice machinist in Detroit. During his career, he learned how to handle and maintain steam engines. In addition, he learned accounting. In 1891, the Edison Illuminating Company offered him a job as an engineer. After only 2 years, thanks to his natural talents, he became the chief engineer of the company.

However, the Edison Electric Company was not the only thing Ford devoted his time to. In 1893, he completed the development of a horseless carriage and introduced his first model, known as the Ford Quadricycle.

After several years of trial and error, Henry Ford founded his own car company, the Ford Motor Company, and introduced the Model T. For years, the company was only 100 percent profitable. Henry Ford died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 7, 1947, but the legacy he left behind will never die.

Henry Ford, remembered as America's leading businessman, left behind a solid foundation, a new method of production, and a net worth equivalent to nearly $186 billion.

6. Andrew W. Mellon


For all 82 years of his life, Andrew Mellon proved to be a jack of all trades. He was a businessman, banker, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector and, most impressively, US Secretary of the Treasury.

Mellon was born March 24, 1855 in Pittsburgh. At age 20, he began working with his father in the family banking company, T. Mellon & Sons, becoming its owner in 1882. Since then, the company has been expanding and making a profit.

Over time, he began to provide capital to large corporations. With his support, the "Aluminum Company of America" ​​(Aluminum Company of America) and oil company Gulf Oil Company, as well as other giant industrial enterprises in the production of steel, oil, in the construction and shipbuilding industries. He also funded the creation of the Union Steel Company, which later merged with the United States Steel Corporation. By the early 1920s, Mellon was one of the richest men in the US with a net worth of $188 billion.

5. Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII (Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII)


Osman Ali Khan was born on April 6, 1886 in Hyderabad (the territory of present-day India). In 1911, after the death of his father, he succeeded him as the Nizam of Hyderabad. During his 37-year reign, Osman pursued a policy that brought great benefits to the state.

Thanks to him, electricity, roads, railways and air traffic appeared in the country. In addition, he built the Nizamsagar reservoir and implemented numerous land irrigation projects.

Osman also personally donated vast sums of money to charitable causes and education. By the time of his death in 1967, he had 7 wives, 42 concubines and a net worth of nearly $230 billion.

4. William Henry Vanderbilt


Born on May 8, 1821 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, William Vanderbilt was one of 13 children of Cornelius Vanderbilt, ranked #10 on our list of the richest people in human history. Often dismissed by his dynamic father for his incompetence, William was sent to a farm on Staten Island.

Thanks to William, things on the farm began to improve almost immediately, it began to make a profit, and this did not go unnoticed. The 1840s proved important for William Vanderbilt. His father commissioned him to reorganize the Long Island Rail Road, and just as he had done on the farm, William turned the ailing company into a very successful business. In 1864 he was vice president of New York's key railroads, and in 1877 the senior Vanderbilt organization was turned over to William after his death.

William continued to build on his father's legacy by expanding rail lines to many cities. Unfortunately, in 1883 he was forced to retire due to deteriorating health.

William Vanderbilt died just 8 years after the death of his father. Incredibly, in his short time as president of various railroads, he doubled his family's wealth from $100 million to an incredible $200 million. Today, that would amount to a whopping $239 billion.

3. Nicholas II


Nicholas II was born on May 6, 1868. He was the last tsar of Russia, from the imperial house of the Romanovs. Alexander III Alexandrovich was the Emperor of All Russia and the father of Nicholas II. Alexander III had a strong influence on the growing up Nicholas, educating him in the spirit of religious values ​​​​and the firm conviction of autocratic rule.

After the death of his father in 1894, Nicholas inherited the Russian throne and soon married Alexandra Feodorovna, born Princess Beatrice of Hesse-Darmstadt. In 1895, their first child, daughter Olga, was born, and the following year Nikolai was officially crowned to the Russian throne. In 1897, daughter Tatiana was born, then, in 1899, Maria, and in 1901, the fourth daughter, Anastasia.

The long-awaited boy for the royal couple was finally born in 1904. Over the next 10 years, the country was torn apart by riots and demonstrations. In 1917, Nicholas was forced to abdicate and, along with his family, was placed under house arrest.

Soon after this, a civil war began and, by decision of the Provisional Government of Nicholas II, together with his family and close associates, they were sent into exile in Tobolsk, then transported to Yekaterinburg, where they were shot in the summer of 1918. Over the 50 years of his life, Nicholas II accumulated almost $900 million, which is equivalent to today's $300 billion.

2. Andrew Carnegie


Industrialist and self-made steel magnate Andrew Carnegie was one of the richest businessmen of the 19th century. He is the founder of Carnegie Mellon University.

Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25, 1835 in a town called Dunfermline in Scotland. In 1848 his family moved to America and settled in Pennsylvania.

He found his first job in the US in a weaving factory as a "bobbin keeper" and then went to work for the telegraph. In 1853, he took a job with the Pennsylvania Railroad as an assistant and telegrapher to Thomas Scott, the company's top official. Within 3 years, Carnegie was promoted, becoming the manager of the company.

During his time with the railroad company, he gained a wealth of experience in the industry and the business in general. However, experience is not the only thing he gained during his work. Carnegie also made numerous investments that later became the basis for his business success.

In 1865 he left the railroad industry to focus on other interests, and by 1889 Carnegie had built his business in the steel industry, founding the world's largest steel company. Carnegie Steel Corporation revolutionized the steel industry in the United States.

In 1901, Carnegie retired, selling his business to the United States Steel Corporation. The deal netted him $200 million, which would be worth about $310 billion in today's market.

1. John D. Rockefeller


John Davison Rockefeller is often referred to as the "Father of the Oil World". Born in 1839 oil tycoon, in the end, became not only the founder of the Standard Oil Company, but also the first dollar billionaire in the history of mankind.

At 16, Rockefeller got a job as an assistant accountant at Hewitt & Tuttle. By the age of 20, he, along with his business partner, founded a company that traded in hay, meat, grain and other goods. By the end of their first year of operation, their company had earned nearly $450,000.

An excellent businessman, Rockefeller realized in the 1860s that this was a great time to start the oil business. In 1863, he opened his first oil refinery, which in 2 years became the largest in the region.

In 1866, William Rockefeller, John's brother, became his business partner. Together they built a second refinery in Cleveland, calling it the Standard Works. At the same time, they opened an office in New York to deal with oil exports. By 1868, Rockefeller's refinery had become the largest in the world, and in 1870 he founded the Standard Oil Company.

Thanks to the favorable economic and industrial conditions of the early 1870s, the Standard Oil Company began to prosper. Rockefeller's assertiveness in business was intense. He wanted the company to expand and increase profitability.

At the time of his death in 1937, Rockefeller's assets (16 railroad companies, 6 steel companies, 9 real estate companies, 6 shipping companies, 9 banks, 3 orange groves) accounted for 1.5% of US output. Today, his net worth would be nearly $340 billion.

Most recently, a list of the richest people in the world was published. The data obtained from this list shows that it is now the entrepreneurs and self-made businessmen who are in the highest positions, so that the leaders are no longer those who inherited their wealth. Of course, it is also worth considering that there are quite a few families on the list that pass on their wealth and their companies by inheritance, such as the owners of Koch Industries, Walmart and even the cosmetics empire L "Oreal, more and more self-made billionaires appear on the list from all over the world.Most of them made their billions in the technology industry, such as Jack Ma or Mark Zuckerberg.It's time to find out who is the richest in the world?

Alain and Gerard Wertheimer - $24 billion

The brothers are the owners and managers of the well-known perfume company House of Chanel.

Samuel and Donald Newhouse - $25 billion

The brothers inherited Advance Publications, a multi-million dollar publishing empire that owns publications such as The New Yorker and Vogue.

Ma Huateng - $26 billion

The Chinese Internet businessman is the founder, president, chief executive and board member of Tencent. It is a holding company whose subsidiaries do absolutely everything: online advertising, press, entertainment and payment systems.

George Soros - $26 billion

Soros is one of the most famous and successful investors in the world. However, he started small, working as a railway porter and waiter, thus earning his way to study at the London School of Economics.

Phil Knight - $26 billion

Knight is the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike, one of the world's most renowned sports companies.

Maria Franca Fissolo - $26 billion

The Italian billionaire is the owner of one of Europe's largest confectionery companies, Ferrero. She is the widow of Michel Ferrero.

Mukesh Ambani - $28 billion

Ambani is the Chairman, Managing Director and the largest shareholder of Reliance Industries Limited, a Forture 500 company.

Axel Dumas - $28 billion

He is the chief executive of one of the largest fashion houses Hermès. He belongs to the sixth generation of the family that founded the house in 1837 and has run it ever since.

The Henkel family - $28 billion

The German chemical and consumer products company was founded in 1876 by Fritz Henkel. Christoph Henckel inherited the company in 1999 when his father Konrad passed away.

Steve Ballmer - $30 billion

Ballmer is a former chief executive of Microsoft who held this position from 2000 to 2014. He is now the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team.

Jorge Paulo Lehmann - $31 billion

Lehmann is Brazil's richest man and made his fortune as a corporate takeover legend.

Sheldon Adelson - $31 billion

He is the founder and CEO of gambling giant Las Vegas Sands Corp and is also an active member of the Republican Party.

Li Ka-shing - $32 billion

This is one of the richest people in China, and he is one of the first major investors in Facebook. He also acquired the British telecommunications company O2 in 2015 for 15 billion.

Wang Jianlin - $33 billion

He is the founder of China's largest real estate company, the Dalian Wanda Group, and also owns a 20 percent stake in Spanish football club Atlético de Madrid.

Jack Ma - $36 billion

This Chinese high-tech billionaire is the founder and executive chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.

Ingvar Kamprad and his family - $36 billion

The Swedish business mogul is the founder of IKEA, one of the largest furniture stores and most loved brands in the world, and has been at the helm of the company for over 70 years.

Carl and Theo Albrecht Jr., Beate Heister and family - $39 billion

The German Karl Albrecht founded the Aldi supermarket chain with his brother Theo.

Stefan Quandt and Susanne Klatten - $39 billion

He is the son of Herbert and Johanna Quandt, and he owns 25 percent of the car giant BMW, while his sister owns 20 percent.

Liliane Bettencourt - $41 billion

She is the heir to the fortune that she inherited with the cosmetics company L "Oreal, and she is also the largest shareholder of this company.

Sergey Brin - $43 billion

The Russian-American computer scientist, along with Larry Page, created the tech giant Google.

Larry Page - $44 billion

Page overtook his partner in creating Google Sergey Brin by one billion.

Bernard Arnault - $45 billion

Arno is the chairman and CEO of the world's largest luxury goods company, LVMH.

Michael Bloomberg - $50 billion

He is the founder, owner and CEO of global finance, software and media company Bloomberg. It is worth noting that he bequeathed half of his fortune to charity after his death.

Larry Ellison - $52 billion

Ellison is the founder and chairman of the international giant Oracle. He is also a yacht aficionado and has been credited with buying some of the most outstanding yachts in the world, as well as acquiring entire Hawaiian islands.

Carlos Slim Helu and his family - $59 billion

He is the richest man in Mexico, and he also became one of the richest self-made billionaires in the world after taking control of America Movil, one of the largest mobile telecommunications companies.

Mark Zuckerberg - $61 billion

This 32-year-old is the chairman, CEO and co-founder of Facebook, the world's largest social network.

John and Jacqueline Mars - $63 billion

Brother and sister are the heirs of the confectionery empire, which is known throughout the production of Mars bars.

Warren Buffett - $79 billion

This legendary investor is considered the most successful investor in the world, a title he achieved while serving as the chairman and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway. He also pledged to give 99 percent of his wealth to charitable causes.

Jeff Bezos - $80 billion

He is the founder, chairman and CEO of the world's largest online retailer, Amazon. He is also a successful investor and invests through his own investment company, Bezos Expeditions.

Amancio Ortega - $82 billion

In 1985, Ortega created Inditex, a company that owns brands such as Zara, Bershka, Pull & Bear and Massimo Dutti. He also owns 60 percent of the company's shares.

Bill Gates - $91 billion

Gates made his fortune by co-founding the world's largest personal computer software company, Microsoft.

Charles and David Kohey - $102 billion

Charles has been Chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, the second largest private company in the United States, since 1967. It is a family business and his brother David is the vice president of the company.

The Walton family - $130 billion

This American family created the world's largest retail- Walmart. The three most prominent living family members today are Jim, Rob and Alice.

Every year on March 1, the American Forbes magazine publishes a rating of billionaires on its pages. The release of the list is eagerly awaited by many, because anyone is interested to know who is the richest person in the world. Particularly interested in the TOP-10. How did they earn their billions?

Bill Gates

Topping the list of favorites is the founder and owner of the huge Microsoft company. He is 60 years old. The fortune of a well-known celebrity is estimated at 75 billion dollars. For 22 years, he was considered the richest man in the world 17 times. And only five times lost this title to other billionaires. Bill Gates is a famous philanthropist. He founded a charitable foundation and has already spent more than 31 billion on various projects.

Amancio Ortega

It takes an honorable second place in the ranking, but is considered the first rich man in Europe. His fortune is 67 billion dollars. At the same time, unlike Bill Gates, he increased it by 2.5 billion, while the head of Microsoft received less than 4 billion last year. Amancio Ortega is the owner of Zara, which he founded back in 1975 with his wife. Now the clothes of this brand are sold all over the world. The tough management of the company allowed him to stay afloat even during the global crisis that swept the world in 2004.

Warren Buffett

Completes the top three. He is 85 years old. Currently, his fortune has reached 60.8 billion, which is almost 12 billion less than it was last year. Warren Buffett is the owner of a large investment empire. He is engaged in buying up shares of large companies, and also conducts a huge number of joint transactions. His holding is the fifth most profitable in America. The billionaire's favorite book is The Smart Investor by Benjamin Graham. It is her reading that he considers the most main investment for my whole life.

Carlos Slim Elu

At age 76, he already had $50 billion, down $27 billion from last year's rankings. The source of his fortune is telecommunications. In addition, Carlos Slim Helu is the largest shareholder of The New York Times publishing house. He is rightfully considered the richest man in Mexico, despite a strong drop in the rankings and losses in his personal fortune.

Jeff Bezos

At 52, Jeff Bezos has over $45 billion in bank accounts. Moreover, over the past year, he has increased his fortune by 10 billion. Jeff owns three companies, including aerospace, but the world-famous Amazon.com is still considered the main source of income. And although the company has somewhat lost some of its value, it was able to bring tangible income to its owner and bring him to an honorable fifth place in the ranking.

Mark Zuckerberg

Founder of the social network Facebook. He is only 31 years old, but his fortune at the time of the release of the rating is already 44.6 billion, which is 11.2 billion more than last year. The price of Facebook is constantly growing, however, as well as its popularity among users. But after Mark became a father, he and his wife said they would give 99% of the shares to charity.

Larry Ellison

He is 71 years old. His fortune is estimated at almost 45 billion dollars. Over the past year, it has decreased by about 11 billion. The main source of income is Oracle, which develops software and is considered the second largest income after Microsoft. The billionaire has already stepped down as the CEO of the company, but is still the head of technology development and head of the board of directors. Now he is actively buying up real estate, laying out fabulous sums. So, a few years ago, he bought an island in Hawaii for $300 million.

Michael Bloomberg

Now he is 74 years old. He owns 40 billion dollars. And lately he has increased his wealth by another 4.5 billion. A few years ago, he resigned as mayor of New York and again began to do business. His main source of income is the financial information agency, which he currently heads. In addition, Michael Bloomberg gives part of his income to charity, so he is rightfully considered one of the most generous patrons. He donated more than $100 million to the Bill Gates Foundation to fight polio. He is a special UN ambassador.

Charles and David Koch

The brothers have the same income, so they shared the last two places in the ranking - ninth and tenth. They are considered one of the most powerful figures in the American business community. In addition, the brothers play an important role in the political arena. The source of their income is a family diversified holding company, which is the second largest private company in America.

Wealth is an indicator of success. And as you can see from the rating, you can achieve it not only in your declining years, but also at a young age. The Forbes magazine list is very long and consists of 1810 people, 67 of them under the age of 40. Isn't this proof that everything is in the hands of a person and directly depends only on his desire and willpower? What do you think?

The list of the richest people in the world was headed by Bill Gates, co-owner of Microsoft. According to estimates, his financial position was estimated at $ 75 billion.

The story of the richest man in the world

Bill Gates was born in Seattle in 1955. From early childhood, he grew up as a shy boy who was not interested in playing with peers.

In those days, it never occurred to anyone that this quarrelsome child could change the world. However, Bill's unsociableness worried his parents, who turned to a psychologist for help. The specialist reassured the parents, he managed to discern the hidden talent and strong-willed character in the boy.

Creation of Microsoft.

Over time, the future rich man began to show unique mathematical abilities. While still at school, at the age of 15, he wrote his first computer program.

Even then, the young programmer earned $ 20,000 on his project. Two years later, he was sent to study at Harvard as a lawyer, his parents wanted the guy to continue the family business.

The unsociable character did not contribute to the development of the profession, but the guy did not want to quit his studies. When he saw a photo of the first personal computer in a magazine, he knew his time had come.

The computer market was just gaining momentum and demanded software accordingly. With excellent programming knowledge, Bill was able to develop the MITS code, which he sold to the company. After this event, the future rich man founded own company Microsoft (1975).

Personal life of a genius.

The company, created by the richest man on earth - Bill Gates, constantly brings to the market the latest trends in the computer world. This approach leads to a constant increase in the state of Gates, which he spends on education, the fight against poverty and disease.

The entrepreneur lives on the shores of Lake Washington in a luxurious mansion. He bought his house for 2 million dollars, and lost about 63 dollars for its reconstruction. Everything in the house functions using innovative systems, a fire is automatically lit in the fireplace, visitors to the genius can watch films and listen to their favorite tracks on their own.

The Gates estate is now valued at $147,500,000,000. The owner of Microsoft is a happy family man who lived with his wife Melinda French for about 40 years of married life. They raised three children and are successfully involved in charity work.

Currently, the financial position of the programmer is estimated at 75 billion dollars. Every year, his fortune increases by 5.3%, which Geis is paid by banks for keeping funds. He honestly earned his billions and many people on earth express their gratitude to him.

Now the company's products are installed on 90% of computers around the world. The richest businessman is not afraid of competitors and the difficulties that arise in life path. According to his forecasts, in the next 10 years, there will be varieties of computers that will further change human activity.

1st place - Bill Gates. Net Worth $75 billion.

Over the past 22 years, Bill Gates has ranked richest man 17 times. The founder of Microsoft is considered not only rich, but also a generous person. The Gates Family Charitable Foundation funds vaccinations and medical care in developing countries.

At the end of 2015, he was a participant in the climate summit in Paris. He invested in Impossible Foods, a startup that specializes in growing plant-based meat substitutes.

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2nd place - Amancio Ortega. ($67)

The businessman is the richest retailer in the world and the richest man in Europe. In 1975, he and his wife founded the company Zara, which specialized in tailoring underwear.

Ortega strictly managed his business, he did not engage in advertising, but directed capital to open a chain of stores. This strategy allowed him to easily survive the economic crisis and stay on the market. The rapid growth of Inditex's stock has netted Ortega several billion dollars. He invested a significant part of the earned capital in the real estate of large cities of the world.

3rd place - Warren Buffett. ($60.8)

The billionaire is the owner of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation, which ranks fifth in terms of profitability in the United States. He owns Geico, Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom. In his political views, he supports Clinton and finances her election campaign.

4th place - Carlos Slim Elu. ($50)

He owns a stake in The New York Times publishing house and controls the industrial conglomerate Grupo Carso.

5th place - Jeff Bezos. ($45.2)

The businessman owns three companies at the same time. At the end of last year, one of his companies, Blue Origin, landed a BE-3 multiple rocket, and the well-known Amazon earned $107 billion.

6th place - Mark Zuckerberg. ($44.6)

Facebook's assets are estimated to have grown by $11.2 last year. AT personal life the businessman experienced tangible changes. His wife gave birth to a daughter. In honor of this event, the Zuckerberg family announced their intention to give 99% of the shares of the social network to charity.

7th place - Larry Ellison. ($43.6)

The billionaire leads the post of director of technology development and is chairman of the board of directors. He is a fan of sailing and finances specialized competitions in the USA. Actively buys real estate. The last significant purchase is the island of Lanai (Hawaii).

8th place - Michael Bloomberg. ($40)

By 2013, the billionaire was the mayor of New York. The businessman's strategic plans include the opportunity to lead the presidency of the United States. He now serves as the CEO of his Bloomberg LP agency. He spends a significant part of his capital on charity.

9th place - Charles Koch. ($39.6)

In the USA, the Koch brothers are well-known personalities in American politics and business. They own the multi-industry holding Koch Industries, which specializes in oil refining, the production of building materials, glasses, paper towels and pipeline construction.

10th place - David Koch. ($39.6)

The Koch brothers own the diversified holding company Koch Industries, which is the second largest private company in the United States in terms of capital. The brothers are actively involved in charitable activities.

According to the latest forbes count (March 2017), Bill Gates is in first place for the 4th year in a row with a fortune of $ 86 billion. Warren Buffett is second with $75.6 billion and Jeff Bezos is third with $72.8 billion. And Leonid Mikhelson became the richest Russian, he is a co-owner of the Novatek and Sibur companies. Forbes estimated his fortune at $18.4 billion, which is 46th in the general list.

Man has not been able to come up with a single ideal social system. Now capitalism dominates, the essence of which lies in the suppression of the weak by the strong. However, this system is also ruthless to its apologists - billionaires, whose number and total fortune in the world has been declining for the second time over the past decade.
Responsible for accounting for moneybags around the world, Forbes magazine last counted 2,153 billionaires on the planet, although in 2017 there were 2,208. At the same time, 994 people on this list became poorer (if this definition can be attributed to them). The total fortune of the world's moneybags is a modest 8.7 trillion dollars. The list of billionaires was replenished with 195 new names, and 247 people left it, which is comparable to the crisis year of 2009.

Despite the fact that the standards of beauty have been dictated by the fashion of the West for the past few hundred years, Europe also does not lag behind in providing its standards of beauty...

1. Jeff Bezos ($131 billion)

Started in 1994 in a garage in Seattle, the founder of Amazon is the only person in the world with a net worth of over $100 billion. He achieved this milestone in 2017, and the next year, thanks to the growth in the value of the company's shares, Bezos' fortune exceeded 150 billion.

Amazon started out selling books online. Now Bezos is building the Blue Origin aerospace company, hoping its reusable rockets will start carrying passengers. In 2018, Bezos launched a $2 billion fund to help homeless Americans and build preschools. In 2013, he bought the famous newspaper The Washington Post for $250 million, which then became an outspoken critic of the current US President D. Trump. He responded by accusing Amazon of destroying traditional retailers and tax evasion. Having lived with his wife Mackenzie for 25 years, Bezos divorced her in early 2019, after which he attacked the National Enquirer, a tabloid sympathetic to Trump, with blackmail allegations that he threatened to publish his intimate photos.

2. Bill Gates ($96.5 billion)

Over the year, the fortune of Microsoft founder B. Gates grew by $ 6.5 billion, but this did not help him get around Bezos. Microsoft Corporation was founded in 1975 by B. Gates and P. Allen. Over the years, it has grown into the world's largest software maker.
A few years ago, Gates retired, sold almost all of the company's shares, leaving himself a symbolic 1%. The money received from the sale of shares allows Gates to remain the most generous benefactor in the world. In 2016, Gates, Bezos, and two dozen other rich people founded Breakthrough Energy, a $1 billion investment fund. Prior to that, together with his wife Melinda, he established a charitable foundation aimed at overcoming hunger and improving the health system in poor countries. In 2018, this foundation founded the Institute for Medical Research in Boston with $100 million. The Institute is developing vaccines and medicines against tuberculosis, malaria and diarrhea, which kill 2.6 million people worldwide every year.

3. Warren Buffett ($82.5 billion)

Although the fortune of the Oracle of Omaha, as W. Buffett was nicknamed, decreased by $1.5 billion in 2018, he remained third in the ranking. Investment portfolio of his Berkshire Hathaway holding lost $27 billion in the last quarter of 2018 due to a sharp drop in autumn American market valuable papers lasting until the end of the year. This holding has stakes in more than 60 different companies, including Apple, American Express, Coca Cola, Fruit of the Loom, Geico and other reputable names. And shortly before that, Buffett bought shares of American banks falling in price, becoming the largest shareholder in four of the five largest financial institutions (JP Morgan Chase & Co, Bank of America, U.S. Bancorp, PNC Financial Services), but reduced his stake in Apple.
In the spring of 2018, Buffett talked about likely successors at Berkshire, naming Greg Abel of Berkshire Hathaway CEO and Ajit Jain, head of the insurance division, among them. He acknowledged that Berkshire's position is much stronger now than when he did everything alone. Buffett also admitted in a letter to shareholders that change is long overdue. He invested his 35 billion in the mentioned Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and promised to give 99% of his fortune to charity.

4. Bernard Arnault ($76 billion)

The LVMH holding united 70 luxury brands with a worldwide reputation, including Moët Hennessy, Tag Heuer, Sephora, Louis Vuitton and others. Bernard Arnault, who is its chairman of the board and CEO, owns 5% of the holding's shares.
In the mid-80s, Arno and a partner acquired the bankrupt textile company Boussac, the main value of which was the Christian Dior fashion house. About 10 years later, Arno guessed the future star in the budding fashion designer D. Galliano, and together with him he revived the once glorious Cristian Dior. In 2017, Arno became the sole owner of the fashion house, buying the remainder of the shares for $12 billion. LVMH shares jumped after the deal, making Arnaud $30.5 billion richer. And in 2018, he became richer by another 4 billion. Arno is known as a philanthropist who invested $ 135 million in the Louis Vuitton Foundation Museum that opened in Paris in 2014.

5. Carlos Slim Helu ($64 billion)

This man has been the richest Mexican for many years, since his family controls the largest operator in Latin America, America Movil. Together with foreign partners, he bought in 1990 a stake in Telmex, the only telephone company in Mexico, which later merged into America Movil. Now he is also a co-owner of real estate and construction companies, enterprises of the mining sector and producing consumer goods. Slim even bought 17% of the famous The New York Times.
In 2017, America Movil shares soared 39%, bringing in another $12.6 billion for Slim personally. However, in 2018, the emergence of plans by the Mexican government to make more competitive market In connection with this, the company's shares collapsed by 15%, which caused Slim to become poorer by 3.1 billion. However, this did not prevent him from moving from 7th to 5th place in the rating of moneybags.
His son-in-law F. Romero founded the Soumaya Museum in Mexico City, where the billionaire exhibited his art collection. There are beautiful paintings by French impressionists C. Monet, C. Pizarro, P.-O. Renoir and E. Degas, one of the most complete collections of works by the sculptor Rodin is presented.

In our time of mass and ubiquitous television, beautiful girls appear not only on the catwalks, but also participate in various sports competitions...

6. Amancio Ortega ($62.7 billion)

Ortega and his wife founded Inditex in 1975, specializing in bathrobes and underwear. Now she owns 8 global clothing brands, such as Zara, Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti, as well as 7,500 boutiques around the world. Ortega owns a 60% stake in the company and has an annual dividend of $400 million. With this money, he traditionally buys real estate in New York, London, Barcelona, ​​Madrid, Miami and Chicago.
Zara shares fell in 2017, which reduced Ortega's fortune by 1.3 billion, and slowed down the following year overall growth the company, until the collapse in September, which cost Ortega another 7.3 billion.

7. Larry Ellison ($62.5 billion)

This man founded the Oracle software company. It has become the largest third-party software vendor and server hardware supplier. Ellison led the company until 2014, after which he retained only the posts of chairman of the board of directors and service stations. But he was left with a quarter of Oracle shares. In 2015, he aimed the company at developing cloud technologies, for which he bought Netsuite in 2016. At the end of 2018, he joined the board of directors of Tesla.
In 2016, Elliot donated $200 million to the Cancer Treatment Center. In 2018, he launched a hydroponic farming startup on the Hawaiian island of Lanai. He bought the island in 2012, and now he is working on an ideal model of the future there.

8. Mark Zuckerberg ($62.3 billion)

The only billionaire in the top ten who is under 50 years old. He made his first billion in 2007 when he was 23 years old. His main asset is Facebook, which he founded in 2004, which went public by 2012. In 2018, his network was heavily criticized for not being protected from the flood of hate and fake news. He had to testify before Congress on allegations that the app leaked data from 50 million users.
After experiencing a series of scandals on this ground, Zuckerberg decided to solve social problems by buying Instagram, Oculus VR and Whats App. Zuckerberg owns approximately 17% of Facebook shares. At the end of 2015, he and his wife promised to gradually sell 99% of their shares and donate the money to charity.

Modern sport exists not only to improve body tone and maintain good physical shape, but thanks to the ubiquitous television, we ...

9. Michael Bloomberg ($55.5 billion)

Created by Michael Bloomberg in 1981, Bloomberg LP provides corporate subscribers with financial information. Prior to that, he worked for 15 years in one of the investment banks, from where he was fired, paying $ 10 million as an allowance. Of these, he spent 4 million to found the company Innovative Market Systems, which became involved in the analysis financial markets. Later, he renamed it Bloomberg LP, and the investment bank Merril Lynch became its first investor and client. Now this business brings in up to $ 9 billion annually, 88% of which goes to Bloomberg.
In 2002-2014, he was the mayor of New York, and then returned to his native company again. Now he is going to run for president of the United States and plans to spend 500 million by 2020 as part of the election campaign against Trump.
Bloomberg is an active philanthropist. He gave 5 billion to measures to control private weapons and other purposes. In 2018, Bloomberg decided to donate $1.8 billion to Johns Hopkins University, where he once studied, to support poor students.

10. Larry Page (50.8 billion)

In 1998, Page co-founded Google with Stanford student Sergey Brin. They developed the system in the garage of S. Wojcicki, who now heads Youtube. They assembled their first server from Lego pieces. Google is now the world's leading search engine. In 2015, as part of a corporate restructuring, the company was renamed Alphabet. Now it brings in over $100 billion a year, is spread across 50 countries, and has over 60,000 employees.
After 2001, Page decided to fire some project managers from the company so as not to create an extra layer between him and the programmers. In retaliation, the company's investors insisted on removing him from his leadership position. But in 2011, he again became the CEO of Google. However, in 2015 he decided to lead Google's parent company Alphabet, which was created to separate the search engine business from other businesses. He is convinced that he is called to engage in breakthrough areas, and not trifles.