The richest people in the world are some of the most powerful people on earth.
They have earned their fortunes through business savvy, shrewd investments, and good old-fashioned hard work. Here’s a list of the ten richest people in the world in 2022.
Table of Contents
1. Elon Musk
Age: 51
Co-founder and CEO: Tesla
Net Worth: $199 billion
Elon Musk is a South African-born Canadian-American business magnate, investor, engineer, and inventor. Musk is the founder, CTO, and CEO of many companies, including SpaceX, Twitter, Tesla Inc., SolarCity, Zip2 and PayPal.
He has also envisioned a high-speed transport system known as the Hyperloop and proposed a VTOL supersonic jet aircraft with electric fan propulsion in 2013. In addition to his executive roles at Tesla and SpaceX, he currently sits on OpenAI, Neuralink, and The Boring Company boards.
2. Bernard Arnault
Age: 73
CEO and Chair: LVMH
Net Worth: $184.8 billion
Bernard Arnault is the CEO of LVMH, one of the world’s largest luxury groups. He is also the largest shareholder of LVMH, with a net worth of $89 billion—$44 billion.
Arnault has been an important figure in French business for decades and has made his mark on many industries outside of fashion. He is also a major shareholder in Christian Dior S.A., which produces fragrances, leather goods, and ready-to-wear clothing (among other things).
3. Gautam Adani
Age: 60
Founder and Chair: Adani Group
Net Worth: $135.8 billion
Gautam Adani is an Indian businessman who owns the Adani Group, one of India’s largest conglomerates. It has interests in ports, power, and mining. According to Forbes, the Adani Group has a net worth of $45 billion.
Gautam started his career as a diamond trader before moving into the coal sector in 1989. In 2006 he set up the Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) near Mumbai on land acquired from local farmers for about $2 per square meter.
4. Jeff Bezos
Age: 58
Residence: Washington
Net Worth: $117.5 billion
Jeff Bezos is one of the richest men in the world. He founded Amazon in 1994 and has since grown it into one of the largest companies in the world.
Amazon earns billions of dollars annually, making it one of the most profitable companies on Earth. Amazon has become so big that it owns Whole Foods Market, Audible, Twitch, Comixology, IMDb, and Zappos. It also sells everything from diapers to books and home goods to electronics.
5. Bill Gates
Age: 67
Co-founder: Microsoft (MSFT)
Net Worth: $107.5 billion
Bill Gates has been on the list of the richest person in the world for over 20 years. He founded Microsoft in 1975 with his friend Paul Allen, and the company went public two years later. He remained CEO of Microsoft until 2000 when he stepped down to focus on philanthropy.
Since then, he has given away more than $35 billion through his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other charitable organizations. In 2019 alone, he gave over $4 billion to charity — more than anyone else in the world does during an entire year.
6. Warren Buffett
Age: 92
CEO: Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
Net Worth: $109.5 billion
Warren Buffett is a self-made billionaire and the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He has a net worth of $109.5 billion, making him one of the richest in 2022.
On top of that, he’s also been consistently ranked among the world’s richest people since 1982. In fact, his wealth has increased by 1 percent each year since then—an impressive feat given that its value has increased by more than 30% over the past five years alone.
7. Larry Page
Age: 49
Co-founder and Board Member: Alphabet (GOOG)
Net Worth: $86.8 billion
Larry Page’s net Worth is $86.8 billion, thanks to his stake in Google Inc., which he co-founded with Sergey Brin in 1998. As the company’s CEO, Page has overseen Google’s meteoric growth from a simple search engine to one of the most powerful coys in the world.
The company has grown from a two-person operation to a multinational behemoth with more than 70,000 employees worldwide.
Page dropped out of Stanford University after one semester to work on his startup, “BackRub.” It was later renamed “Google”, one of the most popular websites in the world.
8. Mukesh Ambani
Age: 65
Owner: Reliance Industries
Net Worth: $97.3 billion
Mukesh Ambani is a business tycoon and the richest person in India. He founded Reliance Industries Limited, which was originally set up as a polyester company in 1966. The company has since grown into one of the biggest conglomerates in India and the world, with interests ranging from petrochemicals to retail to telecommunications.
In 2002, Mukesh’s older brother Anil Ambani left Reliance Industries following a dispute with his father. Mukesh took over as chairman of RIL and remains at the helm today.
Read also: Meet 6 of the most powerful women in the world in 2022
