Amazon's Bezos Again Tops Forbes List Of World's Billionaires

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos retained his spot at the top of Forbes’ 33rd annual ranking of the world’s billionaires released Tuesday. The ranking includes 2,153 people who have a combined wealth of $8.7 trillion.

Bezos, who is worth about $131 billion, topped the list for the second year in a row, followed by software magnate and philanthropist Bill Gates ($96.5 billion) and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett ($82.5 billion).

Both the number of billionaires and their combined net worth is down this year, according to Forbes. Last year, 2,208 people made the list and had a combined wealth of $9.1 trillion. Forbes said this represents the first decrease in billionaires and their combined wealth since 2016, and only the second decrease in a decade.

A record 994 billionaires are worth less than they were a year ago, but last year, only 360 members of the elite class got poorer. The average net worth of this year’s billionaires is $4 billion, down from $4.1 billion in 2018. Of the total, 1,450 members are self-made.

President Donald Trump’s net worth is listed at $3.1 billion by Forbes, which placed him at No 715 on the list. Trump is the first billionaire president of the United States, and the core of his fortune is tied up in a half-dozen buildings in and around midtown Manhattan in New York City, according to Forbes.

“The billionaire ranks prove that even the world’s richest are not immune to economic forces and the volatility of world markets. Yet, even with strong headwinds, resourceful and relentless entrepreneurs find new ways to get rich,” Luisa Kroll, assistant managing editor of wealth at Forbes said in a news release.

Kerry A, Dolan, also an assistant managing editor of wealth at Forbes, noted regional trends.

“Of note this year was the large number of drop-offs in China, and the weakening of the euro vs. the dollar, which pushed down the dollar value of European fortunes,” Dolan said in the release.

In the United States, Bezos’ net worth increased from $19 billion, and Gates, who had been the wealthiest person in the world for the longest period of time, increased his fortune by $6.5 billion, from $90 billion in 2018. The gap between the No. 1 and No. 2 billionaires grew due to an increase in Amazon stock prices. Buffett’s net worth fell by $1.5 billion.

Rounding out the top five were Bernard Arnault of France and Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico, with net worths of $76 billion and $64 billion, respectively.

New to the list is Kylie Jenner, 21, who is the youngest billionaire in the world and the youngest self-made billionaire of all time. Jenner, who ranked 2,057 on the list, owns 100 percent of Kylie Cosmetics, a company she founded three years ago and which did $360 million in sales last year. Most of the company’s revenue comes from e-commerce, but Kylie Cosmetics also has a dea with Ulta to put its products in the makeup retailers 1,163 U.S. stores.

Other Americans in the Top 20 were:

• Larry Ellison, software magnate, No. 7 with a net worth of $62.5 billion (up from 2018);
• Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, No 8, with a net worth of $62.3 billion (down from 2018);
• Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg LP, No. 9, with a net worth of $55.5 billion (up from 2018);
• Larry Page, Google, No. 10, with a net worth of $50.8 billion (up from 2018);
• Charles Koch and David Koch, Koch Industries, No. 11, with a net worth of $50.5 billion (down from 2018);
• Sergey Brin, Google, No. 14, with a net worth of $49.8 billion (up from 2018);
• Jim Walton, Walmart, No. 16, with a net worth of $44.6 billion (down from 2018);
• Alice Walton, Walmart, No. 17, with a net worth of $44.4 billion (down from 2018);
• S. Robson Walton, Walmart, No 18, with a net worth of $44.3 billion (down from 2018);
• Steve Ballmer, Microsoft, No. 19, with a net worth of $41.2 billion (up from 2018).

The Top 20 billionaires have a combined net worth of $1.2 trillion, which is unchanged from last year. Their aggregate wealth represents about 14 percent of all billionaires. The minimum net worth in the Top 20 was $3.38 billion, $200 million less than 2018.

Here are some other key highlights from Forbes’ 2019 World’s Billionaires list:

Women

• There are 252 women on this year’s billionaires list, down from 256 in 2018. This number (252) includes 9 women who share their fortunes with their husband, son or brother.
• There are 68 self-made women on the Billionaires list this year, including 7 who share their fortunes with their husband, son or brother.
• The richest self-made woman is real estate mogul Wu Yajun of China, worth an estimated $9.4 billion.
• The countries with the most female billionaires are the United States (87, up from 82 last year), Germany (30, down from 33), and China (26, down from 30).

Newcomers And Drop-Offs

• This year 195 billionaires are new to the list.
• China has the most newcomers, with 44, followed by 39 newcomers from the U.S. and 18 from Brazil.
• China also had the most drop-offs with 102.
• Notable newcomers include tech executive Safra Catz, CEO of software giant Oracle; Spotify cofounder and CEO Daniel Ek; and Dani Reiss, CEO of popular down coat purveyor Canada Goose.
• Altogether, 247 people dropped out of the rankings, more than double the number who dropped out in 2018.
• Notable drop-offs include Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, fashion designers and cofounders of Dolce & Gabbana; David Einhorn, hedge fund manager and President of Greenlight Capital; and Group Chairman of Li & Fung, Victor Fung, who had been on the list for 18 years in a row.

By Location

• Regionally, Asia-Pacific boasts the most billionaires, with 767, followed by the United States with 607 and Europe with 545.
• By country, the U.S. leads with the greatest number of billionaires, with 607, followed by China with 324 (down from 372 last year); Germany with 114 (down from 123), India with 106 (down from 119) and Russia with 98 (down from 102).
• By total amount of money, United States billionaires maintain the greatest cumulative wealth, with $3.1 trillion, followed by Asia-Pacific with $2.5 trillion, Europe with $2.25 trillion, The Americas (not including U.S.) with $550 billion, and the Middle East/Africa with $218 billion.

The Forbes Billionaires list is a snapshot of wealth using stock prices and exchange rates from Feb. 8, 2019. Forbes lists individuals rather than multigenerational families who share large fortunes, though we include wealth belonging to a billionaire’s spouse and children if that person is the founder of the fortune. In some cases, siblings and couples are listed together if the ownership breakdown among them isn’t clear. However they still must be worth on average a minimum of $1 billion apiece to make the cut.

Go here to view the complete list.