The Richest People on the planet now.

Billionaires play a key role in helping influence the world, from political decisions to social and economic reforms. Forbes puts the list of billionaires in the world at 2,755. However, only a handful—10 to be exact—currently have $100 billion or more in net worth each. Many of these billionaires are founders of technology companies, with much of their wealth wrapped up in the companies they started

But since much of the top billionaires' wealth is wrapped up in public equity, their net worth can fluctuate a lot from year-to-year. For example, Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla and the richest person in the world as of Jan. 19, 2022, saw his net worth surge in 2021 thanks to the increase in Tesla shares (where he currently owns 18% of the company)—with shares of Tesla rising over 32% in 2021

Below are the 10 individuals currently considered the wealthiest at the time of updating this article—Jan. 19, 2022—according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index

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 endeavor 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.

1. Elon Musk

Age: 50

Residence: Texas

Co-founder and CEO: Tesla (TSLA)

Net Worth: $269 billion

Tesla Ownership Stake: 18% ($186 billion)

Other Assets: Space Exploration Technologies ($40.3 billion private assets), $4 billion in cash

ELON MUSK

Jeff Bezos

Age: 58

Residence: Washington

Founder and Executive Chair: Amazon (AMZN)

Net Worth: $187 billion

Amazon Ownership Stake: 10% ($162 billion)

Other Assets: Blue Origin ($9.15 billion private assets), The Washington Post ($250 million private 

assets), and $16.1 billion in cash18

In 1994, Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com in a garage in Seattle, shortly after he resigned from the hedge fund giant D.E. Shaw.19 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 one-stop-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."21 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 Aug. 2017.

JEFF BEZOS

Age: 72

Residence: Paris, France

CEO and Chair: LVMH (LVMUY)

Net Worth: $164 billion

Christian Dior Ownership Stake: 97.5% ($137 billion total)

Other Assets: Moelis & Company equity ($24.6 billion public assets), Hermès equity (undisclosed stake), and $11.2 billion in cash3132

French national Bernard Arnault is the chair and CEO of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods company. This business owns some of Bernard Arnaultthe biggest brands on Earth, including Louis Vuitton, Hennessey, Marc Jacobs, and Sephora.

Bernard Arnault

Bill Gates

Age: 66

Residence: Washington

Cofounder: Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)

Net Worth: $133 billion

Microsoft Ownership Stake: 1.3% ($31.9 billion)

Other Assets: Cascade Investment LLC ($60 billion public and private assets), $56.5 billion in cash38

While attending Harvard University in 1975, Bill Gates went to work alongside his childhood friend Paul Allen to develop new software for the original microcomputers. Following this project’s success, Gates dropped out of Harvard during his junior year and went on to found Microsoft with Allen.3940

In addition to being the largest software company in the world, Microsoft also produces its line of personal computers, publishes books through Microsoft Press, provides email services through its Exchange server, and sells video game systems and associated peripheral devices.

BILL GATE

Larry Page

Co-founder and Board Member: Alphabet (GOOG)

Net Worth: $124 billion

Alphabet Ownership Stake: 6% ($107 billion total)

Other Assets: $14.4 billion in cash53

Like several tech billionaires on this list, Larry Page's claim to fame got its start in a college dorm room. While attending Stanford University in 1995, Page and his friend Sergey Brin came up with the idea of improving data extraction capabilities while accessing the Internet. The duo devised a new type of search engine technology they dubbed "Backrub," named after its ability to analyze "backing links." From there, Page and Brin went on to found Google in 1998, with the former serving as CEO of the company until he stepped down in 2001.

LARRY PAGE

 

Mark Zuckerberg

Age: 37

Residence: California

Co-founder, CEO, and Chair: Meta (FB)

Net Worth: $124 billion

Facebook Ownership Stake: 13% ($115 billion)

Other Assets: $3.5 billion in cash64

Mark Zuckerberg first developed Facebook (now Meta) 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 Meta, which had more than 2.9 billion monthly active users as of 2021

MARK ZUCKERBERG

Sergey Brin

Age: 48

Residence: California

Co-founder and Board Member: Alphabet (GOOG)

Net Worth: $119 billion

Alphabet Ownership Stake: 6% ($102 billion total)

Other Assets: $14.7 billion in cash72

What makes Google unique, compared to the other companies featured on this list, is that its co-founders are relatively close in terms of total wealth. Sergey Brin’s involvement in Google follows a similar path to Page’s. After the duo founded the company in 1998, Brin served as co-president alongside Page until Eric Schmidt took over as CEO in 2001. Similarly, after founding Alphabet in 2015, Brin acted as the holding company’s president before stepping down in 2019 when Sundar Pichai took over as CEO

Sergey Brin

Warren Buffett

Age: 91

Residence: Nebraska

CEO: Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)

Net Worth: $117 billion

Berkshire Hathaway Ownership Stake: 16% ($115 billion)

Other Assets: $1.13 billion in cash

The most famous living value investor, Warren Buffett filed his first tax return in 1944 at age 14, declaring his earnings from his boyhood paper route.79 He first bought shares in a textile company called Berkshire Hathaway in 1962, becoming the majority shareholder by 1965. He expanded the company to insurance and other investments in 1967. Now, Berkshire Hathaway is a half-trillion-dollar company, with a single share of stock (Class A shares) trading at more than $477,000 per share as of Jan. 18, 2022.

Warren Buffett

Steve Ballmer

Age: 65

Residence: Washington

Owner: Los Angeles Clippers

Net Worth: $111 billion

Microsoft Ownership Stake: 4% ($101 billion total)

Other Assets: Los Angeles Clippers ($2.63 billion private assets), $5.03 billion in cash87

Steve Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980 after Bill Gates convinced him to drop out of Stanford University's MBA program. He was Microsoft's 30th employee. Ballmer went on to become CEO of Microsoft in 2000, taking over the position from Bill Gates. He held the position until he stepped down in 2014. As part of his tenure, he oversaw the 2011 purchase of Skype for $8.5 billion.

Steve Ballmer

                                                        Steve Ballmer

Larry Ellison

Age: 77

Residence: Hawaii

Co-founder, CTO, and Chair: Oracle (ORCL)

Net Worth: $107 billion

Oracle Ownership Stake: 40% ($71.3 billion)

Other Assets: Tesla equity ($15.5 billion public assets) and $17.2 billion in cash90

After dropping out of the University of Chicago in 1966, Larry Ellison moved to California and worked as a computer programmer for several companies over the years. First, in 1973, he was an employee of the electronics company Ampex, where he met future partners Ed Oates and Bob Miner. 

Larry Ellison