Bernard Arnault, Elon Musk top Forbes billionaires list, India's Mukesh Ambani ranks 9th

PHOTO

Bernard Jean Etienne Arnault assumes the top spot. Arnault, the founder and owner of the ultra-luxury brand Louis Vuitton, is the only billionaire with a net worth of over $200 billion on the list. Besides that, Arnault also oversees 75 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Sephora.

Elon Musk holds second spot in the 37th edition of the ranking. The billionaire, who co-founded Tesla, SpaceX and tunnelling startup Boring Company, has a net worth of $180 billion. Musk also owns X, formerly Twitter, which he acquired for $44 billion in April 2022, following the disclosure of a 9.1% stake and threatening a hostile takeover.

Next, on the list is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The billionaire became the executive chairman of the company in 2021 and now owns just under 10% of the e-commerce giant. With a net worth of $114 billion, Bezos assumes the third position in the 2023 Forbes Billionaires ranking.

Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani is in the ninth position. With a net worth of $83.4 billion, the chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd, which has interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom and retail, is also planning to venture into green energy.

Mukesh Ambani is planning an investment of $80 billion over the next 10-15 years in renewable energy. His three children joined the board of Reliance in August 2023. Akash Ambani is at the helm of affairs in Jio; daughter Isha oversees retail and financial services, while his younger son Anant oversees the energy business.

Seventy-eight-year-old Larry Ellison is chairman, the chief technology officer and co-founder of software giant Oracle, and is in the fourth position of the list of big billionaires. While Ellison stepped down as the Oracle CEO in 2014 after 37 years at the helm, the billionaire still owns just under 40% of the company and has a net worth of $107 billion.

Fifth on the list is Warren Buffett, one of the most successful investors of all time. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns dozens of companies, including insurer Geico, battery maker Duracell and restaurant chain Dairy Queen. The "Oracle of Omaha," has a net worth of $106 billion.

Next is Bill Gates who owns about 1.3% of the software and computing company's shares. Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen in 1975 and turned it into a multi-billion dollar company. He stepped down from its board in 2020. With a net worth of $104 billion, Bill Gates is sixth on the billionaires list.

In the seventh position is Michael Bloomberg, the co-founder of the media company Bloomberg LP. Bloomberg still owns 88% of the company, which rakes in an estimated $12 billion yearly. The billionaire started his journey with an entry-level job on Wall Street in 1966 at investment bank Salomon Brothers. His current net worth is $94.5 billion.

Carlos Slim Helu and his family, who control America Movil, the biggest mobile telecom firm in Latin America, are currently 8th on the list. The richest person in Mexico owns stakes in Mexican construction, consumer goods, mining and real estate companies. Carlos Slim Helú previously held a 17% stake in The New York Times as well. His current net worth is $93 billion.

Tenth on the list is Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, who led the company from 2000 to 2014. Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980 as the company's employee number 30. He dropped out of Stanford's MBA programme. With an estimated net worth of $80.7 billion, Ballmer also owns the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers.