Introduction
In the past, the wealthy were born into well-off families, got a good education, and started their own companies to get rich. These days billionaires are starting with little or nothing and becoming extremely wealthy. Although it may not be evident at first glance, the ten richest people in the world are entrepreneurs, not heiresses.
What Is Wealth?
Wealth is defined as all the resources used to produce more wealth. These resources can be capital goods (such as machinery, factories, computers, and software), financial instruments, land or other natural resources (such as oil wells and real estate). Assets that people own also include their knowledge and skills. Each of these types of assets contains a different amount of productive power. Capital goods are the most powerful because they help people make other forms of wealth, such as land or human capital.
Who Are the Top 10 Wealthiest People in The World?
The top ten wealthiest people in the world are as follows. Their wealth is measured in U.S. dollars.
1. Elon Musk
- Net Worth: $247 billion
- Age: 51
Elon Musk is a South African-born American business magnate, engineer, inventor and investor.
He is the CEO and founder of Tesla and SpaceX and the world’s wealthiest person. Tesla makes luxury electric cars, while SpaceX builds rockets to deliver satellites into space. In 2006, Musk co-founded PayPal with Peter Thiel, which he sold to eBay for $1.5 billion in stock. In 2017, Musk founded Neuralink, a company that develops computer-brain interfaces to connect humans and computers.
2. Jeff Bezos
- Net Worth: $152 billion
- Age: 58
Jeff Bezos is an American technology (business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Amazon.com, which has become the world’s largest online shopping retailer. Amazon processes billions of transactions annually and has a market capitalization that surpassed other retailers, such as Wal-Mart Stores and Target, in 2017. In 1994 he founded Amazon; it opened for business in July 1995. He also owns The Washington Post newspaper.
3. Gautam Adani
- Net Worth: $143 billion
- Age: 60
Gautam Adani is an Indian investor. He is Adani Group’s CEO, one of India’s most prominent business conglomerates. In the 1990s, he made his initial fortune supplying infrastructure to India’s booming economy. He became a billionaire in 2010. His group has interests in coal mining, oil and gas exploration, ports, and power generation.
4. Bernard Arnault
- Net Worth: $137 billion
- Age: 73
Bernard Arnault is a French business magnate and investor. He is the Chairman and CEO of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods company and the wealthiest person in France. His father founded the company in 1947 and today owns 60 luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Dior and Moet & Chandon.
5. Bill Gates
- Net Worth: $116 billion
- Age: 66
Bill Gates is of American nationality, a business tycoon, investor, and inventor. He is the founder of Microsoft, the world’s largest personal-computer software company, which developed and sold Windows and other products. Gates stepped down as chief executive officer after being implicated in illegal actions related to Microsoft’s acquisition of Yahoo! At age 61, he remained chairman and remains the largest individual shareholder with more than $77 billion in assets under management.
6. Larry Page
- Net Worth: $99.8 billion
- Age: 49
Larry Page is an American computer programmer, co-founder, former CEO and current Executive Chairman of Google. Page developed Google with Sergey Brin while both were PhD students at Stanford University in 1995; they named the domain google.com after their first daughter’s nickname “Guppy”.
7. Warren Buffett
- Net Worth: $99.4 billion
- Age: 91
Warren Edward Buffett is an American and the chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, which he acquired in 1965. His guiding principle is, “It’s better to be lucky than good.” Buffett began his career as an investment advisor for small buy-out firms in Omaha, Nebraska, while working at Buffett Partnership; he later became an active investor with a prominent position on the board of directors.
8. Sergey Brin
- Net Worth: $95.4 billion
- Age: 49
Sergey Brin is a Russian computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of Google and the president of Alphabet Inc. In 2004, he became a member of the Board of Directors at PayPal, Inc. Brin holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from MIPT and a master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University.
9. Mukesh Ambani
- Net Worth: $94 billion
- Age: 65
Mukesh Ambani is an Indian businessman. He is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), a Fortune Global 500 company and India’s most profitable company. Ambani runs highly profitable refining, petrochemicals, oil, Gas and IPL business.
Ambani’s younger brother Anil runs another major Indian conglomerate, Reliance Group, which is involved in infrastructure development, communications, entertainment, retail, and financial services.
10. Steve Ballmer
- Net Worth: $93.1 billion
- Age: 66
Steve Ballmer is an American businessman and retired CEO of Microsoft, the successor to Bill Gates. Ballmer served as Microsoft’s chief executive officer from January 2000 to February 2014.
What Does It Take to Be A Billionaire?
To be a billionaire, you must have a lot of luck, skill, and the guts to overcome failure. A lot of hard work never hurts, either. Becoming one requires extreme dedication and years of hard work. Most billionaires become wealthy from a single business venture that turns successful over time. Many billionaires made their fortune from technology companies.
Conclusion
Becoming a billionaire is not just about luck and about being born into money. It is about hard work, dedication, passion for what you do, and the pursuit of your dreams. Yes, some people have been born into money, but they did not have become billionaires if they had not worked hard for it.
