Zam Stream
Nearly half of all billionaires are poorer than they were a year ago.
Falling stocks, wounded unicorns and rising interest rates translated into a down year for the world’s wealthiest people. Globally, we counted 2,640 ten-figure fortunes, down from 2,668 last year. Altogether, the planet’s billionaires are now worth $12.2 trillion, a drop of $500 billion from $12.7 trillion in March 2022. Nearly half the list is poorer than a year ago, including Elon Musk, who falls from No. 1 to No. 2 after his pricey acquisition of Twitter helped sink Tesla shares. Bernard Arnault, head of luxury goods giant LVMH, takes his place as the world’s richest person, marking the first time a citizen of France leads the ranking. The United States still boasts the most billionaires, with 735 list members worth a collective $4.5 trillion. China (including Hong Kong and Macau) remains second, with 562 billionaires worth $2 trillion, followed by India, with 169 billionaires worth $675 billion. To calculate net worths, we used stock prices and exchange rates from March 10, 2023. See below for the full list of the world’s billionaires and our methodology. For daily updated net worths of all 2,640 billionaires, check out our real-time billionaires rankings.
1
