Bernard Arnault, CEO and chairman of luxury goods group LVMH, moved back into the No. 1 richest spot on January 31, 2024, overtaking Elon Musk—and Arnault held onto that rank throughout February and March. Arnault built the largest luxury goods company in the world with some 70 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Moet & Chandon, Sephora and jeweler Tiffany & Co. It also wouldn’t hurt to have been born into wealth; however, the greatest fortunes on this list started as good ideas https://financeinquirer.com/navigating-financial-growth-leveraging-bookkeeping-and-accounting-services-for-startups/ that people with creativity, drive, and connections used to build some of the world’s largest companies. Cascade is a privately-held investment vehicle that owns a variety of stocks including Canadian National Railway (CNR), Deere (DE), and Republic Services (RSG), as well as private investments in real estate and energy. Alaska, Delaware and West Virginia are the only three states still without a billionaire. Among those, Forbes highlights Todd Graves, the founder and CEO of the Raising Cane’s fast-food chain.
Angola telecom giant maintains Africa’s richest woman on its board
In 2012, Ellison bought 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai for $300 million. Ellison invested in Tesla and served on the board of the car company from 2018 through August 2022. Page was among early investors in Planetary Resources, a space exploration and asteroid-mining company. Established in 2009, the company was acquired by blockchain firm ConsenSys in 2018 amid funding problems. He has also shown an interest in flying car companies, investing in both Kitty Hawk and Opener, although Kitty Hawk ceased operations in 2022. Mark Zuckerberg first developed Facebook (now Meta) alongside fellow students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes while attending Harvard University in 2004.
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The French businessman has served as CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury group, since becoming the majority shareholder in 1989. He is also president of the board for Groupe Arnault S.E., which is his family’s holding company and primarily an investment firm. Six of the world’s top 10 richest people have smaller fortunes than a month ago.
#20. Rob Walton
Bernard Arnault, the luxury goods tycoon behind Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and dozens of other brands owned by his LVMH group, currently ranks as the world’s richest person—a spot he’s held since February. https://thepaloaltodigest.com/navigating-financial-growth-leveraging-bookkeeping-and-accounting-services-for-startups/ Just below Arnault at number two richest is Elon Musk, who switched spots with Jeff Bezos in late April. Tesla stock had its best day since 2021 on April 29, a day after Musk’s surprise visit to China.
#9 Steve Ballmer
Musk, Arnault, Bezos, Ellison and Buffett were not among the signatories — although Buffett has famously criticized the wealthy’s lower tax rates and previously advocated for policy change in the same vein. Buffett created the Giving Pledge with Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates in 2010, asking billionaires to commit to give away at least half their fortune to charitable groups. So far he’s given at least $51.5 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Gates Foundation and foundations run by his children and one started by his late first wife. That makes him the most generous billionaire in the U.S. —and on the planet.
- In November, CZ and Binance pleaded guilty to money laundering and US sanctions violations.
- The U.S. had the most billionaires in the world, with a record of 565.
- Bernard Arnault and his family are at number one, with a net worth of $233 billion.
- The 2013 list featured 138 women, of which 50 came from the United States.
- In 2012, Ellison bought 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai for $300 million.
- With so much of their wealth in publicly traded stocks, the net worth of the richest fluctuates along with the market valuations of the companies they own.
With an estimated net worth of $38.5 billion, Mars falls just behind Oregon’s Phil Knight of Nike by $2.4 billion. To measure this jump, Oxfam pulled net worths from Forbes’ real-time billionaires list as of March 2020 and the end of November 2023. Such lists fluctuate over time and even within hours accounting services for startups — so while Buffett, for example, was the 5th richest person in November, he stood in 7th place per Forbes’ Wednesday rankings. The richest woman in the world is Francoise Bettencourt Meyers of France. As of May 1, 2024, she is worth an estimated $95.4 billion and is the world’s 15th richest person.
#16. Mark Zuckerberg
Things get drastically better for those with money and marginally worse for this without it. Musk owns an estimated 74% of the social media company, which is now worth nearly 70% less than he paid, Forbes estimates. This and other factors like low Tesla earnings have lead to his net worth dipping below $200 billion several times over the last two years. Billionaires themselves are also wealthier, with two-thirds adding to their worth. The top 20 on the list gained the most, adding $700 billion to their combined worth since 2023.
Musk became the world’s richest person again on June 8, 2023 and held onto the number one spot for the remainder of 2023. He fell to No. 2 on January 31, 2024 following a Delaware judge’s January 30 ruling that voided Musk’s nearly $51 billion pay package; Forbes discounted the Tesla options from the pay package by 50%. Tesla stock fell 13% during March, landing him at the No. 3 spot on Forbes’ Real Time Billionaire ranking. Arnault was the world’s richest person for most of the first half of 2023; he fell to No. 2 in June 2023 but has returned to No. 1 in 2024.