Forbes' 38th Annual World's Billionaires List: Facts And Figures 2024

Forbes

Yesterday, we unveiled our annual World’s Billionaires list, the official ranking keeping track of the mega-wealthy. The planet has a record 2,781 billionaires who are worth a record $14.2 trillion.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2024/04/02/forbes-38th-annual-worlds-billionaires-list-facts-and-figures-2024/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 Here's your Forbes daily briefing for Wednesday, April 3rd.

00:05 Today on Forbes, Forbes' 38th annual World's Billionaires List, Facts and Figures 2024.

00:14 Yesterday we unveiled our annual World's Billionaires List, the official ranking keeping track of

00:19 the mega-wealthy.

00:21 Forbes found an unprecedented 2,781 billionaires around the globe for this year's list.

00:28 141 more than in 2023 and 26 more than the previous record, set in 2021.

00:36 The super-rich are also richer than ever, with their combined wealth hitting $14.2 trillion,

00:43 $2 trillion more than just a year ago, and $1.1 trillion above the previous record also

00:49 set in 2021.

00:52 As with the economy in general, the money is concentrated at the very top.

00:56 There are now a record 14 people who are members of the $100 billion club, the elite group

01:02 of people whose fortunes stretch into 12 digits.

01:06 That's up from just one four years ago.

01:09 These lucky few are worth $2 trillion in all, meaning just 0.5% of the world's 2,781 billionaires

01:17 hold 14% of all billionaire wealth.

01:21 The richest of all is Bernard Arnault, who holds the number one spot for a second year

01:26 in a row.

01:27 The French luxury goods kingpin is worth an estimated $233 billion, $22 billion more than

01:35 in 2023, thanks to another record year for his conglomerate LVMH, the company behind

01:41 brands such as Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co, and Sephora.

01:46 He's $38 billion richer than the world's number two, Elon Musk, who is worth an estimated

01:51 $195 billion.

01:54 Just behind him, at number three, is Amazon's Jeff Bezos, who is worth an estimated $194

02:00 billion.

02:02 Forbes used stock prices and exchange rates from March 8, 2024, for this year's ranking.

02:08 For daily movements of fortunes, you can see our real-time tracker.

02:12 Two-thirds of the planet's billionaires are richer than a year ago.

02:16 No one has gained more, in sheer dollar terms, than Mark Zuckerberg, who has benefited to

02:21 the tune of a $116.2 billion jump in a single year, thanks to metastock nearly tripling

02:28 amid cost-cutting layoffs and big bets on AI and the metaverse.

02:33 Zuck is number four on Forbes' 2024 ranking, worth an estimated $177 billion, the richest

02:40 he's ever been.

02:42 Google's Larry Ellison, worth an estimated $141 billion, rounds out the top five.

02:48 Zuckerberg and Ellison are just two of the scores of technology moguls who are significantly

02:53 richer than a year ago.

02:55 The AI gold rush is on, helping to add more than a dozen newcomers working in artificial

03:00 intelligence to the ranks, including super-microcomputers Charles Liang, worth an estimated $6.1 billion,

03:08 and his wife, Sarah Liu, worth $1.5 billion, advanced micro-devices Lisa Su, worth $1.3

03:16 billion, and long-time NVIDIA board member Harvey Jones, worth $1 billion.

03:22 OpenAI's Sam Altman is also now a billionaire, thanks to investments he made when he was

03:26 president of startup incubator Y Combinator from 2014 to 2019, an early bet on Stripe,

03:33 and stakes in Reddit and nuclear fusion startup Helion.

03:38 Rabid demand for AI has also boosted tech stocks generally, pushing the combined wealth

03:43 of the world's tech billionaires up by some $750 billion to $2.6 trillion, more than any

03:50 other industry in just a year.

03:54 Celebrities are getting richer, too.

03:56 Taylor Swift, worth $1.1 billion, joins the 2024 ranks, the first musician to do it based

04:02 solely on songwriting and performing, after the record-breaking first leg of her Eras

04:07 tour.

04:09 TV producer Dick Wolf, worth $1.2 billion, a mastermind behind shows such as Law & Order

04:15 and Chicago, is also new to the billionaires list, as is Magic Johnson, the NBA Hall of

04:20 Famer who really made his stash after retirement through savvy business deals and stakes in

04:26 several sports teams.

04:28 They join nearly a dozen other famous A-list billionaires, including George Lucas, worth

04:33 $5.5 billion, Michael Jordan, worth $3.2 billion, and Kim Kardashian, worth $1.7 billion.

04:41 The United States is once again the country with the most billionaire citizens, with a

04:47 record-breaking 813, worth $5.7 trillion, compared to 735, worth $4.5 trillion in 2023.

04:58 China remains second, despite troubles in the Asian nation, with 473, including Hong

05:04 Kong, worth $1.7 trillion.

05:07 India, meanwhile, is surging.

05:10 There are now 200 Indian billionaires, the most ever, worth $954 billion.

05:18 For full coverage and to see the entire list, check out Chase Peterson Whithorn's piece

05:23 on Forbes.com.

05:26 This is Ciarán Meadows from Forbes, thanks for tuning in.

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05:36 (upbeat music)

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