Forbes 2017 Billionaires List: Meet The Richest People On The Planet

It was a record year for the richest people on
earth, as the number of billionaires jumped
13% to 2,043 from 1,810 last year, the first
time ever that Forbes has pinned down more
than 2,000 ten-figure-fortunes. Their total net
worth rose by 18% to $7.67 trillion, also a
record. The change in the number of
billionaires -- up 233 since the 2016 list -- was
the biggest in the 31 years that Forbes has
been tracking billionaires globally. Gainers
since last year’s list outnumbered losers by
more than three to one.

Bill Gates is the number one richest for the
fourth year in a row, and the richest person
in the world for 18 out of the past 23 years.
He has a fortune of $86 billion, up from $75
billion last year. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos had the
best year of any person on the planet, adding
$27.6 billion to his fortune; now worth $72.8
billion, he moved into the top three in the
world for the first time, up from number five
a year ago.
Warren Buffett had the second-best year, and
the biggest gain since Donald Trump was
elected president in November 2016. His
$14.8 billion jump in 12 months was enough
for him to grab back the number two spot
from Amancio Ortega , founder of Spanish
clothing chain Zara. Ortega’s fortune was up
$4.3 billion since last year, but he still fell to
fourth in the world, unable to keep up with
the outsize gains of others.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg moved up
to number five for the first time, after his
fortune rose $11.4 billion in 12 months.
Meanwhile Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico, once
the world’s richest man, fell to number six,
the first time he’s been out of the top five in a
dozen years.
There were 195 newcomers. Mainland China
had the most new ten-figure fortunes with 76.
The U.S. was second with 25. Notable newbies
include Patagonia sportswear founder Yvon
Chouinard ; Viking Cruises founder Torstein
Hagen of Norway; U.S. hedge fund tycoon Cliff
Asness and two of his partners; and John and
Patrick Collison , Irish citizens who cofounded
San Francisco-based Stripe, which enables
online payments. John Collison , age 26, is now
the world’s youngest self-made billionaire,
just two months younger than Snapchat’s
Evan Spiegel . The Collisons are two of just
four self-made billionaires in their 20s (the
other two are the Snapchat cofounders). There
are 56 billionaires under age 40, down from
66 last year, after some aged out and others
dropped below the $1 billion mark.
New Australian billionaire Manny Stul may
not be a familiar name yet, but his popular
Shopkins, grocery-inspired plastic collectibles
with names like Kris P. Lettuce and Posh Pear,
are a huge hit with American kids.
There are also 15 new self-made women, all
but one of whom are from Asia Pacific. That
includes 10 from China and the first ever
from Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao , who
took her budget airline, VietJet Air, public in
February 2017. The sole American self-made
woman newcomer is Thai Lee, who was born
in Thailand but moved to the U.S. as a child
and now runs tech reseller SHI, reportedly the
nation’s largest woman-owned business by
sales. Altogether there are 227 women on list,
including 10 who cofounded or own
businesses with a spouse or a brother and
thus share the fortune.
The U.S. continues to have more billionaires
than any other nation, with a record 565, up
from 540 a year ago. China is catching up
with 319. (Hong Kong has another 67, and
Macau 1.) Germany has the third most with
114 and India, with 101, the first time it has
had more than 100, is fourth.
Read More: Billionaires’ Secrets To Building
Wealth
Seventy-eight people fell off the list, including
33 from China, 7 Americans and 9 who are
still super wealthy but share their wealth
among extended family members and
therefore are not eligible for these ranks.
Additionally, 20 billionaires died in the past
year, including Enterprise car rental founder
Jack Taylor and Michael Ilitch, who launched
Little Caesar’s pizza with his wife, Marian.
Go here for the full list of all the world's
billionaires.
METHODOLOGY
The Forbes Billionaires list is a snapshot of
wealth taken on February 17, 2017 ; we used
stock prices and exchange rates from around
the world to calculate net worths. Some
fortunes have changed considerably since
then.
We list individuals rather than
multigenerational families who share large
fortunes, though we include wealth belonging
to a billionaire’s spouse and children if the
current list member is the founder of the
fortune. In that case you’ll see “& family” on
the list. We also include married couples who
built fortunes and businesses together. In
those instance, we list both names (i.e. Tom &
Judy Love ).
For daily updates of net worths, go to
www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires .
Wealth Editors: Luisa Kroll and Kerry A. Dolan
Deputy Editor: Keren Blankfeld
Country Editors: Graham Button, Russell
Flannery, Naazneen Karmali, John Koppisch,
Nathan Vardi
Wealth Team: Angel Au-Yeung, Elena
Berezanskaya, Maggie Chen, Grace Chung,
Max Jedeur-Palmgren, Noah Kirsch, Andrea
Murphy, Chase Peterson-Withorn, Ryan
Salchert, Katia Savchuk, Daniela Sirtori-
Cortina, Chloe Sorvino, Katie Taylor, Michela
Tindera, Kate Vinton, Jennifer Wang
Reporters : Forbes Indonesia, Forbes Mexico,
Forbes Middle East, Forbes Russia, Forbes
Turkey, Dan Alexander, Kim Bode, Deniz Cam,
Muhammad Cohen, Antoine Gara, Ricardo
Geromel, Christopher Helman, Jane Ho, Neerja
Pawha Jetley, Arooba Khan, Elaine Mao, Zina
Moukheiber, Anuradha Raghunathan,
Leonard Schoenberger, Deborah Steinborn,
Jessica Tan
Research: Susan Radlauer
Design, Photography, and Style: Merrilee Barton,
Charles Brucaliere, Anton Klusner, Bob
Mansfield, Kristine Gentile Smith, Robyn
Selman, Gail Toivanen
Database: Ariana Santana, Dmitri Slavinsky,
Louie Torres
Additional Reporting: Forbes China, Forbes
Czech Republic, Forbes Kazakhstan, Forbes
Poland, Forbes Romania, Susan Adams, Vuri
Aksyonov, Kurt Badenhausen, Abram Brown,
Kathleen Chaykowski, Shu-Ching Jean Chen,
Daniel Fisher, Sean Kilachand, Alex Konrad,
Nicole Lindsay, Ryan Mac, Jan McCallum,
Joann Muller, Johannes Musial, Suzanne Nam,
Lan Anh Nguyen, Clare O’Connor, Wendy
Pugh, Natalie Robehmed, Matt Schifrin,
Lucinda Schmidt, Tatiana Serafin, James
Simms, Brian Solomon, Neha Soni, Derek Xiao,
Xiang Wang
Product: Uyen Cao, Kai Hecker, Daniel
Kleinman, Jordan Lebeau, Ariana Santana,
Dmitri Slavinsky, Louie Torres
Video: Leah Bottone, Nick Graham, Matt Kang,
Michael Russo, Margaret Leigh Sinrod, Kirsten
Taggart
Acknowledgments: Special thanks to LW
Hospitality Advisors, Orbis by Bureau Van Dijk,
Privco, Real Capital Analytics, Euromonitor
International and dozens of other experts who
helped us with our reporting and valuations:
Eric Anton, HFF; Farha Aslam, Stephens Inc.;
Claudio Aspesi, Sanford C. Bernstein; Michael
Braunholtz, Prestige Property Group; James
Cahill, Costa Rica Invest; Keith Calder, Snoot
Entertainment LLC; Paola Carboni,
Equita Sim; Galen Chase, Chase Brother
Properties; Jeremy Cunnington, Euromonitor;
Cushman & Wakefield; Karl Danielsson, Karl
Danielsson Egendomar; Martin Deboo,
Jefferies; Rommel Dionisio, Wunderlich
Securities; Thomas Druyen, Sigmund Freud
PrivatUniversitat; Euromonitor; Nicklas
Fharm, SEB; Kristian Gravenor; Green Street
Advisors; Alexander Hall, Horwath HTL;
Vineyard Intelligence; Jeffrey Harwood, Oriel
Securities; Matt Hegarty, Daily Racing Form;
Lars Hevreng, Danske Bank; Donna Hood
Crecca, Technomic; International Consortium
of Investigative Journalists; Julien Jarmoszko,
S&P Capital IQ; Brian Ker, CBRE Canada;
Daniel Lesser, LW Hospitality Advisors; Mark
Lester, Jones Lang LaSalle; Staffan Lijleqvist,
Tornstaden; Jack McCabe, Jack McCabe
research; Michelin; Jonathan Miller, Miller
Samuel; Maarten Mosselman; Diego Moyo-
Ocampos, IHS Country Risk; Muskoka
Tourism; Claudia Norrgren, Vessels Value; Bill
Ostrove, Forecast International; Micheal
Pachter, Webush Securities; Richard Parkes,
Deutsche Bank; Pitchbook; Richard Pollak,
Barrington Research; Matthias Queck,
Lebensmittel Zeitung; John Ransom, Raymond
James; Real Capital Analytics; Thomas Roeb,
Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg; Erik Sandstedt,
Handelsbanken; Andrew Sangster, Hotel
Analyst; Patrick Scholes, SunTrust Robinson
Humphrey; Martin Schreiber, Zurcher
Kantonalbank; Bill Selesky, Argus Research;
SNL Kagan; Lisa Springer, Singular Research;
Duane Stanford, Beverage Digest; STR; Ole G
Stenhagen, SEB; Surmontes BH Inmobiliaria;
Tim Swannie, Home Hunts; Paul Swinand,
Morningstar; Matt Tiampo, Craig-Hallum
Capital; Stephen Volkmann, Jefferies; Kwame
Webb, Morningstar; David Windley, Jefferies;
Jerry Witler, Northwest Forestry Services;
Marcus Yaniv, Diamond Investment &
Intelligence Center; Paul Yong, DBS Bank; Paul
Zimnisky, independent diamond analyst;
Konrad Zomer, ABN AMRO Bank.

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