According to the business news site Bloomberg, we list the ranking of the richest men in the world in 2022. This ranking is updated daily and shows the wealth of the richest men on the planet. These rich live exceptional life with their most expensive castles, villas, and luxury cars.
In 2022 some fortunes fall and melt like snow in the sun
While 2020 has been the year of decline for many small businesses, the fortunes of the wealthiest men on the planet have never been higher. Unfortunately, even today, no woman is among the 10 richest personalities according to Bloomberg. We have to wait for 12th place to see the name of a Frenchwoman, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, daughter, and heiress of Liliane Bettencourt.
In 2021, the richest men in the world have never been worse off. The biggest fortunes on the planet have indeed had a pretty bad year. Many projects have been launched by Elon Musk and, if Jeff Bezos has left his post as CEO, he still monopolizes 2nd place! Yet, while Elon Musk and Warren Buffett made money in 2021, almost all the fortunes in the world’s richest men’s rankings lost colossal sums between 2021 and 2022.
If the ranking of the richest men in the world has often remained frozen, two entrepreneurs are now side by side. They are Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. The first also passed in front of the second on the podium.
In 2022, times still look tough for the world’s richest men. Many have seen their fortunes plummet and melt like snow in the sun over the past 12 months.
Warning and updates on the ranking of the richest men in the world in 2022
We emphasize that the fortunes of some of the richest personalities in the world are often indexed to the stock market price. The members of the top 20 are all shareholders of the companies they very often created or took over. Thus, this article takes into account the data as of May 3, 2022. They are obviously likely to change over time.
We also note that the fortunes of those in the ranking of the richest men in the world are rarely made up of hard and cold cash, but are based on the value of shares held in companies often created by these billionaires.
Of course, we regularly update this article. The latest update saw significant changes in the rankings. Indeed, Steve Ballmer, who was the 9th richest person in the world took 8th place, and Zhong Shanshan who was in 14th place fell to 17th place in the Bloomberg ranking. For his part, Warren Buffet, who had seen his fortune soar, so much so that he overtook Larry Page, now finds himself in 10th place with a fortune of 104 billion dollars.
This new November 2021 update has moved the lines even further. Warren Buffet comes back behind Larry Page when Bernard Arnault is ahead of Bill Gates, an incredible turnaround that upsets the podium.
In May 2022, Elon Musk widened the gap with Jeff Bezos. Indeed, the founder of Amazon lost a lot during his divorce. But this ranking is also marked by the fall of Mark Zuckerberg who completely disappeared from the top 10 to reach 12th place. Phil Knights also leave the top 20 and we see the arrival of John Mars, president of the Mars food group.
Out of the ranking of the richest men in the world
In this category, we slip those who have marked the ranking of the richest men in the world in the past, but who are no longer in the top 20.
Zeng Yuqun
Zeng Yuqun, also known as Robin Zeng, is a Chinese billionaire entrepreneur. He is the founder and president of battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL). In 2005, the company was acquired by the Japanese company TDK, but Zeng remained at the helm of ATL.
In 2017, the company went public in Shenzhen. As of November 2021, his fortune was estimated at 59.6 billion dollars, making him one of the richest people in China and Hong Kong. He was then the 20th richest man in the world. But his fortune has melted like snow in the sun. It is now in 27th place in the Bloomberg ranking. It would only be worth 51.1 billion dollars.
Changpeng Zhao
Changpeng Zhao is a Canadian better known by the pseudonym CZ. He enters for the first time in the ranking of the richest men in the world. It derives its wealth from cryptocurrencies. He is at the origin of an application that many use to buy and exchange Bitcoins or Ethereum: Binance.
As of January 2022, Changpeng Zhao’s fortune stood at 96.9 billion dollars, putting him just ahead of Asia’s richest man by a hundred million dollars.
Changpeng leaves the top 20 and finds himself in the 49th place in the ranking of the richest people in the world. He lost nearly 70 billion dollars in one year and his fortune is now estimated at 25.6 billion dollars.
Amancio Ortega
If you don’t know Amancio Ortega, you certainly know the brand he created: Zara. He is also the founder of Inditex, a textile group that owns brands such as Zara, Zara HOME, Stradivarius, and Pull and Bear.
In 2021, Amancio Ortega’s fortune was estimated at 78.4 billion dollars. In 2022, the Spanish businessman plummets, falling from 13th to 16th place and posting a fortune well below what he had in November. Indeed, it has now reached 66.7 billion dollars. He, therefore, lost nearly 12 billion in just 3 months!
20 – Phil Knight
Originally from Portland, Oregon, Phil Knight was born on February 24, 1938, in the United States. He is the son of William Hampson, lawyer, and publisher of the Oregon newspaper. He finished high school at Cleveland School before enrolling at the University of Oregon where he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a journalism degree in 1959.
Phil Knight is a true sports enthusiast and he spent most of his time in athletics stadiums where he practiced distance running. It was there that he met trainer Bill Bowerman who would become his partner a few years later. He is also fond of jogging, an activity he practices regularly and which will be at the origin of the idea of ​​Nike. In terms of studies, in 1962 he obtained an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in California.
Phil Knight’s fortune was estimated at 64.9 billion dollars as of November 2021. As of January 2022, he is only at the helm of 57.8 billion dollars. As of March 2022, his fortune is estimated at 46.8 billion dollars.
19 – Michael Dell
Michael Dell enters the ranking of the 20 richest men in the world. Indeed, his fortune is estimated at 49.8 billion dollars as of May 3, 2022.
Michael Dell is the founder and CEO of the company that bears his family name and specializes in computing. Born in 1965 in Texas, it was in 1984 that he had the idea of ​​creating Dell. A medical student, he left his studies at 19, like many entrepreneurs before him, to devote himself full-time to his business.
18 – John Mars
John Mars is the president of Mars, a company specializing in the food industry. The group has diversified widely to position itself in snacking, with brands such as Mars, Snickers, Skittles, or even M&M’s, for the general public (Uncle Ben’s), but also in animal feed (Royal Canin, Whiskas, Pedigree) or chewing gum (Freedent).
John Mars’ fortune is estimated at 51.6 billion dollars as of May 2022. He, therefore, ranks 18th in the ranking of the richest men in the world.
17 – Charles Koch
Charles Koch is the CEO of Koch Industries, Inc. which is the second-largest private company in the United States. Again, it is a conglomerate that brings together entities from several sectors: textiles, oil, energy, and chemicals.
Charles Koch’s fortune is estimated at $60.3 billion as of November 2021. As of May 2021, he was the 14th richest man in the world and the 15th richest person. In January 2022, he slightly increased his fortune, which now stands at 61.3 billion dollars.
16 – Rob Walton
While Ma Huateng, who founded the Chinese company Tencent, was the 15th richest man in the world in March 2021, today he is surpassed by Rob Walton. Rob Walton is an heir, son of Sam Walton who founded the very popular American chain Walmart.
Rob Walton’s fortune is estimated at 63.9 billion dollars. It is important to note that Rob is second only to his brother Jim Walton in the ranking of the richest men in the world, who is also an heir. They are both in front of their sister, Alice Walton. As of May 2022, Rob Walton’s fortune is estimated at 67.4 billion dollars.
14 tied – Zhong Shanshan
Hong Shanshan is China’s richest man. His fortune was “only” 16.9 billion dollars in 2020. It soared on September 8 to reach 50.9 billion dollars. As of February 23, 2021, Zhong Shanshan’s fortune is estimated at 87.4 billion dollars, as of March 23, his fortune is estimated at 66 billion dollars. He, therefore, lost 11.4 billion in one month.
Since then, Zhong Shanshan has never regained his February fortune as it now reaches 65.6 billion dollars in November 2021. As of January 2022, his fortune stood at 71.6 billion dollars. In one year, he lost more than 8 billion dollars. He is thus the 16th richest personality in the world and the 15th in this ranking of the richest men in the world.
Who is Zhong Shanshan? This businessman created his own company specializing in the production of bottled water, Nongfu Spring. This company has been listed in China since April 2020 and completed its IPO in Hong Kong in September 2020. The share price exploded on the day of its IPO, thus boosting the capitalization of the company (estimated at 301 Bn dollars) and Zhong Shanshan’s fortune. The entrepreneur would hold 84.4% of the company.
Zhong Shanshan is the 15th richest man, but the 16th richest person in the world. Indeed, she is just behind Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, who is the richest woman in the world. His fortune is estimated at $68.3 billion.
14 tied – Jim Walton
Jim Walton was born in 1948. He is the youngest son of Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, and one of his heirs along with his brothers S. Robson Walton, John Walton, his sister Alice and his mother Helen. The family shares a fortune of 130 billion dollars and manages the multinational. In November 2021, he was at the head of a fortune of 66.7 billion dollars. In January 2022, his fortune was just 64.4 billion dollars.
In March 2022, Jim Walton moves up the rankings. It must be said that agri-food brands are resisting crises. His fortune climbed to nearly 4 billion dollars in 12 months. It is now estimated at 68.3 billion dollars.
13 – Carlos Slim
Carlos Slim est né le 28 janvier 1940 à Mexico. C’est un homme d’affaires milliardaire libano-mexicain. Il est à l’origine du Grupo Carso, et à travers lui de nombreuses autres entreprises, parmi lesquelles América Móvil et sa filiale Telmex. Il est également l’un des principaux actionnaires de la New York Times Company.
C’est la grande remontada pour Carlos Slim. En 2021, il était à la tête d’une fortune de 65,3 milliards de dollars et se situait à la 14e position. Désormais, sa fortune s’élève à 72,3 milliards de dollars.
Carlos Slim arrive à limiter la casse. Si beaucoup d’hommes d’affaires n’ont pas connu une très belle année jusqu’à présent, sa fortune augmente de 100 millions de dollars par rapport au début de l’année 2022. En mai 2022, la fortune de Carlos Slim est estimée à 72,4 milliards de dollars.
12 – Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg est le premier du classement dont la richesse dépasse les 100 milliards de dollars. En effet, en 2021, celle-ci atteint les 125 milliards de dollars, contre 76,7 milliards de dollars en 2020. À noter que, durant le dernier trimestre, cette fortune a baissé, puisqu’elle s’élevait à 105 milliards de dollars.
On ne présente plus le parcours de Mark Zuckerberg qui a étudié à Harvard où il a créé Facebook qu’il dirige encore à l’heure actuelle. L’entrepreneur possède 24% des parts de sa société.
En 2022, Mark Zuckerberg retrouve sa 6e position et repasse devant Sergey Brin, autre cofondateur de Google. Ce changement de position dans le classement des hommes les plus riches du monde n’est pas dû à une hausse de fortune, mais à une forte chute de celle de Sergey Brin. En effet, désormais, la fortune de Mark Zuckerberg s’élève à 124 milliards de dollars.
La dégringolade se poursuit pour Mark Zuckerberg. Le fondateur de Facebook aura perdu près de 47,9 milliards de dollars entre mai 2021 et mai 2022. La fortune de Mark Zuckerberg, au 3 mai 2022, ne vaudrait que 77,6 milliards de dollars.
11 – Larry Ellison
Coming out of the top 10 a few weeks ago, Larry Ellison was now the 10th richest man in the world in March 2021. In November 2021, he moved up two places with a fortune amounting to 132 billion dollars. He is known to be the co-founder of Oracle. He still runs the company today and earned 1.1 billion dollars in dividends in 2020.
As of January 2022, Larry Ellison’s fortune is also down, unsurprisingly. It is now at 109 billion dollars. It is still important to note that he earned a billion over one year.
In May 2022, Larry Ellison drops again from the top 10. His fortune has seen a significant drop of 13.4 billion dollars. Today, it is estimated at 93.7 billion dollars.
10 – Steve Ballmer
Steve Ballmer was born in 1956 in the city of Detroit, United States. After studying mathematics and economics at Harvard, he began his professional career at Procter & Gamble (P&G), then joined the Standford Graduate School of Business. It is there that he will meet Bill Gates, the man who will succeed in convincing him to abandon his studies. It was in 2000 that Steve Ballmer became the CEO of Microsoft. He will retain this position until 2014. In 2011, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor by Nicolas Sarkozy, then President.
In 2020, Steve Ballmer’s fortune was estimated at around 62.4 billion dollars. He was then outside the top 10. This had also fallen, reaching 50 billion, at its lowest, in March 2020. In 2021, he is the 8th richest man in the world with a fortune amounting to 119 billion dollars.
In 2022, Steve Ballmer’s fortune amounts to 114 billion dollars. In one year, he lost more than 6 billion dollars. As of March 2022, his fortune is estimated at just $99.8 billion. The CEO of Microsoft has fallen below the fateful bar of 100 billion dollars.
9 – Sergey Brin
Sergey Brin is the co-founder of Google, along with Larry Page. He was born in 1973 in Moscow and emigrated to the United States with his family in 1979. He studied at the University of Maryland where he participated in various activities, such as sailing and the circus. After a doctorate at Stanford, he met Larry Page and created the Google search engine in 1998. The company was wildly successful.
Today, Sergey Brin is the president of Alphabet, Inc., the parent company of Google. His fortune is estimated at 127 billion dollars. It was 64.6 billion dollars in 2020. Sergey Brin observes a fall in his fortune, losing 6 billion dollars compared to 2021. He is now in 7th position with 121 billion dollars, which remains a fairly comfortable figure.
Sergey Brin lost a lot of money. Its rise in the rankings is mainly due to the fall of Mark Zuckerberg. His fortune is $101 billion.
8 – Mukesh Ambani
Mukesh Ambani is of Indian origin and he is the head of RIL (Reliance Industries Limited), which is one of the largest conglomerates in the world. It brings together players from the oil, textile, and chemical industries, among others. In addition, RIL is also active in the retail and telecommunications sectors. Mukesh Ambani’s fortune is estimated at 96.3 billion dollars.
In January 2022, Mukesh Ambani still stands out as the richest man in Asia. His fortune is now estimated at 96.8 billion dollars. And if you want to know more about the building that serves as his home, do not hesitate to consult our article on his journey.
Asia’s richest man has also seen his wealth increase over the past 12 months. He earned nearly 12.9 billion dollars. As of May 2022, his fortune is now estimated at 103 billion dollars.
7 – Larry Page
Larry Page is the other founder of Google. He studied at the University of Michigan where he graduated in 1995. He also completed a doctorate at Stanford, where he met Sergey Brin with whom he founded the iconic company! Until 2019, Larry Page was CEO of Alphabet, Inc.
Larry Page’s fortune stood at 132 billion dollars in November 2021. It was “only” 66.8 billion dollars in 2020. In January 2022, Larry Page saw his fortune drop significantly to 126 billion dollars. dollars. of dollars. In all, he lost nearly 3 billion over one year.
Larry Page saw his fortune drop by 22.7 billion dollars in 12 months. Thus, the founder of Google climbed to the 7th position in the ranking of the richest men in the world. He is today at the head of a heritage that would be worth 106 billion dollars.
6 – Warren Buffett
Warren Buffet is a renowned investor who found wealth by carefully choosing the companies he wanted to put money into. He has made numerous investments through his company Berkshire Hathaway, of which he is the majority shareholder. This entity holds shares in very large companies such as American Express or the Coca-Cola Company.
In March 2021, Warren Buffett was the 6th richest person in the world. Today he is 10th. Warren Buffet’s fortune peaks at 104 billion dollars. It’s important to note that Warren Buffett’s fortune has had its ups and downs in 2020, as it plummeted to 63.6 billion dollars in March.
In January 2022, Warren Buffett leaves 10th place and returns to 8th place with an estimated fortune of 116 billion dollars. He is one of the few personalities in this ranking to have made money in 2021. Indeed, compared to January 2021, his fortune has increased by 7 billion dollars.
In May 2022, Warren Buffett is getting dangerously close to the top 5. He has earned nearly 6.58 billion dollars in one year. His fortune is now estimated at 116 billion dollars. It has therefore not changed compared to January.
5 – Gautam Adani
Gautam Shantilal Adani was born on June 24, 1962. He is an Indian businessman, chairman, and founder of the Adani Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Ahmedabad and involved in the development and operation of ports in India. Adani is the chairman of the Adani Foundation, which is primarily run by his wife, Priti Adani.
Gautam Adani’s fortune stood at 84.4 billion dollars in 2021. He is one of the only billionaires to have made money in 2022. Indeed, one year his fortune soared by 45 billion dollars. Today, Gautam Adani’s fortune is estimated at 122 billion dollars. He is not very far from Bill Gates.
4 – Bill Gates
Bill Gates is the co-founder and majority shareholder of Microsoft. He graduated from Lakeside School (Seattle), where he learned computer science. There he meets Paul Allen, who will also be at the origin of Microsoft. He then took courses at Harvard before giving up in 1975. He was then CEO of Microsoft from 1975 to 2000.
In 2021, Bill Gates was the 3rd richest man in the world for the entire first third of the year. His fortune was then estimated at 139 billion dollars. However, in November 2021, his fortune would be 138 billion, a slight drop which unfortunately does not allow him to get ahead of Bernard Arnault.
If Bill Gates is very involved in the world of philanthropy, the recent announcement of his divorce from his wife could strongly impact the commitment of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The gap which now separates Bernard Arnault and Bill Gates is too great for the founder of Microsoft to be able to catch up with his French counterpart. Indeed, after a loss of 3 billion dollars over one year, the fortune of Bill Gates now amounts to 135 billion dollars in January 2022.
Bill Gates is gradually getting closer to Bernard Arnault. While the gap between the two seemed too big for the Microsoft founder to match the LVMH CEO’s fortune, the latter seems to be defying the statistics. Today, May 3, 2022, Bill Gates’ fortune is valued at 125 billion dollars.
3 – Bernard Arnault
Bernard Arnault is the only personality in the top 5 who does not evolve in a society in the world of technologies. He is also the only Frenchman in the top 10. We also do not introduce this man who is today the CEO of LVMH. While he was the 3rd richest man in the world in 2020, he was in 4th place at the start of 2021. However, he has just taken the place of Bill Gates who was in the top 3 during the first third of 2021 Indeed, Bernard Arnault’s fortune, estimated at 124 billion dollars in March 2021, is now estimated at 173 billion dollars.
Bernard Arnault is a very special case in this ranking of the richest men in the world. Indeed, his fortune is much more fluctuating than the others. If it stands today at 172 billion, it actually lost 6.1 billion dollars between January 13, 2021, and January 13, 2022.
Bernard Arnault continues to lose money. Between May 2021 and May 2022, his fortune dropped by more than 45 billion dollars. Today, the fortune of Bernard Arnault is estimated at 133 billion dollars.
2 – Jeff Bezos
At the start of 2020, Jeff Bezos‘ fortunes were in good shape. It must be said that Amazon was the big winner of the coronavirus crisis since consumers largely turned to online sites during the two confinements put in place in 2020.
As of February 2021, Jeff Bezos’ fortune is estimated at 183 billion dollars. At the beginning of May 2021, Jeff Bezos remained the richest man in the world with a fortune in constant progression and today estimated at 206 billion dollars.
Today, Jeff Bezos does not derive his fortune solely from his shares in Amazon, even if it is his main source of income. Indeed, the entrepreneur has other activities. He also owns the Washington Post. While he will hand over to Andy Jassy in August 2021, Jeff Bezos will still hold positions at Amazon where he will remain executive chairman.
Despite everything, the year 2022 does not start with the best hospices for Jeff Bezos, whose fortune now amounts to 191 billion dollars. A year later to the day, Jeff Bezos has almost lost 2 billion dollars. The year 2022 is not better for the founder of Amazon who has not been the richest man in the world for several years. Jeff Bezos’ fortune is now estimated at 149 billion dollars. Between May 2021 and May 2022, the businessman lost more than 43 billion dollars.
1 – Elon Musk, the richest man in the world
Who is the richest man in the world? This is Elon Musk, whose fortune now far exceeds that of Jeff Bezos. The founder of PayPal, Tesla, and SpaceX today claims a fortune of $288 billion. It’s worth noting how quickly Elon Musk’s wealth has skyrocketed in recent months. Indeed, according to Forbes, his fortune was estimated at 72 billion dollars in 2020. He would have exceeded 100 billion dollars in August 2020. If in 2021, the fortune of Elon Musk amounted to 288 billion, at the beginning of 2022, it shows a slight decrease and now stands at 282 billion dollars. Note, however, that it is up to 11.1 billion dollars from the start of 2021.
Tesla and SpaceX are not Elon Musk’s only activities. Indeed, the entrepreneur has developed the long-awaited Hyperloop. This new mode of transport consists of making people travel in high-speed tubes, promising to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles in less than 30 minutes, compared to 1h10 by plane. Today, Elon Musk is no longer directly involved in the development of the Hyperloop, but his company SpaceX continues to organize competitions to allow the best startups to look into the subject.
As of May 2022, Elon Musk‘s fortune is estimated at 256 billion dollars. The man, however, sold part of his Tesla shares in order to be able to buy the social network Twitter. The latter fell, but he still continues to widen the gap with his competitor in the ranking of the richest men in the world: Jeff Bezos.
