The Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List shows us who the wealthiest people in the world are right now. This online list constantly updates to reflect changes in their money, making it a live look at who has the most wealth. It’s a fascinating way to see how quickly fortunes can grow or shrink.
How Forbes Tracks Billionaires’ Wealth
Forbes tracks billionaires’ money using two main methods, depending on where their money comes from.
- Public Company Holdings: If a billionaire owns shares in a company traded on the stock market, their wealth changes along with the stock price. Forbes updates these values every five minutes when the markets are open, though stock prices themselves have a 15-minute delay. This means if a company’s stock goes up, so does the owner’s net worth, and their rank on the list might go up too.
- Private Company Holdings: For billionaires whose wealth mostly comes from private businesses (meaning at least 20% of their money), their net worth gets updated once a day. The value of these private companies is figured out using special market indexes for their industry or region, provided by FactSet Research Systems. This helps Forbes accurately guess the value of businesses that aren’t publicly traded.
The list also makes it easy to spot who’s having a good or bad day, by showing the five billionaires who gained or lost the most money.
The Top 10 Wealthiest People Right Now
The world’s richest individuals are mostly leaders from the tech and business world. Here are the top 10, based on the latest updates:
- 1. Elon Musk: With an incredible $405.6 billion, the head of Tesla and SpaceX is currently the richest person.
- 2. Larry Ellison: The founder of Oracle holds the second spot, with a fortune of $290.6 billion.
- 3. Mark Zuckerberg: The creator of Facebook (now Meta Platforms) is third, with $245.9 billion.
- 4. Jeff Bezos: Amazon’s founder isn’t far behind, with $244.0 billion.
- 5. Larry Page: A co-founder of Google, his wealth stands at $158.9 billion.
- 6. Sergey Brin: Also a co-founder of Google, he has $151.7 billion.
- 7. Bernard Arnault & family: This family leads the luxury company LVMH, with $151.2 billion.
- 8. Jensen Huang: A key figure in the semiconductor industry, his net worth is $151.0 billion.
- 9. Warren Buffett: The famous investor behind Berkshire Hathaway, he has $144.6 billion.
- 10. Steve Ballmer: The former CEO of Microsoft rounds out the top ten with $144.3 billion.
This list shows that a lot of wealth today comes from big companies in technology, software, and online retail, alongside more traditional industries and smart investments. The Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List is a great way to keep an eye on these ever-changing fortunes.
You can check out the full, updated list anytime at the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List.
“AI assistance from Gemini was used in the research and outlining phases of this article.
