Money & Markets1987–2025
The World's Richest Person
Nearly four decades of the Forbes billionaires list, tracking the net worth of the planet's richest people. From Japanese real-estate king Yoshiaki Tsutsumi in the bubble years, through Bill Gates's long software reign and Carlos Slim's brief telecom rule, to the tech titans Bezos and Musk breaking every record.
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Source: Forbes Annual Forbes World's Billionaires estimates; net worth fluctuates with markets. Updated 2026-07-03
The race in numbers
10lead changes
38years covered
15contenders
Bill Gateslongest reign — 13 yrs at #1
Final standings · 2025
- 1Elon Musk$342B
- 2Mark Zuckerberg$216B
- 3Jeff Bezos$215B
- 4Larry Ellison$192B
- 5Bernard Arnault$178B