Who’ s become the Richest in 2021?
A NEW BILLIONAIRE WAS MINTED EVERY 17 HOURS ON AVERAGE OVER THE PAST YEAR. ALTOGETHER, THE WORLD’S WEALTHIEST ARE $5 TRILLION RICHER THAN A YEAR AGO.
Edited by Kerry A. Dolan
And Jennifer Wang and Chase Peterson-Withorn
t’s been a year like no other, and we aren’t talking about the pandemic. There were rapid-fire public offerings, surging cryptocurrencies and skyrocketing stock prices. The number of billionaires on Forbes’ 35th annual list of the world’s wealthiest exploded to an unprecedented 2,755–660 more than a year ago. Of those, a record high 493 were new to the list–roughly one every 17 hours, including 210 from China and Hong Kong. Another 250 who’d fallen off in the past came roaring back. A staggering 86% are richer than a year ago.
Jeff Bezos is the world’s richest for the fourth year running, worth $177 billion, while Elon Musk rocketed into the number two spot with $151 billion, as Tesla and Amazon shares surged.
Altogether these billionaires are worth $13.1 trillion, up from $8 trillion in 2020. The U.S. still has the most, with 724, followed by China (including Hong Kong and Macao) with 698. We used stock prices and exchange rates from March 5 to calculate net worths. See below for the full list of the world’s billionaires and our methodology..
BACK (LEFT TO RIGHT): KATE WANG, SERGIO STEVANATO, ELON MUSK, JEFF BEZOS, KIM KARDASHIAN WEST, TYLER PERRY, SUSANNE KLATTEN. FRONT: DAVID VÉLEZ, WHITNEY WOLFE HERD, JACK MA.