1. Jeff Bezos
Net worth: $131 billion
Change for the year: +$19 billion
State Source: Amazon.com
Age: 55 years
Country: USA
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos remains the world's only twelve-figure billionaire. In the fall of 2017, it exceeded $100 billion for the first time, and in 2018 it exceeded the $150 billion mark several times thanks to the growth of shares of Amazon, which Bezos created in a garage in Seattle in 1994 to sell books online.
Bezos continues to develop his aerospace company Blue Origin, promising that its reusable rockets will carry passengers. In September 2018, Bezos announced the $2 billion Bezos Day One Fund to help homeless people in the United States and create Montessori-style preschools.
In 2013, Bezos purchased The Washington Post, a newspaper that actively criticizes US President Donald Trump, for $250 million. The head of the White House, for his part, accuses Amazon of tax evasion and the destruction of traditional retailers.
In January 2019, Bezos divorced his wife Mackenzie, with whom he had been married for 25 years. After this, the Amazon founder accused the American tabloid National Enquirer, which sympathizes with Trump, of blackmail by threatening him with the publication of intimate photographs of him and TV presenter Lauren Sanchez, with whom the businessman has a romantic relationship.
2. Bill Gates
Net worth: $96.5 billion
Change for the year: +$6.5 billion
Status Source: Microsoft
Age: 63 years
Country: USA
The Microsoft founder increased his fortune by $6.5 billion over the year, but nevertheless again lost first place in the Forbes ranking to Jeff Bezos.
In 1975, Gates, along with Paul Allen, created the Microsoft Corporation, which became the world's largest manufacturer. software. To date, Gates has sold most shares of the company and continues to own only 1%. The money he received from the sale of Microsoft shares allows him to be the largest philanthropist in the world.
In 2016, Gates, along with a team of 20 investors, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, created the Breakthrough Energy investment fund in the amount of $1 billion. Earlier, with his wife Melinda, he founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Charitable Foundation, the main goal of which is to improve the healthcare system and overcoming hunger in poor countries. In 2018, the foundation created the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (MRI) in Boston with a budget of $100 million. Its goal is to develop new drugs and vaccines against malaria, tuberculosis and diarrhea, which together claim 2.6 million lives annually worldwide. to the world.
3. Warren Buffett
Net worth: $82.5 billion
Change for the year: -$1.5 billion
Source of wealth: Berkshire Hathaway
Age: 88 years
Country: USA
The Oracle of Omaha retained the third spot on the list of the world's richest people in 2018, despite the fact that his wealth decreased by $1.5 billion. In the last three months of 2018, Berkshire's investment portfolio shrank by $27 billion due to a sharp decline American securities market in October, the quotes of which, moreover, then fell even lower throughout December.
Berkshire Hathaway holds stakes in more than 60 companies, including Apple, Coca Cola, Geico, American Express, Fruit of the Loom and others. In the second half of 2018, Buffett took advantage of declines in U.S. bank stocks to become the largest shareholder in four of the five largest U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America, PNC Financial Services and U.S. Bancorp. At the same time, he cut his investments in Apple.
In March 2018, Buffett named his likely successors to lead Berkshire. He acknowledged that Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel and insurance chief Ajit Jain may be worthy of the job. “Berkshire is much better run now than it was when I was the one overseeing everything. Ajit and Greg have a rare talent, and they have the most Berkshire blood in them. Change has been needed for a long time,” he wrote in his letter to shareholders.
Buffett has already invested $35 billion in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. And he promises to give 99% of his fortune to charity.
4. Bernard Arnault
Net worth: $76 billion
Change for the year: +$4 billion
Status source: LVHM
Age: 70 years old
Country: France
The LVMH holding includes 70 world-famous luxury brands, including Moët Hennessy and Louis Vuitton, Sephora and Tag Heuer. LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault owns more than 5% of LVMH shares.
In the mid-1980s, Arnault and his partner bought the struggling textile company Boussaс, whose main asset was the Christian Dior fashion house. In the mid-1990s, Arnault recognized a rising star in the young fashion designer John Galliano and, with his help, transformed Christian Dior. In 2017, Arnault increased his stake in Christian Dior to 100%, purchasing a 25.9% stake in the fashion house for €12 billion. This deal and the accompanying increase in LVMH quotes allowed Arnault to become rich by $30.5 billion. In 2018, Arnault’s fortune increased another $4 billion.
Arnault is a patron of the arts and has invested $135 million in the Louis Vuitton Foundation Museum, which opened in the fall of 2014 in Paris.
5. Carlos Slim Helu
Net worth: $64 billion
Change for the year: -$3.1 billion
Status source: telecom
Age: 79 years old
Country: Mexico
Carlos Slim Helu has been the richest man in Mexico for many years thanks to the fact that, together with his family, he controls America Movil, the largest telecom operator in Latin America. In 1990, he and foreign partners acquired a stake in Mexico's only telephone company, Telmex, which later became part of America Movil. He also owns shares in construction, real estate, mining and consumer goods companies. He also owns 17% of The New York Times.
A 39% rise in America Movil shares in 2017 led to an increase in Slim's fortune by $12.6 billion. But in 2018, America Movil lost 15% of its value due to the Mexican government's plans to make the country's communications market more competitive. Slim's fortune decreased by $3.1 billion, but he rose to global ranking billionaires from seventh to fifth place.
Slim's son-in-law Fernando Romero was the creator of the Soumaya Museum in Mexico City, which houses the billionaire's art collection. Among them are paintings by French impressionists Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, as well as one of the world's largest collections of Rodin sculptures.
6. Amancio Ortega
Net worth: $62.7 billion
Change for the year: -$7.3 billion
Condition Source: Zara
Age: 82 years
Country: Spain
In 1975, Amancio Ortega and his wife Rosalia created the company Inditex, which was engaged in sewing underwear and bathrobes. Today Inditex owns eight clothing brands, including Zara, Massimo Dutti and Pull & Bear, and 7,500 stores worldwide. 60% of the company belongs to Ortega, who annually receives dividends in the amount of $400 million. Traditionally, Ortega invests these funds in real estate in New York, Madrid, Barcelona, London, Chicago, Miami.
In 2017, Zara's share price fell and Ortega's fortune fell by $1.3 billion. The company's growth slowed in 2018, and Inditex shares fell to their worst performance in three years in September. As a result, Ortega became poorer by another $7.3 billion.
7. Larry Ellison
Net worth: $62.5 billion
Change for the year: +$4 billion
Status Source: Oracle
Age: 74 years
Country: USA
Larry Ellison founded the Oracle software company in 1977. In 2014, he stepped down as CEO of the company, retaining his position as chairman of the board of directors and director of technology development. In 2015, he announced that the company would focus on developing cloud technologies, and in 2016, for these purposes, he acquired Netsuite for $9.3 billion.
In March 2018, Ellison launched Sensei, a hydroponic farming startup on the Hawaiian island of Lanai. Ellison fell in love with this island in his youth. And in 2012 he purchased it (the purchase cost the billionaire $300-500 million). It shows Ellison trying to create an ideal model of the future.
8. Mark Zuckerberg
Net worth: $62.3 billion
Change for the year: -$8.7 billion
Status Source: Facebook
Age: 34 years
Country: USA
2018 was a difficult year for Mark Zuckerberg - the social network came under fire for its failure to counter the influx of fake news and hate. In April 2018, Zuckerberg testified at a US Congress hearing on charges of leaking the data of 50 million users through an application developed by the consulting company Cambridge Analytica.
Facebook fell short of investors' revenue growth expectations in July. And in November, The New York Times published an investigation into how Zuckerberg and top managers of the social network paid for negative publications in the media about George Soros, who criticized the social network. As a result, Zuckerberg's fortune decreased by $8.7 billion over the year and he dropped from fifth to eighth place in the Forbes ranking.
Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004 at the age of 19. In 2012, the company went public. Zuckerberg owns about 17% of its shares. In December 2015, Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan promised to sell 99% of their shares in the social network during their lifetime and give the money to charity.
Net worth: $55.5 billion
Change for the year: +$5.5 billion
Source of wealth: Bloomberg LP
Age: 77 years old
Country: USA
Michael Bloomberg founded Bloomberg LP, a media company that provides financial information to corporate subscribers, in 1981. Before that, he worked for 15 years at the investment bank Salomon Brothers, from where he was fired with a severance package of $10 million. Bloomberg spent $4 million of this money to launch Innovative Market Systems, a company that analyzes financial markets. Soon he renamed the company Bloomberg LP, and the investment bank Merrill Lynch became its first client and investor.
Today the business brings in up to $9 billion annually. Bloomberg owns 88% of the shares.
From 2002 to 2014, Bloomberg was mayor of New York, after which he again headed his company. He currently intends to run for President of the United States.
Bloomberg is actively involved in charity work. He allocated $5 billion for gun control measures and other purposes. In November 2018, the billionaire announced that he would donate $1.8 billion to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, to support middle- and low-income students.
10. Larry Page
Net worth: $50.8 billion
Change for the year: +$2 billion
Status source: Google
Age: 45 years
Country: USA
Page founded Google in 1998 with Stanford University student Sergey Brin. They developed the system in the garage of Susan Wojcicki, who now heads Youtube. Their first server was built from Lego pieces. Over time, Google has become the leading search engine on the planet. The company, which was renamed Alphabet in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring, now generates more than $100 billion a year and employs more than 60,000 people in 50 countries.
Until 2001, Page was the CEO of the company, after which he decided to fire some of the project managers from Google so that there would be no “extra layer” between him and the programmers. As a result, Google investors achieved his removal from the post of CEO. In 2011, Page again took over as Google's CEO. But in 2015, he decided to head Alphabet (the parent company of Google, created to separate the search engine business from other areas of activity). “We need to do breakthrough things, not small things,” Page is convinced.
For the fourth year in a row, the rating was topped by the owner of the telecommunications empire America Movil in Latin America. Carlos Slim Helu. It is a monopolist in this area and controls up to 90% of mobile and landline telephone communications.
Its capital is estimated at 73 billion US dollars. This amount is equal to approximately 2-3% of Mexico's total GDP. In addition to developing his corporation, the richest man in the world is engaged in:
- tobacco production,
- financial activities,
- construction,
- mining.
- producing musical performers,
- charity.
In addition, Carlos Helu has already acquired 3 football clubs.
In fact, the billionaire has a network of companies in all areas of industry and life in Mexico. Every resident of this country, from birth to death, in one way or another, uses the services of companies owned by the richest person in the world.
Carier start
Carlos Slim inherited his business acumen from his father, Julian Slim, who taught his children to control their own expenses from an early age. At first he simply entered his income and expenses in a special notebook, and then he became seriously interested in finance. It was at the suggestion of his father that the future richest man in the world began to study the basics of stock investing and already at the age of 17 he earned his first million.
Gradually, the capital increased and Carlos bought an insurance business, as well as a chain of economy-class stores. Well, then everything went from strength to strength. He did not miss lucrative offers, bought companies, updated them and sold them at a much higher price.
It is this strategy that has led to the fact that Carlos Slim is today the richest man in the world.
Top 10 according to Forbes
Other places in the top ten richest people worlds are arranged as follows.
2nd place
Bill Gates
Nationality: American.
Citizenship: USA.
Net worth: $67 billion.
He is the co-founder and chairman of Microsoft, which firmly holds the title of the largest software developer in the world. Bill Gates also has a stake in a large investment fund.
3rd place
Amancio Ortega 
Nationality: Spanish.
Citizenship: Spain.
Net worth: $57 billion.
Owns enterprises in the textile industry and trade. Amancio Ortega owns the world famous brand Zara. The businessman also invests in tourism, banking, real estate and the gas industry.
4th place
Warren Buffett 
Nationality: American.
Citizenship: USA.
Net worth: $53.5 billion.
Got rich with his own investment fund Berkshire Hathaway. Currently, he is the owner of an entire holding company engaged in insurance, investment, and production. Owns some information publications and media.
5th place
Larry Ellison 
Nationality: American.
Citizenship: USA.
Net worth: $43 billion.
He is the head of Oracle and is also its largest shareholder. The corporation develops software and is second only to Microsoft in sales volumes. Ellison also successfully sells server equipment.
6th and 7th place
Brothers Charles and David Koch
Nationality: Americans.
Citizenship: USA.
Net worth: $34 billion.
The brothers own an industrial concern in the field petrochemical production. Since they have the same size of assets, they occupy the same line - 6th place. According to the ranking rules, there is no 7th place in this case.
8th place
Li Ka Shing 
Nationality: Chinese.
Citizenship: China.
Net worth: $31 billion.
Actively engaged in construction, controls up to 70% of all cargo turnover in the Hong Kong port. Owner of retail chains mobile communications and electric power enterprises.
9th place
Liliane Bettencourt
Nationality: French.
Citizenship: France.
Net worth: $30 billion.
Liliane Bettencourt has become the richest woman in the world. She owns famous empire L'Oreal. Sales of branded cosmetics are constantly growing, so its appearance in the Forbes top ten has become natural.
10th place
Bernard Arnault 
Nationality: French.
Citizenship: France.
Net worth: $29 billion.
Bernard Arnault owns 42% of the world's largest luxury goods group, LVMN. It includes a myriad of brands such as Kenzo, Christian Lacroix, Givenchy, Dom Perignon and many others.
The situation is constantly changing, some companies are growing and developing, others are going through hard times, so the ranking of the world's richest people according to Forbes is updated annually.
As you can see, there is something to strive for.)
For almost three decades, international business Forbes magazine » will publish a ranking of the wealthiest businessmen.
In 2015 year, as almost always, it was headed by Bill Gates, who founded Microsoft. But there were some surprises in the TOP 10 dollar billionaires of the world. For example, the list of the world's rich has noticeably “rejuvenated”: among the lucky ones who received the attention of the publication, there are 46 people under the age of 40. The “young” generation is represented by Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskowitz (creators social network Facebook), Bobby Murphy and Evan Spiegel (developers of the social network Snapchat).
In the prestigious ranking you can also find Russians: Vladimir Potanin ($15.8 billion), Alisher Usmanov ($14.2 billion), Roman Abramovich ($12.4 billion) and some others. But the top ten still contains entrepreneurs mainly from the States. But who are they - the richest People Earth according to the legendary magazine?
TOP 10 billionaires in the world opens unique person – richest woman Europe, which turned 93 years old. She earned her fortune as the heiress and co-owner of the L’Oreal cosmetics company, founded by her father, Eugene Schuller. Over the past year, Madame Bettencourt increased her income by $5.5 billion. She is the owner of the largest stake in the company (31%). The second largest shareholder is Nestle (29.8%). The entrepreneur's fortune is estimated at $40.1 billion.
9. Jim Walton
The son of the legendary Sam Walton, creator of the Wal-Mart Stores retail chain, is one of the richest people for a reason. Serving on the board of directors of the retail company, he is also the manager of the family bank Arvest. Thanks to active management activities, the businessman was able to increase his income by $5.9 billion. The capital of the 67-year-old American businessman is estimated at 40.6 billion.
8. Christy Walton
One of the few women in the ranking who increased her capital by $5 billion over the past year alone. Current financial condition The American woman is estimated at 41.7 billion. Her income comes from the Wal-Mart hypermarket chain, which the 66-year-old businesswoman became a co-owner after the tragic death of her husband John. He was the second son of chain founder Sam Walton.
6 – 7. Charles Koch and David Koch
It is no coincidence that these people occupy such positions. Charles Koch is one of America's leading entrepreneurs and philanthropists, who recently entered his ninth decade. David Koch is his younger brother, an engineer by training, with a master's degree in chemical engineering. At the age of 30, Charles began working in family company, and already at 39 he took the position of president. In addition to David and Charles, brothers Bill and Frederick worked in the company, but their shares were acquired for $1.3 billion.
David and Charles each managed to increase their profits by $2.9 billion in just a year. To this day, Charles is the chairman of the board of Koch Industries, a corporation specializing in the production and refining of oil and trading in “black gold.” David serves as Executive Vice President. The oil corporation is multinational. In the United States alone, it has over 50 thousand employees, and in another 59 countries there are branches employing about 20 thousand people.
At the end of 2013, the corporation created by Koch Sr. became the second largest private company in the United States. Its founding date is 1940, the name of its founder is Fred Koch, who invented new way oil refining. Charles Koch owns the company jointly with his brother and in equal shares: they each own 42% of the shares. According to the billionaire, the brainchild of the Koch family will become a public company only through his corpse. On this moment Charles and David's fortunes are equal - $42.9 billion.
5. Lawrence Ellison
The 71-year-old American entrepreneur, who founded the Oracle Corporation and is its permanent leader, has firmly established himself in 5th place in the Forbes ranking, increasing his income by 6.3 billion dollars. The outstanding programmer's career took off in the 1970s when, while working for Ampex, he created a unique database management system (DBMS) for the CIA, called Oracle.
Already in 1977, he and a couple of colleagues created their own company, which 5 years later was named after the main product - the Oracle Database DBMS. Today, the corporation has branches in dozens of countries around the world, including Russia, and is one of the leading suppliers of server equipment. The corporation has 122 thousand employees, and its net profit is $11 billion. The billionaire's net worth unofficial Forbes ranking estimates at 54.3 billion.
4. Amancio Ortega
Spanish entrepreneur who founded the largest holding company, which includes well-known fashion brands:
- Zara;
- Oysho;
- Pull
- Massimo Dutti;
- Bershka;
- Stradivarius, etc.
The total profit of all companies included in the holding in Russia exceeds $40 billion. The Zara brand accounts for 49% of the company's revenue. In total, there are more than 5 thousand clothing stores in the world that belonged to Mr. Ortega. He founded his company together with his ex-wife Rosalia Mera. The Spanish businessman also successfully invests in foreign real estate in the USA, Portugal and the UK. The Spaniard's wealth is estimated at 64.5 billion dollars, and his financial income over the past year increased by 500 million.
3. Warren Buffett
World-famous investor, executive director and chairman of the board of directors of the investment holding Berkshire Hathaway. This holding manages manufacturing companies in a variety of industries:
- automobile insurance (GEICO);
- railway transport(BNSF);
- wholesale trade of non-food and food products (McLane Company);
- Media (BH Media Group), etc.
The investment company's assets are estimated at $534 billion. And the businessman’s fortune is 72.7 billion. Despite his advanced age (the businessman is 85 years old), he does not lose his grip: over the previous year, Buffett increased his income by a record 14.5 billion dollars!
2. Carlos Slim Helu
In second place is rightfully a Mexican entrepreneur working primarily in the telecommunications industry. He owns the assets of a number of holdings, such as:
- America Movil is a company that controls 80% of land telephone lines in South America, with more than 215 million subscribers;
- Telmex is a company that has created a nationwide fiber optic network in Mexico and specializes in providing Internet access, IPTV and hosting services;
- Altria Group is the largest holding company, which includes tobacco manufacturers Phillip Morris USA (Marlboro, Bond cigarettes), John Middleton Inc. (cigars “Black&Mild”, “Royal Comfort”, “Prince Albert’s Soft”), food product manufacturer Kraft Foods (Nestle, Heinz, Toblerone, Estrella, Milka, etc.).
Mexican billionaire named richest man four times planets , and over the past year increased his fortune by $5.1 billion. It is estimated at 77.1 billion.
1. Bill Gates
The permanent leader of the list of the richest people on the planet for 7 years is Bill Gates. His condition according to the magazine Forbes estimated at $79.2 billion. In total, the billionaire was awarded the title of the richest person in the world 16 times: in 1996–2007 and 2009–2015.
Over the past 12 months, this entrepreneur's income has increased by more than $3.2 billion, although he is not an executive at Microsoft, serving as non-executive chairman of the board of directors. Currently, the founder of the computer empire is actively involved in charity and investment, heading the company Cascade Investment. He is not only the richest, but also the most generous billionaire, having donated a total of more than $36 billion. Bill Gates - first a person in the USA who suggested that billionaires give half of their income to charity!
Summarizing
In conclusion, it is worth noting: in the Forbes ranking, many settle down with entire families, managing enterprises created decades ago. Typically, trading enterprises, oil and cosmetics companies are inherited. And young people flocked to the Internet: the new generation of self-made billionaires, in most cases, achieve success thanks to the IT sector.
In 2017, Bloomberg announced its annual ranking of the five hundred richest people in the world. We will focus only on the first ten. So, richest people in the world according to the magazine "Big Rating".
Ingvar Kamprad
The Swedish businessman's net worth is estimated at $42.8 billion. Over the past year, Kamprad has become one billion dollars richer. As you know, he is the founder of IKEA. At the moment, Ingvar is quite a decent age - 90 years old. He divorced his first wife back in 1960, after ten years of marriage, married a second time in 1963, but his wife died in 2011. Now he has four children.
Larry Ellison
American businessman has capital in $45.4 billion. He has risen well this year - his fortune has increased by $1.8 billion. He is one of the co-owners of the Oracle Corporation, which is engaged in the production and release of computer equipment and software. At the moment, Ellison is 72 years old. For my stormy life he managed to get married and divorced four times. There are two children left from the second marriage.
David Koch
Today his condition is estimated at $47.8 billion. David increased his net worth by $8.2 billion over the past year. He is now 76 years old and still remains married, from which he has three children.
Charles Koch
Brother of David Koch, who is also a co-owner of Koch Industries. The company has a varied range of activities - from oil to polymer materials. Like his brother, he enriched himself by $8.2 billion in a year. He is married and has two children. His condition is estimated at $47.8 billion.
Carlos Slim
The sixth place in today's ranking is occupied by a Mexican businessman, who moved down from third place in the ranking. Today its budget is estimated at 53.3 billion dollars, because over the past year he increased his fortune by 3.3 billion dollars.
It is worth noting that Slim is very diversified in terms of business projects. He owns various companies, ranging from construction to telecommunications.
He is currently 77 years old. He is not married, as he was widowed back in 1999. There are six children left from the marriage.
Mark Zuckerberg
The youngest billionaire occupies fifth place in the ranking. Despite his young years, compared to his closest competitors (only 32 years old), he managed to earn $59.3 billion in past years. This year he raised his fortune by $14.7 billion. Surprisingly, the founder of the world's largest social network Facebook leads a very modest lifestyle. He is married and had a daughter in 2015.
Amancio Ortega
The Spanish entrepreneur is confidently moving forward and takes fourth place in the ranking, with a result of $68.9 billion. This year was successful and brought him 1.9 billion dollars. Ortega has an extensive business and is the owner of the Inditex company, which is the owner of several large retail chains selling ready-made clothing. Zara can also be counted among them.
The Spanish billionaire is now 81 years old and has not had much luck in his marriages. His first marriage broke up and in 2001 he married again. Now he has three children (two from his first marriage and one from his second).
Jeff Bezos
The third position was quickly taken by the owner of the largest company, Amazon. He is moving towards first place at an incredible pace, because this year the Internet company brought him $28.1 billion - an incredible result. Bezos was involved in trading, but in Lately began to invest more actively in various projects in the region latest technologies. Overall, he is still quite young and is currently 53 years old. Has a wife and three children. Today he has $82.1 billion.
Warren Buffett
A unique person in this top, because he deals exclusively with investments, which brought him $10.8 billion this year. In total, the American's fortune is estimated at approximately $79 billion.
Buffett became famous for his accurate forecasts regarding market developments. This allowed him and his clients to make profitable deals and invest money successfully. He is now 86 years old. His first wife died in 2004, and 2 years later he married for the second time. After his first marriage he has three children.
Bill Gates
It is not surprising that it has been ranked first in the rankings for many years. The world-famous owner of Microsoft became richer by $10.6 billion this year. Bill's general condition is estimated at $85.6 billion. His company is a major supplier of various software throughout the world. Now the businessman is 61 years old and is married, from which he has three children.
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07.12.2014 52 363 10 Reading time: 18 min.
In the last article, I introduced you to the twenty richest dollar billionaires of our time, occupying leading positions in the Forbes ranking. Today I want to bring to your attention. It turns out that history knows examples of achieving wealth that are several times greater than the successes of modern billionaires. It is them that I want to consider today as a good motivational example.
TOP 10 richest people on the planet in history
John Rockefeller
1. John Rockefeller. The fortune of this famous multi-billionaire from the United States was equal in terms of current dollars, taking into account inflation $318 billion, which is more than 4 times more than the richest person of our time, Bill Gates.
John Rockefeller is the richest man on earth in its entire history and the world's first dollar billionaire. In old dollar terms, he created $1.4 billion in wealth during his lifetime, which was 1.54% of annual US GDP at the time.
John Rockefeller was born in 1839 into a poor large family (his father was a lumberjack, and then became a traveling elixir merchant). At the age of 7, he began working part-time in his neighbors’ garden and got himself a little book in which he wrote and put all his earnings in a piggy bank. At the age of 13, he borrowed $50 to a farmer he knew at 7.5% per annum.
His only official paid employment was a short-lived job as an accounting assistant, which Rockefeller took at the age of 16, having previously completed accounting courses. John did not like that his salary was set less than that of his predecessor, and he soon quit.
Next, John Rockefeller became a partner of the entrepreneur, with whom he opened a joint trading business. Moreover, he borrowed the missing $800 from his father at 10% per annum. Later, he was able to convince a representative of one of the banks to give their company a loan for business development, due to which turnover was significantly increased.
In the early 1860s, they began to spread in America kerosene lamps, which increased the demand for oil - the raw material for kerosene fueled into lamps. John Rockefeller met a chemist involved in oil refining, and together they created a small oil refining company. And already in 1870, Rockefeller created his main vital asset - the Standard Oil oil company, which began searching for and producing oil.
Developing and increasing turnover, John Rockefeller bought up other oil companies, and was soon able to conclude a profitable deal with railway companies, which allowed him to crush his competitors by reducing the cost of oil transportation. Rockefeller presented them with a choice: merger with him or bankruptcy, and competitors chose the first option.
So in 1880, John Rockefeller became a monopolist oil magnate, concentrating 95% of US oil production in his hands. Gradually he expanded his business to other areas of activity.
It is noteworthy that from a young age, John Rockefeller constantly spent 10% of all his income on charity. Rockefeller died at the age of 97.
The most famous quote John Rockefeller: He who works all day has no time to earn money.
Andrew Carnegie
2. Andrew Carnegie. American businessman, originally from Scotland, whose fortune in modern currency amounted to $310 billion.
Andrew Carnegie was born in 1835, he came from a poor family of weavers who huddled in one room. From the age of 13, Andrew worked in a textile factory 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, and earned $10 a month for his labor. Then he changed jobs to a telegraph company with a salary of $4 a week.
At the age of 20, he left his mother's house as collateral and took out a loan of $500, with which he purchased stock in the Adams Express railroad company. They began to bring good profits to Carnegie, which he began to invest in securities of metallurgical enterprises involved in car building, shipbuilding, railway construction, as well as in oil producing companies.
Thus, having become rich from the growth in stock prices, he was able to become the largest steel and iron producer in the United States by 1885, first forming the Carnegie Steel Company and then the U.S. Steel, which made him a dollar billionaire.
Like John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie allocated a portion of his earnings to charity throughout his life.
Nicholas II
3. Nicholas II. The TOP-3 richest people on the planet in the entire human history is closed by the All-Russian Emperor Nicholas II Romanov. His financial condition in today's money was $253 billion.
However, unlike the aforementioned billionaires, he, as a tsar, inherited all his wealth, considered the sovereign’s property, from his father Alexander the Third. There is no information in popular sources about whether he was in any way involved in increasing his fortune; attention is paid only to his government.
As you know, the life of Nicholas II was tragically cut short in 1918, when he, along with his family and associates, were shot by the Bolsheviks.
William Henry Vanderbilt
4. William Henry Vanderbilt. Next in the TOP of the richest people in the world is the 19th century American capitalist William Vanderbilt, whose name is not so well known and there is little information about him. However, he ranks 4th in the TOP of the world's richest people in history - his financial fortune in terms of almost $232 billion.
Vanderbilt inherited a large fortune from his father, who at first did not want to allow him into the family business (he had 11 children in total, of which three were sons), but then, convinced of William’s abilities as a businessman, gradually took him into the share.
After the death of his father, William Henry Vanderbilt inherited a fortune worth $90 billion, and then increased it by more than 2 times. His main asset was the railway company. In 1885, Vanderbilt was considered the richest man in the world at that time.
Osman Ali Khan
5. Osman Ali Khan. Rounding out the TOP 5 richest people in the world in history is Osman Ali Khan Asaf Jah the Seventh, originally from India. His fortune was almost $211 billion at the current rate.
Osman Ali Khan had a princely title: he inherited the throne of one of the Indian states from his father. At the same time, he was the head of the largest diamond trading business - a global monopolist in the supply of these diamonds. precious stones. In the early 40s of the 20th century, his wealth was estimated at 2 million then dollars, which at that time amounted to 2% of US GDP.
Andrew Mellon
6. Andrew Mellon. American banker who briefly served as US Secretary of the Treasury and US Ambassador to Great Britain. His fortune was almost $189 billion translated into modern currency.
Andrew Mellon was born in 1855 in the USA and followed in the footsteps of his father, who was also a banker. First, at the age of 17, with the help of his father, he opened a manufacturing enterprise engaged in logging, and then, at the age of 27, he became a bank manager.
Throughout his life, Andrew Mellon worked in various areas of business, and already in old age he held major government positions.
Henry Ford
7. Henry Ford. Here, finally, is a familiar name again - the famous automobile tycoon Henry Ford, whose fortune amounted to $188 billion.
Henry Ford can serve as a good example of how to achieve great success and become a dollar billionaire from scratch. He was born in 1863 in the USA into a family of immigrants living on a farm. At the age of 16, Ford ran away from home and went to look for work in Detroit, where he began his career as a mechanical engineer and gradually rose through the ranks.
In 1883, he independently assembled his first car (not for work, but as a hobby), then became a co-owner of the Detroit Automobile Company, and in 1903 founded his own automobile company, the Ford Motor Company. This company began to independently produce cars: first the Ford A brand, but its main success was brought by the Ford T brand, production of which began in 1908.
Ford Motor Company repeatedly faced serious competition, and Henry Ford even suffered losses in this struggle, but did not stop and moved on. He constantly improved production technologies and, as a result, switched to a full production cycle: from the extraction of iron ore to the production of the finished car.
Henry Ford also became famous for paying his employees the highest wage in the United States at that time - $5 a day.
As you know, the business started by Henry Ford lives on to this day: Ford cars are a huge success all over the world.
Marcus Licinius Crassus
8. Marcus Licinius Crassus. Ancient Roman commander. Unlike other representatives of the TOP 10 richest people in the world throughout history, Crassus lived all the way back to 115-53 BC. However, he was able to achieve wealth, which in today's money amounted to almost $170 billion.
It turns out that even before our era it was possible to run a thriving business. Marcus Licinius Crassus made his fortune mainly by buying for next to nothing houses that had been damaged by fires, which Ancient Rome due to wars were a frequent occurrence, he restored them with the help of 500 hired workers and resold them at a significantly higher price. Crassus also made money from the slave trade and silver mining.
Marcus Licinius Crassus was known as a very greedy and dishonest man. There were rumors that he even deliberately set fire to houses in order to build a business on it. As a result, he was killed; according to one version, he was executed by having molten gold poured into his mouth, as a symbol of his greed.
Basil II
9. Basil II. Byzantine emperor from the family of Alexander the Great, whose reign spanned 976-1025. His net worth in today's money was $169 billion.
There is little information about this man, who is among the TOP 10 richest people in the world in history. It is only known that he was able to significantly expand the borders of the Byzantine Empire, annexing other lands to it. What’s interesting is that after his death the empire soon collapsed.
Cornelius Vanderbilt
10. Cornelius Vanderbilt. American businessman, father of William Henry Vanderbilt, who occupies 4th position in the TOP 10 richest people in the world. His wealth in today's money was $167 billion.
Cornelius Vanderbilt was born in the USA in 1794 into a family of poor farmers. At the age of 11, he decided that studying at school would not bring him anything good (he said “If I got an education, I wouldn’t have time to learn everything else”), he dropped out and went to work as a ferryman.
At the age of 16, he borrowed $100 from his mother, with which he opened his own business: he began transporting people on a small barge. A year later, he gave away 11 times more money: $1,100, which he managed to earn from this business.
Then Vanderbilt began to buy other ships, and soon he had a whole flotilla at his disposal. Later he switched to the railway business, and also began organizing transcontinental transportation.
Cornelius Vanderbilt was known as a very tough man, merciless in competition. It is believed that it was thanks to this character trait that he was able to achieve such magnitude.
This is what the TOP 10 richest people in the world in history look like. As you can see, there are both good and bad role models here. But it can still be argued that the majority of the richest people on the planet, mainly US citizens, were able to do it on their own, through investing and developing businesses, coming from poor families and starting from scratch. Which once again confirms the fact that this is possible.
I hope that it was not in vain that I carefully collected this information, and that the information received will have a certain motivating effect on you. Stay on, increase your financial literacy, and perhaps in the future you will be the one who will be able to bring your financial condition, your wealth and success closer to these historical characters. See you again!
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