Forbes magazine has been keeping a record of billionaires since 1987, when there were just 140 people in the world to amass this type of wealth. In their latest list, which was published today, the magazine says there are 3,028 billionaires in the world, either entrepreneurs, investors, or heirs.
The U.S. remains the country with the most billionaires (902), followed by China (516) and India (205). Here are the top 15 billionaires in the world according to Forbes magazine.
Forbes’ wealthiest billionaires list for 2025
14. Alice Walton
75-year-old Alice Walton was ranked as the 15th wealthiest billionaire in the world. She is the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, and in 2024, her wealth reached a reported amount of $101 billion. Unlike her brothers, she has not served at Walmart and instead has dedicated herself to art curation, opening the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas. Her wealth, however, comes from Walmart shares.
14. Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg is the cofounder of the media and financial information company, Bloomberg LP. The 83-year-old currently has a net worth of $105 billion, as he owns 88% of the company. He was also the mayor of New York City for 12 years between 2002 and 2013, and had an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2020.
13. Bill Gates
Bill Gates, 69, was once the richest man on the planet. This year, however, he was ranked at 13 on Forbes’s billionaire list. His wealth is reportedly worth $107.7 billion. The former Microsoft boss currently owns less than 1% of the company, as after he stepped down from the board in 2020, he donated billions in shares to the Gates Foundation in 2022.
12. Jim Walton
Jim Walton is the youngest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton, at 76 years old. He is worth an estimated $109 billion, mostly through Walmart shares. He is also the chairman of the Walton family’s Arvest Bank Group, which holds assets worth $26 billion.
11. Rob Walton
The oldest of the three Walton siblings, at 80, Rob Walton has amassed a fortune worth $110 billion. He took over as Walmart chairman after his father’s death in 1992, but retired from the position in 2015. He also led a consortium in 2022 to own the NFL team, the Denver Broncos.
10. Steve Balmer
10 in Forbes’s 2025 billionaire rankings is former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. His wealth is estimated to be worth $115.6 billion. Ballmer joined the tech giants in 1980 and was the company’s 30th employee, eventually becoming CEO between 2000 and 2014. The 69-year-old is also the owner of the NBA team, the Los Angeles Clippers, which is estimated to be worth $4.65 billion.
9. Amancio Ortega
Amancio Ortega, 89, is the first European to feature in Forbes’s top 15. His reported net worth is $114.8 billion. He is the founder of Inditex, a conglomerate that owns Zara, Bershka, and Massimo Dutti. Ortega currently owns 60% of Inditex. Forbes reports that he earns more than $400 million in yearly dividends, which he re-invests in real estate in Europe and North America.
8. Sergey Brin
Brin, 51, is a cofounder of Google. He stepped down as President of parent company Alphabet in 2019, but remains a board member and a shareholder. His net worth is estimated to be $125.8 billion.
7. Larry Page
Page, another Google cofounder, ranks at number seven with a net worth of $131.3 billion. Much like Brin, 52-year-old Page stepped down as CEO of Alphabet in 2019, and remains on the company’s board as a controlling shareholder. Brin and Page invented Google’s PageRank algorithm, which is what powers the search engine.
6. Warren Buffett
Buffet, 94, runs Berkshire Hathaway, which owns companies that include Geico, Duracell, and Dairy Queen. Buffett is one of the most successful investors of all time, and has amassed a fortune that is estimated to be worth $166.3 billion. He is also one of the top philanthropists in the world, as he has donated close to $62 billion.
5. Bernard Arnault
76-year-old Bernard Arnault is the founder, chairman, and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. The Frenchman’s luxury conglomerate owns brands like Dior, Sephora, and Fendi. His wealth comes from owning LVMH stock, and his net worth is estimated to be $1761.7 billion.
4. Larry Ellison
As co-founder, chief technology officer, and former CEO of Oracle, Ellison’s staggering climb to the top five richest men in the world is very impressive. Oracle, although less known and much less glamorous than social media apps, is the software company that runs corporate America, specializing in cloud computing and database platforms.
His fortune is estimated to be worth $177.6 billion and is mostly thanks to owning 40% of Oracle and Tesla stock.
3. Jeff Bezos
Bezos’s net worth is estimated to be $208.7 billion, with most of his wealth coming from owning large amounts of Amazon stock. He is also the owner and executive chairman of the tech giants. He owns less than 10% of the company. He is also the owner of The Washington Post, and aerospace company, Blue Origin.
2. Mark Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg, 40, is the owner of Meta, a company that owns social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp. His net worth is estimated to be $216 billion.
1. Elon Musk
Musk, 53, remains the wealthiest man in the world. Having cofounded seven companies that include Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, he has amassed wealth worth $345.6 billion. According to estimates by Forbes, SpaceX is currently worth $350 billion. Musk owns a 42% stake in the company.