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Top 10 Richest People In The World

Published

1 year ago

June 4, 2024

Editor

The combined net worth of the world’s top 10 richest individuals in June 2024 has reached nearly $1.59 trillion, an increase of about $50 billion from the previous month.

Forbes, which has tracked global billionaires since 1987, continues to monitor these dynamic changes through their real-time billionaire tracker.

French business mogul, Bernard Arnault, was the world’s wealthiest person from February until late May 2024.

However, in the latest June 1 release, Tesla and X, CEO, Elon Musk reclaimed the title of the world’s richest person, thanks to his new AI company, xAI, which raised $6 billion, boosting his fortune to over $210 billion.

Bernard Arnault, who held the top spot from February to May, saw his wealth drop to $201.6 billion due to a decline in LVMH shares.

Mark Zuckerberg gained $12.6 billion, reaching $163.8 billion.

Bill Gates remains the ninth richest at $129.4 billion.

Here is a list of the top 10 richest in the world in June 2024:

1. Elon Musk

Elon Musk

Net worth: $210.3 billion
Source: Tesla, SpaceX, X (Twitter)
Age: 52
Residence: Austin, Texas
Citizenship: U.S.
Elon Musk is the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and social media company X (formerly Twitter), and founder of xAI. He owns 13 per cent of Tesla and 74 per cent of X, which he bought for $44 billion in October 2022.

Born in South Africa, Musk moved to Canada at 17, and attended Queen’s University and then the University of Pennsylvania.

In 2000, he co-founded PayPal, which was sold to eBay for $1.4 billion in 2002. Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 and joined Tesla in 2004, becoming CEO in 2008.

He became the world’s richest person in 2021, with a peak fortune of $320 billion.

Musk regained the top spot in June 2023, briefly lost it in January 2024, but reclaimed it in May 2024 after xAI raised $6 billion.

2. Arnault-Bernard

Arnault-Bernard

Net worth: $201.6 billion
Source: LVMH/ luxury goods
Age: 75
Residence: Paris
Citizenship: France
Bernard Arnault, CEO and chairman of LVMH fell to the second richest spot in late May 2024, overtaken by Elon Musk.

Arnault built LVMH into the largest luxury goods company, with brands like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Tiffany & Co.

He used $15 million from his father’s construction fortune to buy Christian Dior. All five of his children work within LVMH, with Alexandre, Frédéric, Delphine, Antoine, and Jean holding significant positions.

Arnault was the world’s richest person for most of the first half of 2023 and again from February to late May 2024.

As of June 1, 2024, his fortune is $7.8 billion less than a month ago due to a dip in LVMH stock.

3. Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos

http://www.wealthx.com
Net worth: $194.7 billion
Source: Amazon
Age: 60
Residence: Miami, Florida
Citizenship: U.S.
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 and served as CEO until July 2021; he remains chairman. In the same month, he went to space on a Blue Origin rocket, a company he founded and heavily funds. His fortune increased by $1.4 billion in May 2024 due to a rise in Amazon stock.

Before Amazon, Bezos worked at hedge fund D.E. Shaw in New York. Amazon started as an online bookseller and expanded into cloud storage and media production. Bezos was the world’s richest person from 2018 to 2021 but dropped to second in 2022.

In 2019, Bezos divorced MacKenzie Scott, who received 4 per cent of Amazon shares while he kept 12 per cent.

He now owns just under 10% of the company, having sold over $27 billion in stock since Amazon went public in 1997. Through Bezos Expeditions, he has invested in companies like Airbnb and Workday.

4. Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg

Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg
Net worth: $163.8 billion
Source: Meta (Facebook)
Age: 40
Residence: Palo Alto, California
Citizenship: U.S.
Mark Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook, now Meta Platforms, at Harvard in 2004.

Meta, the world’s largest social network, has over 3 billion monthly users and owns Instagram and WhatsApp.

Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, took the company public in 2012 and owns about 13 per cent of it. He and his wife, Priscilla Chan, pledged 99 per cent of their Meta stock to philanthropic efforts, aiming to develop tools to cure, manage, or prevent all diseases by the century’s end.

Zuckerberg reentered the top 10 richest in the summer of 2023 due to a rise in Meta’s stock. In May 2024, his fortune increased by $12.6 billion as Meta’s stock climbed 8.5 per cent.

5. Larry Ellison

Larry Ellison

Net worth: $146.2 billion
Source: Oracle
Age: 79
Residence: Woodside, California
Citizenship: U.S.
Larry Ellison co-founded Oracle in 1977 and served as CEO until 2014; he is now chairman and chief technology officer. Oracle has made significant acquisitions, including Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion in 2010.

In 2012, Ellison bought 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai for $300 million. He also owns homes in California and Nevada and invested in Tesla, serving on its board from 2018 to August 2022.

In February 2024, Ellison was overtaken by Mark Zuckerberg and fell to the fifth richest. In May, his net worth increased by $3.4 billion.

6. Larry Page

Larry Ellison

Net worth: $142.9 billion
Larry Page
Google co-founder Larry Page
Source: Google
Age: 51
Residence: Palo Alto, California
Citizenship: U.S.
Page co-founded Google with Sergey Brin in 1998, serving as CEO from 1998 to 2001 and from 2011 to 2015.

He currently sits on Alphabet’s board and remains a major shareholder.

Additionally, he was an early investor in Planetary Resources, later acquired by ConsenSys.

Page’s wealth surged due to increased Alphabet shares, rising $7.5 billion in May 2024 following a $9 billion jump in April.

7. Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett

Net worth: $137 billion
Source: Berkshire Hathaway
Age: 93
Residence: Omaha, Nebraska
Citizenship: U.S.
Warren Buffett, known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” heads Berkshire Hathaway, which owns companies like Geico, Duracell, and Dairy Queen.

He began investing at 11, co-founded the Giving Pledge in 2010, and has pledged to donate 99% of his wealth.

His donations, primarily in Berkshire Hathaway stock, total over $51.5 billion, making him the most generous billionaire globally.

In May 2024, his wealth rose by $6 billion, driven by Berkshire Hathaway’s share price increase.

8. Sergey Brin

Sergey Brin

Net worth: $136.9 billion
Source: Google
Age: 50
Residence: Los Altos, California
Citizenship: U.S.
Brin, alongside Larry Page, co-founded Google while pursuing their Stanford computer science PhDs.

He currently sits on Alphabet’s board and holds a significant share. Brin’s wealth surged by $7 billion in May 2024.

Despite semi-retirement, he contributed to Google’s Gemini AI chatbot and was a key contributor to its release.

Brin is the leading individual donor for Parkinson’s disease research, contributing $1.25 billion to various initiatives, including Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s, a collaborative effort led by his team.

9. Bill Gates

Bill Gates

Net worth: $129.4 billion
Source: Microsoft, investments
Age: 68
Residence: Medina, Washington
Citizenship: U.S.
Gates, fascinated by computer programming in his teens, co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen in 1975, pioneering software for personal computers. He served as CEO for 25 years and remained chairman until 2014.

Despite stepping off the board in 2020, he still advises Microsoft teams part-time. Gates has diverse investments in numerous companies, including Republic Services and Deere & Co., and owns significant farmland in the U.S.

Forbes first recognized Gates as a billionaire in 1987, and he held the title of the world’s richest person from 1995 to 2017, except for brief periods. He has donated over $59 billion to the Gates Foundation, losing the top spot to Jeff Bezos in 2018. Following his divorce from Melinda French Gates in 2021, she received an estimated $10 billion in assets.

In May 2024, Gates’ fortune increased by around $2.4 billion, maintaining his No. 9 rank, though it’s the lowest he’s ranked in decades as others surpass him.

10. Steve Ballmer

Steve Ballmer

Net worth: $123.2 billion
Source: Microsoft, Clippers, investments
Age: 68
Residence: Hunts Point, Washington
Citizenship: U.S.
Ballmer, a Harvard classmate of Bill Gates, joined Microsoft as its 30th employee in 1980 after leaving Stanford’s MBA program. He served as CEO from 2000 to 2014.

After leaving Microsoft, Ballmer bought the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion, setting an NBA record. Forbes now estimates the team’s value at $4.65 billion.

Ballmer’s wealth surged by approximately $6 billion last month due to a rise in Microsoft stock. He and his wife, Connie, rank among America’s top 25 philanthropists.

Who is the richest woman in the world?
The richest woman globally is Francoise Bettencourt Meyers from France.

With an estimated net worth of $99 billion as of June 1, 2024, she ranks as the 15th richest person worldwide.

Meyers inherited her wealth from her late mother, primarily through her ownership stake in cosmetics giant L’Oreal, founded by her grandfather.

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Canada Flags Nigeria, 16 African Countries As High-risk In New Travel Advisory

Published

7 minutes ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

The Government of Canada has issued a new advisory urging citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to Nigeria, including the capital city, Abuja, citing an increasingly unpredictable security environment marked by terrorism, crime, armed attacks, and kidnappings.

The Canadian government dropped one of its biggest travel‑risk updates in years, warning citizens to steer clear of 17 African countries because of spiraling insecurity, political turmoil and extremist violence.

Canadian officials point to a perfect storm of threats: expanding extremist networks in the Sahel and Horn of Africa, a wave of military coups, communal clashes, mass protests, cross‑border crime, and fragile governance that leaves many states barely holding together.

On the ‘Avoid All Travel’ hot spots destinations are: South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Libya, Mali, Niger, Somalia and Sudan while the ‘Avoid Non‑Essential Travel’ list includes Madagascar, Ethiopia, Burundi, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Mauritania, Nigeria and Tanzania.

The advisory, released yesterday, highlights that while the entire country faces elevated risks, certain regions are considered so dangerous that Canadians are urged to avoid all travel.

The only exceptions to the broader warning are the cities of Lagos and Calabar, where travellers are advised to exercise a high degree of caution rather than avoid travel altogether.

According to the travel advice, wide swaths of northern and central Nigeria are experiencing sustained instability driven by extremist violence, banditry, and inter-communal clashes.

The government specifically names the northwestern states of Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara; the northcentral states of Plateau, Niger and Kogi; and much of the northeast, including Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Taraba and Yobe.

According to the travel advice, the Niger Delta region also remains volatile. Canada advises avoiding all travel to Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu, Imo and Rivers states, though it stops short of a blanket ban on Port Harcourt itself, recommending instead that travellers avoid non-essential trips there.

Canada’s updated advisory places Nigeria among the most high-risk destinations for Canadians worldwide. The government urges anyone currently in the country to remain vigilant, limit movement, and monitor local media for developing threats.

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Condom Distribution Dalls 55% In Nigeria

Published

59 minutes ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

The agency launched its 2025 World AIDS Day report, Overcoming Disruption, Transforming the AIDS Response, on Tuesday, warning that the global HIV response is experiencing its most significant setback in decades.

In its report, UNAIDS highlighted widespread disruption to HIV prevention, testing, and community-led programmes.

The agency noted that across 13 countries, the number of people newly initiated on treatment has also declined.

“Nigeria recorded a 55 per cent drop in condom distribution,” the report stated. The agency also drew attention to the effect on women in sub-Saharan Africa, noting that approximately 450,000 women have lost access to “mother mentors,” community workers who support their connection to care.

Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, said the decline is linked to abrupt funding cuts and a worsening human rights environment.

Speaking from Geneva, she said, “The funding crisis has exposed the fragility of the progress we fought so hard to achieve. Behind every data point in this report are people. Babies missed for HIV screening, young women cut off from prevention support, and communities suddenly left without services and care. We cannot abandon them.”

UNAIDS stressed the particular vulnerability of adolescent girls and young women, who were already severely affected prior to the crisis, with an estimated 570 new HIV infections occurring daily among females aged 15 to 24.

“This is our moment to choose,” Byanyima said. “We can allow these shocks to undo decades of hard-won gains, or we can unite behind the shared vision of ending AIDS. Millions of lives depend on the choices we make today.”

The report indicated that dismantled prevention programmes have increased risk for young women and that community-led organisations, essential to HIV outreach, are under severe pressure.

More than 60 per cent of women-led organisations reported having to suspend essential services. UNAIDS modelling suggests that continued disruption could result in an additional 3.3 million new HIV infections between 2025 and 2030.

The agency warned that international assistance has declined sharply, with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development projections indicating external health funding may drop by 30 to 40 per cent in 2025 compared with 2023.

“The impact has been immediate and severe, especially in low- and middle-income countries highly affected by HIV,” the report noted.

UNAIDS urged world leaders to maintain and increase HIV funding, particularly for countries reliant on external support, while investing in innovations such as affordable long-acting prevention.

The agency noted the importance of upholding human rights and empowering communities as central to an effective response to HIV.

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UK Rejects Nigeria’s Request To Transfer Ekweremadu

Published

2 days ago

November 24, 2025

Editor

The United Kingdom has rejected a request from the Nigerian government to transfer former Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu to Nigeria to complete his prison sentence.

Ekweremadu is serving time in a UK facility after he was found guilty in 2023 of plotting to harvest the kidney of a young man.

He received a jail term of nine years and eight months following the conviction, which stemmed from a high-profile organ-trafficking case that drew international attention.

With the latest decision, Ekweremadu will remain in the UK to serve out the remainder of his sentence.