The world's five richest people

If you want to be rich - seriously, unimaginably, diamond-studded supercar rich - then get into the technology industry.

That's the message from Time magazine, which has totted up the numbers to come up with a list of the world's five richest people.

The poorest of the five is worth $63.3 billion - around £49 billion - while the richest has stacked up £68 billion. Two, though, say they plan to give most of it away.

So who are the world's wealthiest people?

5. Carlos Slim Helu: net worth $63.3 billion
Mexican business tycoon Carlos Slim Helu made his fortune in telecoms, banking and retail, and now owns more than 200 companies. He controls America Movil, the largest mobile-phone operator in Latin America, and also has stakes in Philip Morris, The New York Times and Caixabank. He's widowed, with six children who share in his wealth.

4. Warren Buffett: net worth $74.2 billion
Warren Buffett has the Midas touch - he's one of the most successful investors of all time. He bought his first stock at the age of 11, and now owns more than 60 companies. He'd be even higher up the list if he hadn't given away $28.5 billion - and he's pledged to give away at least 99% of his fortune to charity. He still lives in the same house in Nebraska that he bought in 1958 for $31,500.

3. Jeff Bezos: net worth $82.8 billion
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos started the firm in his Seattle garage and has seen it grow to become the biggest online shopping site in the world. He's diversified since, with interests in everything from newspapers to spaceships - and may be about to shoot up the rankings to become the richest person in the world, as Amazon stock soars. He's married, with four children.

See also: What does it take to be wealthy in the UK? Why do women fall short?

See also: A new richest man in the world - for just two days

2. Amancio Ortega: net worth $85.8 billion
Back in the seventies, Amancio Ortega ran a small dressmaker's from his living room; he now owns the Inditex fashion group, which includes Zara. Key to the company's success is its 'fast fashion' philosophy, which gets clothes from the design stage to the shop floor in a couple of weeks. Last year he was, briefly, the richest man in the world until changes in share prices pushed him back to the number two slot.

1. Bill Gates: net worth $87.8 billion
Yes, you guessed it: Microsoft founder Bill Gates is still the richest man in the world. After discovering computers as a schoolboy in 1967, he went on to co-found Microsoft in 1975 with friend Paul Allen just eight years later. He's married to Melinda, with whom he founded the charitable Gates Foundation, and has pledged to give away at least half his wealth over his lifetime.


Advertisement