Bill and Melinda Gates’ shocking split sparks renewed interest in billionaire’s ‘arrangement’ early in marriage
Nancy Dillon
Bill and Melinda Gates’ surprising split after 27 years of marriage has left many trying to decode what happened.
In the process, some have recalled how the power pair – who seemed to follow the perfect Silicon Valley script of meeting through work, raising a family and forming a foundation – actually started their marriage with some interesting terms.
In a 1997 Time magazine profile, Bill Gates disclosed he actually asked his ex-girlfriend Ann Winblad for her “approval” before popping the question to Melinda. Already the youngest U.S. billionaire at the time, he then reportedly negotiated one long weekend a year with his former flame.
The article referred to the annual weekend as an “arrangement.”
“Every spring, as they have for more than a decade, Gates spends a long weekend with Winblad at her beach cottage on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where they ride dune buggies, hang-glide and walk on the beach,” the article said.
In this screengrab, (L-R) Melinda Gates and Bill Gates speak during "One World: Together At Home" presented by Global Citizen on April, 18, 2020. The global broadcast and digital special was held to support frontline healthcare workers and the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization, powered by the UN Foundation.
In this screengrab, (L-R) Melinda Gates and Bill Gates speak during "One World: Together At Home" presented by Global Citizen on April, 18, 2020. The global broadcast and digital special was held to support frontline healthcare workers and the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization, powered by the UN Foundation.
“We can play putt-putt while discussing biotechnology,” Bill Gates said of his traditional trip to see Winblad, who obviously remained a valued friend and intellectual inspiration.
“We share our thoughts about the world and ourselves,” Winblad reportedly explained. “And we marvel about how, as two young overachievers, we began a great adventure on the fringes of a little-known industry and it landed us at the center of an amazing universe.”
Winblad, a software entrepreneur who’s five years older than Gates, said she personally urged the Microsoft co-founder, 65, to marry Melinda, 56, saying the future spouse was “a good match for him because she had intellectual stamina.”
Author and journalist Megan Stack recalled the “small detail” of the Winblad weekends in a Twitter post late Monday that went viral.
Sometimes there’s that one small detail about a famous person that sticks with you for years and for me it’s been that Bill Gates negotiated into his marriage the right to take an annual beach house weekend with his ex-girlfriend.
Of course some experts say a couple’s willingness to give each other space and independence can be helpful to their long-term success.
Indeed, Bill and Melinda Gates went on to raise three kids together, now aged 18 to 25, and they successfully built their eponymous foundation into a massively influential global force that’s already spent some $50 billion fighting poverty and disease around the world.
Their split also appears amicable on the surface.
They released coordinated statements Monday announcing their breakup, saying they put “a great deal of thought and a lot of work” into their relationship but determined they can “no longer” find a way to “grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives.”
Their foundation, meanwhile, said the former couple will remain co-chairs and trustees.
“No changes to their roles or the organization are planned,” the foundation said in a statement. They will continue to work together to shape and approve foundation strategies, advocate for the foundation’s issues, and set the organization’s overall direction.”
One expert who spoke to the Daily News said Bill Gates’ enduring friendship with Winblad could actually bode well for his future relationship with Melinda Gates.
“A good indicator is looking at people’s relationships with their past exes,” William Chopik, a psychology professor who directs the Close Relationships Lab at Michigan State University, said.
“From what we at least know right now, (Bill Gates’ arrangement with Winblad) was platonic and resembled a strong friendship, but details can still come forward,” he told The News.
If the relationship was just that, Gates and Winblad seem to fit a category for exes called “perfect pals,” possibly setting the stage for hereafter harmony with Melinda Gates as well, he argued.
And maybe the splitting spouses already have been working cooperatively on diverging paths for a while, he said.
“One underappreciated point is that this is happening about eight months after their youngest child turned 18. This would perhaps suggest that, like for many couples, they might have been waiting until their children were a bit more independent,” he said.
“The research that has been done shows that when there’s a unifying goal, people may be able to set aside their extreme emotions and feelings of betrayal. This most often involves childcare but presumably this could also extend to something like philanthropic work, vaccine development/distribution, access to education, and other foundation priorities,” he said.
Whatever the high-profile couple’s exact motivations are, more details on what led them to splitsville could easily avoid the spotlight.
“My guess is that this case will never see the inside of a courtroom, never see any depositions, because all the financial info has been available for many years, so there’s no question of what the assets are,” Daniel Jaffe, a divorce lawyer with the Jaffe Family Law Group in Los Angeles, told The News.
“It’s going to be incredibly private, I believe. I don’t’ think either one of these people, in light of their charitable activities, will want any dirty linens exposed, if there are any,” he said.
According to Jaffe, the couple will almost certainly put the finishing touches on their settlement behind closed doors. The exact details of how they divide their estimated $170 billion fortune most likely will be contained in a separate judgment not filed with the court, he said.
Together or apart, Bill and Melinda Gates are two of the richest people in the world, so their personal lives will continue to be the source of public fascination.
The 2019 documentary “Inside Bill’s Brain” offered a bit of a window into their private world, including how Melinda told Bill he “wasn’t spontaneous enough” early in their courtship and how Bill made a whiteboard list of pros and cons before proposing.
But the former romantic partners certainly have the resources to guide the narrative as their divorce unfolds.
Richest people in the world | It's true that the rich are different from you and me. Not only do they have more money, but many hail from remarkably colorful backgrounds, with fierce passions and oddball interests. Some have emerged from extraordinarily humble beginnings, emigrating from impoverished countries or growing up in a tenement or an orphanage. To learn about the wealthiest people in the world, Stacker compiled net worth data from Forbes as of March 26, 2021. Many of the people on this list used their smarts and creativity to build giant technology empires, invent sophisticated online tools, transform tiny businesses into global conglomerates, expand a single shop into a global retail chain, or turn a small investment into a fortune. Others were handed their wealth by their birth, given massive holdings in manufacturing, luxury goods, shipping lines, tobacco, chocolates or cheese production. Among the top 100 richest, a noticeable number made their fortunes in China via commercial real estate, cutting-edge pharmaceuticals, e-commerce and more. Others played their cards right in high finance with prescient investments and lucrative hedge funds, while still others pulled their wealth from the earth, extracting oil, gas, gold and nickel. It's not uncommon for the richest people in the world to be reclusive, shuttling from one luxurious home to another by private jet, protected by walls of security and windows of dark tinted glass. Others bask in the spotlight, looking for their next high-profile conquest or sharing lessons of their experiences with avid audiences. Keep reading to learn more about the richest people in the world and how they made their fortunes. (Lev Radin/Shutterstock)
100. Wu Yajun | Net worth: $18.1 billion - Source of wealth: real estate - Age: 57 - Country/territory: China | Wu Yajun cofounded Hong Kong’s Longfor Properties in 1993 with her then-husband Cai Kui. The couple divorced in 2012, and he is no longer part of the real estate development company. Longfor has nearly 900 property development projects to its name, and its 49 shopping malls drew more than 466 million visitors in 2019. (South China Morning Post/Getty Images)
99. Peter Woo | Net worth: $18.1 billion - Source of wealth: real estate - Age: 74 - Country/territory: Hong Kong | Peter Woo chaired the property developer Wheelock & Co. and its subsidiary Wharf Holdings until he stepped down in 2015. Wheelock and Wharf have holdings in telecoms, ports, and retail. Woo attended the University of Cincinnati and Columbia University then started his career in banking in New York in 1972. He married Bessie Pao, the daughter of Hong Kong shipping magnate Y.K. Pao, and he joined her family business in 1975. (South China Morning Post/Getty Images)
98. Eric Schmidt | Net worth: $18.4 billion - Source of wealth: Google - Age: 65 - Country/territory: United States | Eric Schmidt was chief executive officer and chairman of Google from 2001 to 2011, overseeing its rise to tech powerhouse. In 2017 he co-founded Schmidt Futures to support scientific and technological innovation. In August 2020, Schmidt started a podcast series, “Reimagine with Eric Schmidt,” to look at challenges to be readdressed by business, government, science, and technology following the global pandemic. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
97. Alisher Usmanov | Net worth: $18.5 billion - Source of wealth: steel, telecom, investments - Age: 67 - Country/territory: Russia | Uzbek-born Alisher Usmanov founded USM, a private company with major holdings in Russian phone network MegaFon, metals producer Metalloinvest, Udokan copper, and Akkerman cement production. He also owns Kommersant Publishing House, a Russian business media organization, and he is a former major stakeholder in the soccer team Arsenal FC. (Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images)
96. Dustin Moskovitz | Net worth: $18.5 billion - Source of wealth: Facebook - Age: 36 - Country/territory: United States | Dustin Moskovitz co-founded Facebook in 2004 with his Harvard roommate Mark Zuckerberg, and he holds an estimated stake of 2%. He was Facebook's chief technical officer and vice president of engineering before he left in 2008. With another Facebook co-founder, he launched Asana, a team productivity software company that provides software for synchronizing workflows, targeting deadlines, mapping progress and managing workloads. Moskovitz and his wife Cari Tuna founded Good Ventures, a philanthropic foundation. (Kimberly White/Getty Images)
95. Michael Hartono | Net worth: $18.5 billion - Source of wealth: banking, tobacco - Age: 81 - Country/territory: Indonesia | Michael Hartono's wealth is in the Djarum Group, a conglomerate he controls with his brother Robert Budi Hartono. The brothers inherited Djarum from their father. It is a major tobacco and clove cigarette manufacturer in Indonesia and holds stakes in banking, telecommunications, electronics, real estate, and investment companies. Hartono plays professional bridge, a game he learned as a child during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia in World War II. (Anthony Wallace/Getty Images)
94. Lui Che Woo & family | Net worth: $18.7 billion - Source of wealth: casinos/hotels - Age: 91 - Country/territory: Hong Kong | Lui Che Woo started his career in the years following World War II by supplying gravel to the construction boom in Hong Kong. Now he is chairman of the Galaxy Entertainment Group of casinos and K. Wah International Holdings, property developers in Hong Kong and in mainland China. His eldest son, Francis, runs operations at Galaxy, while daughter Paddy and son Alexander oversee K. Wah. In 2015 he established the Lui Che Woo Prize to recognize achievements in sustainable development, human welfare, and "positive energy." (Gerhard Joren/Getty Images)
93. Andrew Forrest | Net worth: $18.7 billion - Source of wealth: mining - Age: 59 - Country/territory: Australia | Andrew Forrest founded Fortescue Metals Group in 2003, and in 2020, he launched a global zero-emissions energy effort through a new green subsidiary, Fortescue Future Industries, which is committed to exploring geothermal, hydro, solar, and wind energy. Featured initiatives at his philanthropic Minderoo Foundation include cancer research, fire and flood resilience, and campaigns to protect the world’s oceans, support indigenous Australians, promote preschool education, and fight modern slavery. (William West/Getty Images)
92. Laurene Powell Jobs & family | Net worth: $18.7 billion - Source of wealth: Apple, Disney - Age: 57 - Country/territory: United States | Laurene Powell Jobs inherited her fortune in 2011, when her husband, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, died. She is the founder of Emerson Collective, which invests in education, immigration, and social justice. She also owns a 20% stake in the company that owns the Washington Wizards basketball team and the National Hockey League’s Washington Capitals, and she is known for staging elaborate Halloween shows outside one of the homes she owns in the San Francisco Bay Area. (Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch)
91. Theo Albrecht Jr & family | Net worth: $18.8 billion - Source of wealth: Aldi, Trader Joe's - Age: 70 - Country/territory: Germany | Theo Albrecht Jr. owes the beginnings of his fortune to his father, Theo Albrecht Sr., and his uncle, Karl Albrecht, who built a discount grocery store empire in post-war Germany. His father also bought U.S. grocery chain Trader Joe's in 1971. Albrecht Jr. shares his inheritance with the heirs of his brother, Berthold, who died in 2012. One of those heirs, Berthold’s son Nicolay Albrecht, has accused his mother and three sisters of embezzling money from the family trust, and the case is being argued in the German courts. (Ralph Orlowski/Getty Images)
90. Emmanuel Besnier | Net worth: $19.0 billion - Source of wealth: cheese - Age: 50 - Country/territory: France | Emmanuel Besnier and his family own Groupe Lactalis, a French dairy manufacturer that is the largest maker of cheese in the world and also sells milk, yogurt, butter, cream, chocolate, and desserts. The company was founded by his grandfather in 1933 as a producer of Camembert and expanded under his father. Besnier took over after his father's death in 2000 and undertook several acquisitions to make Lactalis the third-largest dairy group in the world. He is frequently involved in pricing disputes with French dairy farmers. (Jean-Francois Monier/Getty Images)
89. R. Budi Hartono | Net worth: $19.3 billion - Source of wealth: banking, tobacco - Age: 80 - Country/territory: Indonesia | Robert Budi Hartono and his brother Michael Hartono inherited Djarum Group, a tobacco company, from their father. With their fortune, they became the largest shareholders in Bank Central Asia, the biggest bank in Indonesia. Djarum Group produces almost a fifth of the cigarettes in Indonesia, the fifth-largest cigarette market in the world. (findracadabra/Shutterstock)
88. Xu Hang | Net worth: $19.3 billion - Source of wealth: medical devices - Age: 54 - Country/territory: Hong Kong | In 1991, Xu Hang co-founded Mindray Medical International, a medical device supplier with headquarters in Shenzhen. Xu has a master's degree in biomedical engineering from Tsinghua University. Mindray Medical employs more than 10,000 people, a quarter of them in its research and development department. (testing/Shutterstock)
87. Zhong Huijuan | Net worth: $19.7 billion - Source of wealth: pharmaceuticals - Age: 60 - Country/territory: China | Zhong Huijuan is the majority shareholder and head of the Chinese drug manufacturer Hansoh Pharmaceutical, which makes anticancer and psychotropic drugs. Zhong, a former middle school chemistry teacher,founded Hansoh in 1995, and it went public in 2019. (China News Service/Getty Images)
86. Richard Qiangdong Liu | Net worth: $20.1 billion - Source of wealth: e-commerce - Age: 47 - Country/territory: China | In 1998 Richard Qiangdong Liu founded JD.com, an e-commerce giant. Liu is known to recount that he grew up so poor his family could only afford meat once or twice a year, and that local villagers raised $70 for him to attend college. He also has been known to don a company uniform and help make bicycle deliveries once a year. (VCG/Getty Images)
85. Zhang Yong | Net worth: $20.2 billion - Source of wealth: restaurants - Age: 50 - Country/territory: Singapore | Zhang Yong is chief executive and co-founder of Haidilao International Holding, the parent company of Beijing-based Hai Di Lao hotpot restaurants. The chain of more than 300 locations in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan serves a boiling broth for cooking noodles, meat, and vegetables. In its initial public offering in 2018, Haidilao raised almost $1 billion. Zhang dropped out of high school to become a welder at a government tractor factory, a job he then quit to start a tiny restaurant in 1994. Specializing in customer service, Hai Di Lao restaurants sometimes offer manicures and shoe polishing services for free to waiting customers. Hai Di Lao also offers managers a share of the profits as an incentive. (Zhang Peng/Getty Images)
84. Ray Dalio | Net worth: $20.3 billion - Source of wealth: hedge funds - Age: 71 - Country/territory: United States | Ray Dalio founded Bridgewater Associates in 1975 in New York, and it has become the largest hedge fund in the world. Dalio has written several books that lay out his principles on such topics as work, goals, and leadership. He also is a practitioner and advocate of Transcendental Meditation, and meditation courses are available to Bridgewater employees. (J. Countess/Getty Images)
83. Abigail Johnson | Net worth: $20.9 billion - Source of wealth: money management - Age: 59 - Country/territory: United States | Abigail Johnson became chief executive officer of Fidelity Investments in 2014, making her the third generation of her family to run the mutual fund company. She has been chairman since 2016. The Boston-based company was founded by her grandfather, Edward Johnson II, in 1946. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
82. Li Xiting | Net worth: $21.4 billion - Source of wealth: medical devices - Age: 7 - Country/territory: Singapore | Singapore's Li Xiting is a co-founder and chief executive of Mindray Medical International, which makes medical devices and equipment. He was reported to have added several billion dollars to his worth this year owing to the global demand for ventilators, a key to treatment of COVID-19. Mindray's other products include defibrillators, imaging devices, and anesthesia machines. Li grew up in rural China, studied physics, became a visiting scholar at the University of Paris-Sud, and worked for a Chinese medical equipment company before co-founding Mindray with Xu Hang in 1991. (asharkyu/Shutterstock)
81. Pierre Omidyar | Net worth: $21.4 billion - Source of wealth: eBay, PayPal - Age: 53 - Country/territory: United States | Pierre Omidyar started eBay, the online auction marketplace, in 1995. Seven years later, eBay bought PayPal, the online payment company, which spun off into a separate company in 2014. After eBay went public in 1998, Omidyar and his wife started the Omidyar Foundation, supporting nonprofit organizations and endeavors, and Omidyar Network, investing in for-profit companies. Omidyar, who was born in France, lives in Hawaii. (James Leynse/Getty Images)
80. Zhang Zhidong | Net worth: $21.4 billion - Source of wealth: internet media - Age: 49 - Country/territory: China | Zhang Zhidong, also known as Tony Zhang, co-founded the social media and gaming giant Tencent Holdings with four partners in 1998. He retired as its chief technology officer and executive director in 2014. Tencent's holdings include the WeChat messaging app, which has almost 1.2 billion users as of 2019, and a share in the Spotify audio-streaming app. (katjen/Shutterstock)
79. Stefan Persson | Net worth: $21.5 billion - Source of wealth: H&M; - Age: 73 - Country/territory: Sweden | Stefan Persson holds a 36% stake in Hennes & Mauritz, the international fast fashion retailer known as H&M;, founded by his father in 1947. Persson stepped down as chairman in May 2020, handing the job to his son Karl-Johan Persson, who has been the company's chief executive since 2009. H&M;, which went public in 1974, employs 177,000 people in more than 72 countries. Persson is credited with pursuing H&M; collaborations with high fashion designers, including Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Donatella Versace, Commes des Garçons, Maison Martin Margiela and Jimmy Choo. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
78. Robert Pera | Net worth: $21.7 billion - Source of wealth: wireless networking gear - Age: 43 - Country/territory: United States | Robert Pera, the son of a Levi Strauss denim executive, launched his startup Ubiquiti Networks at age 27 in San Jose, California. The wireless data communications products company was a hit and went public in 2011. Pera is now a controlling owner of the Memphis Grizzlies professional basketball team and has bought up luxury properties in New York, Seattle, Miami Beach, and elsewhere. (FMonkey Photo/Shutterstock)
77. Gennady Timchenko | Net worth: $22.5 billion - Source of wealth: oil, gas - Age: 68 - Country/territory: Russia | The wealth of Gennady Timchenko and his investment company Volga Group lies in his holdings in Novatek, a giant gas company, and Sibur Holding, a petrochemical manufacturer. He also holds a large stake in a $27 billion oil production project in the Russian Arctic. In his free time, he heads KHL, Russia's national hockey league, and is president of SKA Saint-Petersburg Hockey Club. Born in the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, he lives in Geneva and counts himself a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
76. Rupert Murdoch & family | Net worth: $22.6 billion - Source of wealth: newspapers, TV network - Age: 90 - Country/territory: United States | Australian-born Rupert Murdoch founded the global media company News Corp in 1980. He bought and sold an array of media outlets in the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s, and today News Corp owns the New York Post, The Times of London, Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones, and Fox News. He is married to his fourth wife, former supermodel Jerry Hall, the ex-wife of Rolling Stones’ frontman Mick Jagger. (Jason Reed/Getty Images)
75. Goh Cheng Liang | Net worth: $22.9 billion - Source of wealth: paints - Age: 93 - Country/territory: Singapore | Goh Cheng Liang's wealth lies in his stake in Japan's Nippon Paint Holdings, one of the world's biggest paint manufacturers. Goh started out producing paint in Singapore before partnering with Nippon in 1962. He has owned several yachts, all named White Rabbit—the latest of which has 14 guest cabins and room for a staff of 36. (976photo Studio/Shutterstock)
74. Stefan Quandt | Net worth: $23.0 billion - Source of wealth: BMW - Age: 54 - Country/territory: Germany | Stefan Quandt is the largest shareholder of German luxury carmaker BMW—a fortune he inherited from his father, Herbert Quandt, who rescued the company from bankruptcy and takeover in 1959. The younger Quandt is a deputy chairperson on BMW's board and has separate business ventures in homeopathic medicine, logistics, and solar energy. (picture alliance/Getty Images)
73. Iris Fontbona & family | Net worth: $23.0 billion - Source of wealth: mining - Age: 78 - Country/territory: Chile | The wealthiest woman in Latin America, Iris Fontbona took control of her husband Andrónico Luksic Abaroa’s businesses when he died in 2005. She and her three sons own the majority share of copper mining company Antofagasta, the world’s largest copper mining company. The family also owns Quiñenco, which controls Banco de Chile, copper products manufacturer Madeco, Compañía de Cervecerías Unidas, Chile’s largest brewer, and the CSAV shipping company. Fontbona is extremely private and is known to refuse all interview requests. The family runs a charitable foundation, Fundación Familia Luksic. (Felipe Fredes Fernandez/Shutterstock)
72. Wang Xing | Net worth: $23.4 billion - Source of wealth: e-commerce - Age: 42 - Country/territory: China | Tech entrepreneur Wang Xing is co-chairman of Meituan Dianping, the biggest e-commerce platform in China. Meituan Dianping was created by the 2015 merger of Meituan, modeled after Groupon, and Dianping.com, modeled after Yelp. Wang previously attempted to launch startups modeled after Twitter and Facebook, but they didn't take off. (VCG/Getty Images)
71. Gina Rinehart | Net worth: $23.5 billion - Source of wealth: mining - Age: 67 - Country/territory: Australia | The richest person in Australia, Gina Rinehart is the daughter of iron ore magnate and explorer Lang Hancock. She built up her deceased father’s company Hancock Prospecting after she became executive chairman in 1992. She also is the country’s second largest producer of cattle, with a portfolio of ranches and cattle stations across the country. (Matt King/Getty Images)
70. Stephen Schwarzman | Net worth: $23.6 billion - Source of wealth: investments - Age: 74 - Country/territory: United States | Stephen Schwarzman is chairman and chief executive of Blackstone, a private equity firm he co-founded in 1985. One of the world's biggest investment firms, Blackstone has $564 billion in assets under management. Schwarzman donated $350 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to set up the Schwarzman College of Computing and $150 million to Yale University for the Schwarzman Center, a space for student programs and the arts. He also launched a program called Schwarzman Scholars for international students to study in China. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
69. Lei Jun | Net worth: $23.6 billion - Source of wealth: smartphones - Age: 51 - Country/territory: China | Lei Jun is chairman of smartphone maker Xiaomi, which he co-founded in 2010. The company went public in Hong Kong in 2018. In 2000, he started Joyo.com, an online retailer he sold to Amazon four years later for $75 million. Lei has invested in a number of startups and is chairman of the mobile internet company UCWeb. (VCG/Getty Images)
68. Pang Kang | Net worth: $23.6 billion - Source of wealth: soy sauce - Age: 65 - Country/territory: China | Pang Kang made his fortune as chairman of China's largest soy sauce producer, Foshan Haitian Flavouring & Food. He holds about a third of the company. The company's sauce factories date back to China's 250-year Qing Dynasty that ended in 1911. (維基小霸王/Wikimedia Commons)
67. Shiv Nadar | Net worth: $24.0 billion - Source of wealth: software services - Age: 75 - Country/territory: India | Shiv Nadar is a co-founder of HCL Technologies, which started in 1976 and is now a global technology giant that offers software products, platforms, and services to business and industry. The company is known for hiring high school graduates and giving them on-the-job training. In July 2020, Nadar turned over the position of HCL chairman to his daughter. The Shiv Nadar Foundation, which he started in 1994, is focused on improving access to education. (The India Today Group/Getty Images)
66. Jiang Rensheng & family | Net worth: $24.4 billion - Source of wealth: vaccines - Age: 67 - Country/territory: China | Jiang Rensheng is the founder of Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products, a vaccine giant. His net worth soared in 2020 when the company got regulatory approval to begin trials of its coronavirus vaccine. Jiang was raised during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and he taught at a primary school and worked in the fields until he was permitted to attend medical school. He later took over a vaccine developer that prospered as the only manufacturer of a vaccine against meningitis C. (SOPA Images/Getty Images)
65. Vagit Alekperov | Net worth: $24.4 billion - Source of wealth: oil - Age: 70 - Country/territory: Russia | Vagit Alekperov started Lukoil, the largest independent oil company in Russia, in 1991, and today he owns almost a quarter of the company. Lukoil produces oil and gas, mostly in Western Siberia, transports its product through pipelines and ships, and operates refineries and fuel stations in Russia and the United States. Alekperov graduated from the Azerbaijan Oil and Chemistry Institute, worked as an oil rig worker in Azerbaijan and Western Siberia, and was a Soviet deputy minister of the oil and gas industry. He and a partner own a Dutch shipyard, Heesen Yachts. (Alexei Druzhinin/Getty Images)
64. Thomas Peterffy | Net worth: $24.4 billion - Source of wealth: discount brokerage - Age: 76 - Country/territory: United States | Hungarian-born Thomas Peterffy owns an estimated 75% of Interactive Brokers, a company he founded in 1993. He is still chairman of the global automated brokerage. He also helped found the Boston Options Exchange. Peterffy owns several horses and a lavish waterfront mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, along with other luxury properties. He emigrated from Hungary at age 21, unable to speak English, and got a job doing computer programming. He designed automated stock trading formulas and bought a seat on the American Stock Exchange before launching Interactive Brokers. (James Leynse/Getty Images)
63. Jim Simons | Net worth: $24.6 billion - Source of wealth: hedge funds - Age: 82 - Country/territory: United States | Jim Simons was a university mathematics professor who started trading stocks in 1978. Four years later he launched his quantitative hedge fund, Renaissance Technologies, or RenTech. Using math and data, Simons designed quantitative models to detect market fluctuations and trends and algorithms to make trading decisions. He retired in 2010. During the Vietnam war, Simons served as a codebreaker for U.S. forces. (Tim Sloan/Getty Images)
62. Leonard Lauder | Net worth: $25.2 billion - Source of wealth: Estee Lauder - Age: 88 - Country/territory: United States | Leonard Lauder is chairman emeritus of Estée Lauder, the cosmetics company started by his mother in 1946. As chief executive, he oversaw the launch of brands such as Clinique and the acquisition of brands including Bobbi Brown and Aveda. He also is chairman emeritus of the Whitney Museum of American Art, which named its new downtown Manhattan building after him. His first wife Evelyn died in 2011, and in 2015 he married Judy Glickman, a widely recognized photographer. Lauder's memoir, "The Company I Keep: My Life in Beauty," was published in November 2020. (Patrick McMullan/Getty Images)
61. Leonid Mikhelson | Net worth: $25.3 billion - Source of wealth: gas, chemicals - Age: 65 - Country/territory: Russia | Leonid Mikhelson started out as a construction foreman on a gas pipeline project in Siberia and today heads Novatek, which produces about 10% of Russia's natural gas. He is Novatek's largest shareholder, with a 25% stake. He also owns a sizable stake in Silbur, a petrochemical company, and his business partner in both companies is Gennady Timchenko, a businessman with ties to President Vladimir Putin. (Nail Fattakhov/Getty Images)
60. Takemitsu Takizaki | Net worth: $25.5 billion - Source of wealth: sensors - Age: 75 - Country/territory: Japan | Japanese businessman Takemitsu Takizaki founded Keyence, which designs and develops electronic sensors, bar-code readers, and other components used in automated factory systems. The products are used by Toyota and Toshiba. Takizaki stepped down from his position as chairman in 2015 but still serves as an honorary chairman. Before Keyence, he reportedly launched two businesses that went bankrupt, making him intent on keeping the sensor company debt-free. (IgorGolovniov/Shutterstock)
59. Leonardo Del Vecchio & family | Net worth: $26.2 billion - Source of wealth: eyeglasses - Age: 85 - Country/territory: Italy | The founder, chairman and largest shareholder of Luxottica, Leonardo Del Vecchio built the eyewear giant by acquiring companies and making high-end products. The company makes glasses for Giorgio Armani, Chanel, Versace, and Prada, and it owns the brands Persol, Oakley, and Ray-Ban. Del Vecchio was raised in extreme poverty and spent part of his childhood in an orphanage. In 2018, Luxottica merged with the French eyewear company Essilor to become EssilorLuxottica. (Getty Images)
58. Vladimir Potanin | Net worth: $26.2 billion - Source of wealth: metals - Age: 60 - Country/territory: Russia | Vladimir Potanin originally bought shares in Norilsk Nickel and now owns more than a third of the metals giant. He is credited with devising Russia's so-called loans-for-shares program, under which banks and businesses loaned money to the government, secured by the state-owned natural resource companies. When the government could not repay the loans, the lenders got extensive assets in the natural resource companies. Potanin has holdings in pharmaceutical company Petrovax Pharm and is the developer of a Russian ski resort, Rosa Khutor. He was a deputy prime minister to Russian President Boris Yeltsin and has ties to President Vladimir Putin. (Sergei Karpukhin/Getty Images)
57. German Larrea Mota Velasco & family | Net worth: $26.6 billion - Source of wealth: mining - Age: 67 - Country/territory: Mexico | Mexico’s Germán Larrea Mota Velasco owns the controlling share of the country’s biggest copper mining company, Grupo México. He is president and chief executive of the company, which operates also in Peru and the United States and has diversified into infrastructure and rail transportation. (Gary Whitton/Shutterstock)
56. Vladimir Lisin | Net worth: $26.6 billion - Source of wealth: steel, transport - Age: 64 - Country/territory: Russia | As a young man, Vladimir Lisin was an electrical fitter in a Siberian coal mine and a steelworker. He is now chairman of NLMK Group, Russia's biggest manufacturer of steel products. He also owns the country's biggest freight rail operator, as well as port facilities and shipping companies. He built a giant shooting range complex north of Moscow and heads up several shooting organizations. (Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images)
55. Dietrich Mateschitz | Net worth: $26.7 billion - Source of wealth: Red Bull - Age: 76 - Country/territory: Austria | Dietrich Mateschitz was a marketing executive for a consumer products company before he teamed up with Thai businessman Chaleo Yoovidhya to start Red Bull in 1987. Mateschitz owns 49% of Red Bull; Yoovidhya died in 2012. Red Bull sponsors top performers in the world of sports, where Mateschitz is no slouch: he is a pilot and a skier, and he owns RB Leipzig, a German soccer club, and two Formula One racing teams. Mateschitz also raises Trakehner horses, a historic breed from East Prussia that almost died out entirely in World War II. (Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
54. Hui Ka Yan | Net worth: $27.1 billion - Source of wealth: real estate - Age: 62 - Country/territory: China | Hui Ka Yan heads the Evergrande Group, a Chinese giant in real estate development. In its portfolio are more than 800 projects in more than 280 cities. Hui was born into a low-income family—his father was a woodcutter, and his grandmother sold homemade vinegar. He launched the Evergrande Group in 1996 by buying up low-priced properties. With Jack Ma of the Alibaba Group, he is a majority stakeholder in professional soccer's Guangzhou Evergrande FC. (South China Morning Post/Getty Images)
53. Robin Zeng | Net worth: $27.7 billion - Source of wealth: batteries - Age: 52 - Country/territory: Hong Kong | Robin Zeng is the founder of Contemporary Amperex Technology, a giant global manufacturer of electric batteries. Its clients include Bosch, Jaguar, Honda, Volvo, Toyota, and Volkswagen. The company is headquartered in Zeng's hometown of Ningde, a coastal city in China's Fujian Province. (picture alliance/Getty Images)
52. Susanne Klatten | Net worth: $28.7 billion - Source of wealth: BMW, pharmaceuticals - Age: 58 - Country/territory: Germany | Susanne Klatten, who holds about one-fifth of automaker BMW's shares, inherited her wealth from her father, German industrialist Herbert Quandt. She also owns Altana AG, a pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals company. (picture alliance/Getty Images)
51. Klaus-Michael Kuehne | Net worth: $28.7 billion - Source of wealth: shipping - Age: 83 - Country/territory: Germany | Klaus-Michael Kuehne serves as honorary chairman of Kuehne + Nagel International AG, a Swiss shipping and sea freight giant company co-founded by his grandfather in 1958. Kuehne also owns a sizable stake in Hapag-Lloyd, a German container shipping business, and a minority stake in the second-tier soccer team Hamburger SV. (picture alliance/Getty Images)
50. Qin Yinglin & family | Net worth: $28.9 billion - Source of wealth: pig breeding - Age: 55 - Country/territory: China | Qin Yinglin, chairman of Muyuan Foodstuff, is known as China’s largest pig breeder. He studied animal husbandry and started his business with his wife Qian Ying. They began in 1992 with 22 pigs, and as of 2019 had more than 10 million pigs. An outbreak of swine flu in China caused pork prices to soar and Qin's fortune to grow. (Visual China Group/Getty Images)
49. Alexey Mordashov & family | Net worth: $29.1 billion - Source of wealth: steel, investments - Age: 55 - Country/territory: Russia | Alexey Mordashov, the child of mill workers, amassed a fortune through investments in Russian steel giant Severstal, of which he now owns a majority. Mordashov also owns about a third of TUI Group, a huge travel and tourism company. He graduated from Saint Petersburg State Academy of Economics and Engineering and earned an MBA at the U.K.’s University of Northumbria in Newcastle. (Sergei Savostyanov/Getty Images)
48. Len Blavatnik | Net worth: $30.6 billion - Source of wealth: music, chemicals - Age: 63 - Country/territory: United States | Business entrepreneur Len Blavatnik built his fortune in the Russian aluminum and oil industries, then shifted his sights westward and bought the Warner Music Group for $3.3 billion in 2011. His investment company, Access Industries, has holdings in the chemicals company LyondellBasell as well. Blavatnik was born in Ukraine, emigrated to the United States, and got an MBA from Harvard University before making his investments in the Soviet Union's natural resource industries. After getting British citizenship, Blavatnik was knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his philanthropy. (David M. Benett/Getty Images)
47. William Lei Ding | Net worth: $30.7 billion - Source of wealth: online games - Age: 49 - Country/territory: China | William Lei Ding, the chief executive of online and mobile games giant NetEase, was China's first internet billionaire in 2003. Ding founded NetEase in 1997 with three employees, and the company moved into email domains, search engines, and games. NetEase also moved into comics, forging a collaborative deal with Marvel Comics in 2017. (VCG/Getty Images)
45. John Mars (tie) | Net worth: $31.3 billion - Source of wealth: candy, pet food - Age: 85 - Country/territory: United States | The late Frank Mars founded Mars Inc. in 1911, and today his grandson John Mars holds one third of the candy giant. The company makes such well-known sweets as Snickers, Twix, and M&Ms.; It also owns the Wrigley Co. chewing gum company and Iams pet foods. John Mars lives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. (Johnny Green - PA Images/Getty Images)
45. Jacqueline Mars (tie) | Net worth: $31.3 billion - Source of wealth: candy, pet food - Age: 81 - Country/territory: United States | Jacqueline Mars holds another third of Mars Inc. alongside her brother John. The four children of their late brother hold the balance. Her son Stephen Badger is the company chairman. She also owns a horse farm in Virginia where Olympic equestrians train. (Pool/Getty Images)
44. Lee Shau Kee | Net worth: $31.7 billion - Source of wealth: real estate - Age: 93 - Country/territory: Hong Kong | Lee Shau Kee made his fortune in real estate, starting Henderson Land Development in 1976. The company has holdings in hotels, natural gas, retail, and agricultural land, as well as commercial and residential property in Hong Kong and mainland China. Lee was born in China but left for Hong Kong as a young man in 1948 on the eve of the Communist Revolution. In Hong Kong, he worked as a gold and currency trader before getting into real estate. He retired in 2019 and turned control of the company over to his two sons. (South China Morning Post/Getty Images)
43. Wang Wei | Net worth: $33.0 billion - Source of wealth: package delivery - Age: unknown - Country/territory: China | Wang Wei's wealth lies in his share of more than 60% of SF Express, a package delivery service in China. Wang started his delivery career in 1993, illegally transporting packages in a minivan between Hong Kong and the mainland at a time when the Chinese postal service controlled all deliveries. The company went public on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2017. In 2018, it got the first license in China to begin drone deliveries. (VCG/Getty Images)
42. Li Ka-shing | Net worth: $33.6 billion - Source of wealth: diversified - Age: 92 - Country/territory: Hong Kong | Li Ka-Shing left mainland China with his family as a child and got his start in 1950, opening a plastics business when he was just 21 years old. He went on to build conglomerates CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. and CK Asset Holdings Ltd. About a third of his wealth consists of his investment in Zoom Video Communications, first purchased in 2013. The video conferencing app's value soared as employees around the world began working from home during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Among private philanthropies run by wealthy individuals, his Li Ka-Shing Foundation is second only to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (VCG/Getty Images)
41. Yang Huiyan & family | Net worth: $33.9 billion - Source of wealth: real estate - Age: 39 - Country/territory: China | China’s Yang Huiyan became one of the world’s richest women in 2007 when her father Yang Guoqiang transferred her a stake in the real estate company he founded, Country Garden Holdings.Father and daughter now run the company, whose extensive holdings stretch to Malaysia and Australia, as co-chairs. (Piotr Swat/Shutterstock)
39. Gerard Wertheimer (tie) | Net worth: $34.5 billion - Source of wealth: Chanel - Age: 70 - Country/territory: France | Gerard Wertheimer owns the iconic fashion powerhouse Chanel with his older brother Alain. The younger Wertheimer runs the luxury company's watch division from his home in Geneva. The brothers assumed control of the company in 1996 after the death of their father, Jacques Wertheimer. They also own vineyards in France and California and raise thoroughbred racehorses. (Julien Hekimian/Getty Images)
39. Alain Wertheimer (tie) | Net worth: $34.5 billion - Source of wealth: Chanel - Age: 72 - Country/territory: France | French luxury brand Chanel is owned by Alain Wertheimer, who serves as its chairman, and his younger brother Gerard. Their grandfather Pierre Wertheimer founded Les Parfums Chanel in 1924 with fragrance maker Coco Chanel. During World War II, tried to take control of the company by using a law that prohibited Jews from owning businesses. But the family, who had fled Paris, had arranged for a friend to handle their stake during the occupation to prevent such a takeover. Wertheimer owns an art collection with works by Matisse, Rousseau, and Picasso that he does not permit to be photographed or loaned out. (Foc Kan/Getty Images)
38. He Xiangjian | Net worth: $34.7 billion - Source of wealth: home appliances - Age: 78 - Country/territory: China | Chinese entrepreneur He Xiangjian first opened a bottle lid manufacturing company in 1968 at age 26. In 1992, he founded the Midea Group, now a giant global appliance maker. He retired as chairman in 2012 but remains the controlling shareholder. In June 2020, he was the target of a kidnapping attempt when men armed with explosives forced their way into his home. He was rescued after his son escaped and swam across a river to alert authorities. (VCG/Getty Images)
37. Giovanni Ferrero | Net worth: $34.9 billion - Source of wealth: Nutella, chocolates - Age: 56 - Country/territory: Italy | Giovanni Ferrero inherited his family's confectionery business, launched by his grandfather in 1946. His grandfather had concocted a sweet with molasses, hazelnut oil, and cocoa that was less expensive than chocolate for customers in war-torn Italy. With some tweaks, the sweet came to be what we know today as Nutella. The company expanded into post-war Germany, where it made candy in former Nazi munitions factories. Giovanni Ferrero and his brother Pietro ran the company as co-chief executives for 14 years, but Pietro died in 2011 of a heart attack at 47 years old. The company owns the brands Tic Tac, Kinder Joy, Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, and its classic Ferrero Rocher chocolates, for which it purchases roughly a third of the world's hazelnut crop. (Giuseppe Cacace/Getty Images)
36. Zhang Yiming | Net worth: $35.5 billion - Source of wealth: software - Age: 37 - Country/territory: China | Zhang Yiming founded ByteDance, the software company that developed TikTok, and owns a number of social networking apps within China. Zhang launched the TikTok app under the name Douyin in 2016. Zhang himself loves to make TikTok videos and requires his management team to not only make them as well but to also achieve a set number of “likes.” (VCG/Getty Images)
35. Dieter Schwarz | Net worth: $36.7 billion - Source of wealth: retail - Age: 81 - Country/territory: Germany | Dieter Schwarz inherited the Schwarz Group, the largest food retailer in Europe, from his father, who got his start in the wholesale fruit business in 1930. Schwarz Group consists of the supermarket chain Lidl and the discount chain Kaufland. Schwarz, an extremely private person with few details of his life known publicly, stepped down from the group's management in 1999. (Cristina Arias/Getty Images)
34. Beate Heister & Karl Albrecht Jr. | Net worth: $39.2 billion - Source of wealth: supermarkets - Age: unknown - Country/territory: Germany | Sister and brother Beate Heister and Karl Albrecht Jr. are heirs to the Aldi supermarket chain founded by two brothers, Karl Albrecht Sr. and Theo Albrecht Sr., in Essen following World War II. The brothers divided the stores up in 1961, with Karl getting the stores in southern Germany as well as rights to the Aldi brand in Britain, Australia and the United States. Theo took the stores in northern Germany and the rest of Europe, and in 1971 he bought the Trader Joe's chain in the U.S. (Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)
33. Tadashi Yanai & family | Net worth: $39.4 billion - Source of wealth: fashion retail - Age: 72 - Country/territory: Japan | Japan’s Tadashi Yanai is chief executive, chairman and the biggest shareholder of Fast Retailing, parent of the popular clothing company Uniqlo. Fast Retailing is Asia’s biggest clothing retailer. The first Uniqlo store opened in 1984, and now there are more than 2,000 stores in some 20 countries. Yanai lives in a $50 million house outside Tokyo and owns two golf courses in Hawaii. He was born in southern Japan, where his father owned a clothing store and the family lived upstairs. (Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)
32. Masayoshi Son | Net worth: $41.8 billion - Source of wealth: internet, telecom - Age: 63 - Country/territory: Japan | Masayoshi Son runs SoftBank Group, a mobile telecom and investment giant, which he founded in 1981. SoftBank invested in lucrative startups like Yahoo, and today it has major holdings in Uber and DoorDash. Son is its biggest shareholder, with a 26% stake. In June 2020, SoftBank announced it was launching a $100 million fund to invest in entrepreneurs of color. (Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)
31. David Thomson & family | Net worth: $42.3 billion - Source of wealth: media - Age: 63 - Country/territory: Canada | David Thomson and his family own several high-profile media companies, including Thomson Reuters, where Thomson is chairman. Thomson, who holds the title Baron Thomson of Fleet, collects paintings by Pablo Picasso and John Constable, and he also is part owner of the NHL's Winnipeg Jets. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
30. François Pinault & family | Net worth: $43.6 billion - Source of wealth: luxury goods - Age: 84 - Country/territory: France | In 1963, France’s François Pinault founded Kering, a luxury holding company that owns brands like Gucci. In 1998, Pinault obtained a majority stake in Christie’s auction house. A high-school drop-out, Pinault is an avid collector of contemporary art. Following the 2019 fire at Notre Dame, he and his son François-Henri, who is married to actress Salma Hayek, pledged 100 million euros to help rebuild the damaged Paris cathedral. (Chesnot/Getty Images)
29. Colin Zheng Huang | Net worth: $44.3 billion - Source of wealth: e-commerce - Age: 41 - Country/territory: China | Colin Zheng Huang launched the e-commerce company Pinduoduo, better known as PDD, in 2015. He previously helped set up Google China in 2006. PDD went public in the United States in 2018. In the summer of 2019, he stepped down as chief executive of the online shopping company and lowered his stake. However, he still owns nearly 30% of the company and holds shares that control more than 80% of its voting rights. (VCG/Getty Images)
28. Michael Dell | Net worth: $46.1 billion - Source of wealth: Dell computers - Age: 56 - Country/territory: United States | Michael Dell started building computers when he was a college student at the University of Texas, where he made $80,000 in sales his freshman year. He dropped out and went into business, selling $6 million worth of personal computers in his first year, 1984. Dell's wealth also comes from investments he has made in hotels and restaurants through his private firm MSD Capital. He recounted his successes in a book he wrote in 1999, "Direct from Dell: Strategies That Revolutionized the Industry." (Clodagh Kilcoyne/Getty Images)
26. Julia Koch & family (tie) | Net worth: $46.4 billion - Source of wealth: Koch Industries - Age: 58 - Country/territory: United States | Julia Koch is the widow of David Koch, and she inherited his share of Koch Industries when he died in 2019. She sits on the Koch Industries board of directors, and she is head of the David H. Koch Foundation, which makes philanthropic and research-related grants. (Michael N. Todaro/Getty Images)
26. Charles Koch (tie) | Net worth: $46.4 billion - Source of wealth: Koch Industries - Age: 85 - Country/territory: United States | The fortune of Charles Koch lies in Koch Industries, a diversified private company with holdings in chemicals and pipelines. His father, Fred Koch, started the business in the oil and gasoline industry, and Charles Koch now owns a 42% stake in the business. His brother David, who died in 2019, held a similarly sized share now held by his widow Julia and their children. (The Washington Post/Getty Images)
25. Daniel Gilbert | Net worth: $46.5 billion - Source of wealth: Quicken Loans - Age: 59 - Country/territory: United States | At age 22, Dan Gilbert was a co-founder of Quicken Loans, which became a leader in the online mortgage lending business. Gilbert has also invested heavily in rehabilitating downtown Detroit with buildings and jobs, and he owns professional basketball's Cleveland Cavaliers. He suffered a serious stroke in 2019. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
24. Jack Ma | Net worth: $47.1 billion - Source of wealth: e-commerce - Age: 56 - Country/territory: China | Jack Ma made his fortune with Alibaba Group, China's giant e-commerce business. Its record-setting initial public offering in 2014 raised $25 billion. Before starting his internet business, he was a college English teacher. He is a major supporter of efforts to protect the environment, and he left Alibaba's chairmanship in 2019 to concentrate on philanthropy. (Chesnot/Getty Images)
23. Phil Knight & family | Net worth: $49.3 billion - Source of wealth: Nike - Age: 83 - Country/territory: United States | Phil Knight, a former runner at the University of Oregon, started Blue Ribbon Sports, a running shoe company, with his former coach Bill Bowerman in 1962. The company became Nike in 1978. Knight paid $35 to a student at Portland State University to design Nike's distinctive "Swoosh" logo. Knight retired as chairman in 2016. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
22. MacKenzie Scott | Net worth: $53.2 billion - Source of wealth: Amazon - Age: 50 - Country/territory: United States | MacKenzie Scott is the ex-wife of Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos. When they divorced in 2019 she became one of the world's wealthiest women. She won a quarter of Bezos' Amazon shares in their settlement, a 4% stake worth upward of $35 billion. The stake has since grown to be valued at approximately $68 billion. (Jerod Harris/Getty Images)
21. Gautam Adani & family | Net worth: $53.8 billion - Source of wealth: infrastructure, commodities - Age: 58 - Country/territory: India | India’s Gautam Shantilal Adani is founder and chairman of the multinational conglomerate Adani Group, which was established in 1988. Adani Group, India’s largest port developer and operator, also has major holdings in energy, resources, agriculture, aerospace, and defense. Adani is also president of the Adani Foundation, which is chaired by his wife, Priti Adani. (Getty Images)
20. Michael Bloomberg | Net worth: $59.0 billion - Source of wealth: Bloomberg LP - Age: 79 - Country/territory: United States | Michael Bloomberg first made his money on Wall Street, where he worked for Salomon Brothers. He launched Bloomberg L.P., a financial information and media company, in 1981 and owns nearly 90% of the business. He was mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013. His extensive philanthropic interests include gun control and tackling climate change. He is also a major donor to Johns Hopkins University, his alma mater. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
19. Ma Huateng | Net worth: $60.4 billion - Source of wealth: internet media - Age: 49 - Country/territory: China | Ma Huateng, better known as Pony Ma, is chairman of Tencent Holdings, China's giant internet company. Along with its popular WhatsApp messaging system, Tencent has shares of the music-streaming service Spotify and Tesla electric cars. Pony worked in research and development of internet paging for a Chinese telecommunications provider in China before co-founding Tencent with four partners in 1998. (VCG/Getty Images)
18. Rob Walton | Net worth: $61.5 billion - Source of wealth: Walmart - Age: 76 - Country/territory: United States | Rob Walton became chairman of Walmart when his father, founder Sam Walton, died in 1992. Rob and other family members own about half of the retail giant's stock. Rob retired in June 2015 but is still active in involved in charitable concerns involving conservation and sustainability. (Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images)
17. Jim Walton | Net worth: $62.2 billion - Source of wealth: Walmart - Age: 72 - Country/territory: United States | Jim Walton, the youngest son of Walmart's founder, is chief executive and chairman of Arvest Bank Group, an Arkansas bank controlled by the Walton family. Jim Walton holds 44% of the bank, which has branches in Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. He gave away more than $1 billion of his Walmart stock to philanthropy in 2019. (Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images)
16. Zhong Shanshan | Net worth: $62.7 billion - Source of wealth: beverages, pharmaceuticals - Age: 66 - Country/territory: China | Zhong Shanshan is the founder of the bottled water company Nongfu Spring and owner of the vaccine maker Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise. Both companies went public last year, swelling Zhong’s wealth. Due to his low public profile, Zhong is called the “Lone Wolf” in China since he rarely makes public appearances. As a child, he dropped out of elementary school during the Cultural Revolution, later working in construction and as a newspaper reporter. (VCG/Getty Images)
15. Alice Walton | Net worth: $63.9 billion - Source of wealth: Walmart - Age: 71 - Country/territory: United States | The daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, Alice Walton is heavily involved in the arts. Her project, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, opened in 2011. She also breeds horses at her ranch in Texas. (Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images)
14. Carlos Slim Helu & family | Net worth: $64.5 billion - Source of wealth: telecom - Age: 81 - Country/territory: Mexico | Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim Helú has extensive holdings in energy, mining, communications, retail, and finance through his Grupo Carso conglomerate. For many years, he owned the country’s former telephone monopoly, Telmex. He founded the art museum Museo Soumaya in Mexico City, helped revitalize the historic city center, and set up the Carlos Slim Foundation to promote education, health, and sports. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
13. Steve Ballmer | Net worth: $69.5 billion - Source of wealth: Microsoft - Age: 65 - Country/territory: United States | Steve Ballmer is the former chief executive of Microsoft, a company he joined in 1980. He left the tech giant in 2014 and bought the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team for $2 billion. He is a major philanthropist involved in anti-poverty solutions. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
12. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers & family | Net worth: $76.3 billion - Source of wealth: L'Oreal - Age: 67 - Country/territory: France | Françoise Bettencourt Meyers is an heir to the L'Oreal fortune, which she inherited from her mother. In a highly publicized case, Bettencourt Meyers took a close friend of her mother’s to court, accusing the friend of trying to manipulate the older woman out of her wealth. The granddaughter of L'Oreal’s founder Eugene Schueller, Bettencourt Meyers has also written several books on such topics as Jewish-Christian relations. Her family established the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation in the 1980s. (Martin Bureau/Getty Images)
11. Amancio Ortega | Net worth: $77.6 billion - Source of wealth: Zara - Age: 84 - Country/territory: Spain | Amancio Ortega's fortune comes from the world of retail and fashion. He was a co-founder, with his late ex-wife, in 1975 of Inditex, owner of the Zara retail clothing stores. He has invested heavily in commercial real estate in New York, Madrid, Barcelona, and London and has a 5% stake in the Spanish energy company Enagas. He stepped down as Inditex chairman in 2011. (fotopress/Getty Images)
10. Mukesh Ambani | Net worth: $77.8 billion - Source of wealth: diversified - Age: 63 - Country/territory: India | Mukesh Ambani heads Reliance Industries, India's giant oil and gas company that was started as a small enterprise by his father. Ambani holds a 42% stake in Reliance, which also owns a 4G wireless network in India. Ambani and his brother divided the family business when their father died in 2002. Ambani also is the owner of a professional cricket team, the Mumbai Indians. (Hindustan Times/Getty Images)
9. Sergey Brin | Net worth: $85.6 billion - Source of wealth: Google - Age: 47 - Country/territory: United States | Sergey Brin and partner Larry Page founded Google in 1998. Brin remains a controlling stakeholder in the search engine's parent company Alphabet. He emigrated to the United States from Russia when he was 6 years old. (Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images)
8. Larry Page | Net worth: $88.2 billion - Source of wealth: Google - Age: 48 - Country/territory: United States | Larry Page started Google with Sergey Brin, whom he met as a graduate student in computer science at Stanford University. Page is no longer chief executive of Google's parent company, Alphabet, but, like Brin, remains a controlling shareholder. He has invested in space exploration and the development of flying electric taxis, and he is a supporter of clean energy, powering his home with fuel cells and geothermal energy. (Kimberly White/Getty Images)
7. Larry Ellison | Net worth: $92.5 billion - Source of wealth: software - Age: 76 - Country/territory: United States | Larry Ellison co-founded Oracle Software in 1977 and today has extensive real estate holdings, including a Hawaiian island and dozens of properties in Malibu and Lake Tahoe. He remains chairman of Oracle's board. Ellison also has invested in electric car maker Tesla. (Kimberly White/Getty Images)
6. Warren Buffett | Net worth: $96.7 billion - Source of wealth: Berkshire Hathaway - Age: 90 - Country/territory: United States | Investor Warren Buffett runs Berkshire Hathaway, a conglomerate that owns dozens of companies like Geico insurance and Duracell batteries. Berkshire Hathaway's stock is the most expensive, trading on the New York Stock Exchange at more than $300,000 a share before the market plunged in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Buffett has launched a campaign urging billionaires to give away half their wealth and has vowed to give away nearly all of his fortune. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images)
5. Mark Zuckerberg | Net worth: $102.6 billion - Source of wealth: Facebook - Age: 36 - Country/territory: United States | Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook when he was a student at Harvard. The company went public in 2012, and he has retained a stake of about 15%. (Bertrand Guay/Getty Images)
4. Bill Gates | Net worth: $127.0 billion - Source of wealth: Microsoft - Age: 65 - Country/territory: United States | Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft, the biggest software business in the world. He stepped down as chairman in 2014 to concentrate on philanthropy. He and his wife are founders of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest private charitable foundation in the world, which addresses a range of issues including the eradication of malaria, reducing child mortality, ending hunger, and promoting sustainable growth. He has donated more than $35 billion in Microsoft stock to the foundation. (Jeff Pachoud/Getty Images)
3. Elon Musk | Net worth: $152.8 billion - Source of wealth: Tesla, SpaceX - Age: 49 - Country/territory: United States | Elon Musk aims to pioneer new, sustainable forms of travel with his electric car maker Tesla, and he owns about a fifth of the company. His rocket company SpaceX has been valued at almost $36 billion. At SpaceX, Musk oversees the development of spacecraft, with plans for missions to orbit the earth and travel to other planets. He also launched The Boring Co. to design tunnel technology for use with an all-electric public transportation system. Musk was involved in creating PayPal and made $165 million when it was sold to eBay. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
2. Bernard Arnault & family | Net worth: $158.4 billion - Source of wealth: LVMH - Age: 72 - Country/territory: France | France’s Bernard Arnault is chief executive and chairman of the luxury goods giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. He began his professional life as a civil engineer but moved into the world of luxury goods in 1984 when he reorganized the Financière Agache holding company, organizing their portfolio around the design house Christian Dior. He became LVMH’s majority shareholder in 1989. (Eric Piermont/Getty Images)
1. Jeff Bezos | Net worth: $177.3 billion - Source of wealth: Amazon - Age: 57 - Country/territory: United States | The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, is chief executive of the e-commerce giant and holds a stake of more than 11%. He also owns The Washington Post. In his 2019 divorce settlement with ex-wife MacKenzie Scott, she got a 4% stake in Amazon—worth more than $38 billion at the time of the settlement. (Mandel Ngan/Getty Images)
