world top 10 richest person biography

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1. Bernard Arnault

2. jeff bezos, 3. elon musk, 4. mark zuckerberg, 5. bill gates, 6. steve ballmer, 7. warren buffett, 8. larry ellison, 9. larry page, 10. sergey brin, the bottom line.

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The 10 Richest People in the World

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Billionaires play an outsized role in shaping the global economy, politics, and philanthropy. Forbes puts the number of billionaires in the world at 2,640 in 2023. The wealthiest among them is Bernard Arnault; chairman of LVMH.

The individuals on this list belong to an even more exclusive club and wield still more power. Many are founders of technology giants, with much of their wealth still invested in the companies they started.

These billionaires can, however, still borrow against that wealth to avoid selling stock, deferring (or eliminating for heirs) taxes on unrealized capital gains in the process. Multi-billionaires can also take advantage of a panoply of tax deductions to offset reported income, leaving some on this list paying no income tax in recent years.

With so much of their wealth in publicly traded stocks, the net worth of the richest fluctuates along with the market valuations of the companies they own. Below are the 10 wealthiest people on the planet, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. All figures are current as of April 1, 2024.

Key Takeaways

• Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH, is the richest person and the richest man in the world with a net worth of $231 billion.
• After Arnault is Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.
• Other billionaires with some of the largest net worths include Tesla's Musk, Microsoft's Bill Gates, and Oracle's Larry Ellison.
• Eight of the top 10 billionaires made their fortunes in technology, with Arnault and Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett being the exceptions.
• Residence: France
• CEO and Chair: LVMH ( LVMUY )
• Net Worth: $231 billion
• Moelis & Company Ownership Stake: 48% ($216 billion total)
• Other Assets: $16 billion in cash
• French national  Bernard Arnault  is the chair and CEO of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods company. LVMH brands include Louis Vuitton, Hennessey, Marc Jacobs, and Sephora.

Most of Arnault's wealth comes from his massive stake in Christian Dior SE, the holding company that controls 41.4% of LVMH. His shares in Christian Dior SE, plus an additional 6.2% in LVMH, are held through his family-owned holding company, Groupe Familial Arnault.

Christophe Morin / Getty Images

An engineer by training, Arnault first showed his business acumen while working for his father’s construction firm, Ferret-Savinel, taking charge of the company in 1971. He converted Ferret-Savinel to a real estate company named Férinel Inc. in 1979.

Arnault remained Férinel's chair for another six years, until he acquired and reorganized luxury goods maker Financière Agache in 1984, eventually selling all its holdings other than Christian Dior and Le Bon Marché. He was invited to invest in LVMH in 1987 and became the majority shareholder, chair of the board, and CEO of the company two years later.

• Residence: United States
• Founder and Executive Chair: Amazon ( AMZN )
• Net Worth: $203 billion
• Amazon Ownership Stake: 9% ($169 billion)
• Other Assets: Blue Origin ($15 billion private asset), The Washington Post ($250 million private asset), Koru ($500 million private asset), and $18.2 billion in cash

In 1994,  Jeff Bezos  founded Amazon.com in a garage in Seattle, shortly after he resigned from the hedge fund giant D.E. Shaw. He had originally pitched the idea of an online bookstore to his former boss David E. Shaw, who wasn’t interested.

Though Amazon originally started out selling books, it has since morphed into a one-stop shop for everything under the sun and is expected to overtake Walmart as the world’s largest retailer by 2024. Amazon's pattern of constant diversification is evident in some of its unexpected expansions, which include acquiring Whole Foods in 2017 and entering the pharmacy business the same year. Bezos owned as much as 16% of Amazon in 2019 before transferring 4% to his former wife, MacKenzie Scott, as part of their divorce proceedings. In 2020, Amazon’s share price jumped 76% on the heightened demand for online shopping amid the COVID-19 pandemic . On July 5, 2021, Bezos stepped down as CEO of the e-commerce giant, becoming its executive chair.

Alex Wong / Getty Images

Bezos originally took Amazon public in 1997 and went on to become the first man since Bill Gates in 1999 to achieve a net worth of more than $100 billion. Bezos’ other projects include aerospace company Blue Origin, The Washington Post (which he purchased in 2013), and the 10,000-year clock—also known as the Long Now.

On July 20, 2021, Bezos, his brother Mark, aviation pioneer Wally Funk, and Dutch student Oliver Daemen completed Blue Origin's first successful crewed flight, reaching an altitude of more than 66 miles before landing safely. Bezos' wealth peaked at $213 billion in the same month.

In 2023, he paid $500 million for the superyacht, Koru.

• Co-founder and CEO: Tesla
• Net Worth: $189 billion
• Tesla Ownership Stake: 13% ($72.3 billion)
• X Ownership Stake: 79% ($7.52 billion)
• Other Assets: Space Exploration Technologies ($71.2 billion private asset), The Boring Company ($3.33 billion private asset), Neuralink ($2.07 billion private asset)

Elon Musk is the richest man in the world. He was born in South Africa and attended a university in Canada before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned bachelor's degrees in physics and economics. Two days after enrolling in a graduate physics program at Stanford University, Musk deferred attendance to launch Zip2, one of the earliest online navigation services. He reinvested a portion of the proceeds from this startup to create X.com, the online payment system that was sold to eBay ( EBAY ) and ultimately became PayPal Holdings ( PYPL ).

In 2004, Musk became a major funder of Tesla Motors (now Tesla), which led to his current position as CEO of the electric vehicle company. In addition to its line of electric automobiles, Tesla produces energy storage devices, automobile accessories, and, through its acquisition of SolarCity in 2016, solar power systems. Musk is also CEO and chief engineer of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), a developer of space launch rockets.

Saul Martinez / Getty Images

In Dec. 2020, Tesla joined the S&P 500 , becoming the largest company added, and in Jan. 2021, Musk became the richest person in the world—a title that has fluctuated alongside the value of Tesla. In April 2022, Musk began a campaign to take X private , which culminated in a $44 billion buyout. Musk planned to fund the deal with $21 billion of his own capital. In the run-up to the buyout announcement, Musk sold 9.6 million shares of Tesla, valued at roughly $8.5 billion.

In July 2022, Musk decided to back out of the buyout. The company filed a lawsuit against Musk to force the buyout to go through. Musk countersued the company but then reversed course and declared he was willing to buy it after all. The deal officially closed in Oct. 2022, giving him a 79% stake in the company.

• CEO and Chair: Meta Platforms ( META )
• Net Worth: $173 billion
• Meta Platforms Ownership Stake: 13% ($168 billion total )
• Other Assets: $4.90 billion in cash

Mark Zuckerberg first developed Facebook (now Meta) alongside fellow students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes while attending Harvard University in 2004. As Facebook began to be used at other universities, Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard to focus entirely on his growing business. Today, Zuckerberg is the CEO and chair of Meta, which had 3 billion monthly active users as of Q2 2023.

  Chesnot  / Getty Images

Facebook is the world's largest social networking service. As the website is free to use, most of the company's revenue is generated through advertising. Meta is also host to several other brands, including photo-sharing app Instagram, which it acquired in 2012; cross-platform mobile messaging service WhatsApp and virtual-reality–headset producer Oculus, both acquired in 2014; Workplace, its enterprise-connectivity platform; and Portal, its line of video-calling devices. Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, founded the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2015, with each of them serving as co-CEOs. Their charity seeks to leverage technology to fix societal ills, such as improving the access and quality of education, reforming both the criminal justice system and the U.S. immigration system, improving housing affordability, and eventually eradicating all diseases.

• Co-founder: Microsoft ( MSFT )
• Net Worth: $154 billion
• Microsoft Ownership Stake: 1.4% ($27.2 billion)
• Other Assets: $73.5 billion in cash and billions over multiple other companies

While attending Harvard University in 1975, Bill Gates went to work alongside his childhood friend Paul Allen to develop new software for the original microcomputers. Following this project’s success, Gates dropped out of Harvard during his junior year and founded Microsoft with Allen.

The largest software company in the world, Microsoft, also produces a line of personal computers, provides email services through its exchange server, and sells video game systems and associated game devices. It has recently invested heavily in cloud services.

Jack Taylor / Getty Images

Gates shifted from the company's CEO to the role of board chair in 2008. He joined Berkshire Hathaway’s board in 2004. He stepped down from both boards on March 13, 2020.

Bill Gates has much of his net worth in Cascade Investment LLC . Cascade is a privately-held investment vehicle that owns a variety of stocks including Canadian National Railway ( CNR ), Deere ( DE ), and Republic Services ( RSG ), as well as private investments in real estate and energy.

• Owner: Los Angeles Clippers
• Net Worth: $145 billion
• Microsoft Ownership Stake: 4% ($134 billion total)
• Other Assets: Los Angeles Clippers ($4.56 billion private asset), The Forum ($400 million private asset), Intuit Dome ($2 billion private asset), $4.18 billion in cash

Steve Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980 after Bill Gates convinced him to drop out of Stanford University's MBA program. He was Microsoft's 30th employee. Ballmer went on to succeed Gates as Microsoft CEO in 2000. He held the position until stepping down in 2014. Ballmer oversaw Microsoft's 2011 purchase of Skype for $8.5 billion.

Ballmer owns an estimated 4% of Microsoft, making him the software giant's largest individual shareholder. In 2014, shortly after stepping down as Microsoft CEO, Ballmer purchased the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team for $2 billion. Ballmer lived in the same dorm and on the same floor as Bill Gates while the two attended Harvard University. The brotherly relationship between the two became strained when Ballmer started pushing the tech company into hardware, such as the Surface tablet and the Windows mobile phone, during his tenure as CEO.

• CEO: Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK.A )
• Net Worth: $137 billion
• Berkshire Hathaway Ownership Stake: 15% ($134 billion)
• Other Assets: $1.45 billion in cash

The most famous living value investor, Warren Buffett filed his first tax return in 1944 at age 14, declaring earnings from his boyhood paper route. He first bought shares in a textile company called Berkshire Hathaway in 1962, becoming the majority shareholder by 1965. Buffett expanded the company's holdings to insurance and other investments in 1967.

Widely known as the Oracle of Omaha, Buffett is a buy-and-hold investor who built his fortune by acquiring undervalued companies. More recently, Berkshire Hathaway has invested in large, well-known companies. Its portfolio of wholly owned subsidiaries includes interests in insurance, energy distribution, and railroads as well as consumer products.

Buffett is a notable Bitcoin skeptic.

Buffett has dedicated much of his wealth to philanthropy. Between 2006 and 2020, he gave away $41 billion—mostly to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and his children’s charities. Buffett launched the Giving Pledge alongside Bill Gates in 2010.

Now 93 years old, Buffett still serves as CEO, but in 2021 he stated that his likely successor would be Gregory Abel, head of Berkshire’s non-insurance operations.

• Co-founder, Chair, and CTO: Oracle ( ORCL )
• Net Worth: $139 billion
• Oracle Ownership Stake: 42%+ ($105 billion)
• Other Assets: Tesla equity ($7.91 billion public asset), $25 billion in cash

Larry Ellison was born in New York City to a 19-year-old single mother. After dropping out of the University of Chicago in 1966, Ellison moved to California and worked as a computer programmer. In 1973, he joined the electronics company Ampex, where he met future partners Ed Oates and Bob Miner. Three years later, Ellison moved to Precision Instruments, serving as the company’s vice president of research and development.

In 1977, Ellison founded Software Development Laboratories alongside Oates and Miner. Two years later, the company released Oracle, the first commercial relational database program to use Structured Query Language. The database program proved so popular that SDL changed its name to Oracle Systems Corporation in 1982. Ellison gave up the CEO role at Oracle in 2014 after 37 years. He joined Tesla's board in Dec. 2018 and stepped down in June 2022.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Oracle is the world's second-largest software company, providing a wide variety of cloud computing programs as well as Java and Linux code and the Oracle Exadata computing platform. Oracle has acquired numerous large companies over its history, such as Sun Microsystems and Cerner.

Ellison has focused his philanthropy on medical research. In 2016, he gave $200 million to the University of Southern California for a new cancer research center. Ellison backed the Oracle Team USA sailing team, which won the America's Cup racing series in 2010 and 2013.

• Co-founder and Board Member: Alphabet ( GOOG )
• Alphabet Ownership Stake: 6% ($118.1 billion total)
• Other Assets: $18.5 billion in cash

Like several of the tech billionaires on this list, Larry Page embarked on his path to fame and fortune in a college dorm room. While attending Stanford University in 1995, Page and his friend Sergey Brin came up with the idea of improving Internet data extraction. The duo devised a new search engine technology they dubbed Backrub after its ability to assess links to a page.

From there, Page and Brin went on to found Google in 1998, with Page serving as CEO of the company until 2001, and again between 2011 and 2019.

Google is the world's dominant Internet search engine, accounting for more than 92% of global search requests. In 2006, the company purchased YouTube, the top platform for user-submitted videos.

After acquiring Android in 2005, Google released the Android mobile phone operating system in 2008. Google reorganized in 2015, becoming a subsidiary of Alphabet, a holding company.

Page was among early investors in Planetary Resources, a space exploration and asteroid-mining company. Established in 2009, the company was acquired by blockchain firm ConsenSys in 2018 amid funding problems. He has also shown an interest in flying car companies, investing in both Kitty Hawk and Opener, although Kitty Hawk ceased operations in 2022.

• Net Worth: $130 billion
• Alphabet Ownership Stake: 6% ($111.2 billion total)
• Other Assets: $18.6 billion in cash

Sergey Brin was born in Moscow, Russia, moving to the U.S. with his family when he was six in 1979. After co-founding Google with Larry Page in 1998, Brin became Google's president of technology when Eric Schmidt took over as CEO in 2001. He held the same post at the Alphabet holding company after it was established in 2015, stepping down in 2019 when Sundar Pichai took over as CEO.

In addition to its dominant internet search engine, Google offers a suite of online tools and services known as Google Workspace, which includes Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google Meet, Google Chat, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, and more. Google also offers a variety of electronic devices, including Pixel smartphones, computers, and tablets, Nest smart home devices, and the Stadia gaming platform.

Brin has donated millions of dollars to Parkinson’s disease research, partnering with The Michael J. Fox Foundation.

Who Are the Top 10 Richest People in the World?

The top 10 richest people in the world as of April 1, 2024, are:

• Bernard Arnault
• Mark Zuckerberg
• Steve Ballmer
• Warren Buffett
• Larry Ellison
• Sergey Brin

Who Is the World's Richest Man in 2024?

As of April 1, 2024, the world's richest man is Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH.

Who Is the Richest Woman in the World?

The richest woman in the world is Francoise Bettencourt Meyers. As of April 1, 2024, her net worth is $95.6 billion. Her net worth is derived from her holdings in L'Oréal, the world's largest cosmetics company.

If you want to get a little closer to making the richest billionaires rankings, you might need to become a technological innovator or luxury retail mastermind. Or you could keep it simple and focus on value investing .

It also wouldn’t hurt to have been born into wealth; however, the greatest fortunes on this list started as good ideas that people with creativity, drive, and connections used to build some of the world's largest companies.

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The top 10 richest people in the world in 2024

The world's top 10 richest people have staggering fortunes in various industries. get insights into their extraordinary wealth and accomplishments.

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Top 10 richest people in the world

Get to know the top 10 richest people in the world, bernard arnault & family.

• Residence: Paris
• Citizenship: France
• Residence: Austin, Texas
• Citizenship: US
• Residence: Medina, Washington

Mark Zuckerberg

• Residence: Palo Alto, California

Larry Ellison

• Residence: Lanai, Hawaii

Warren Buffett

• Residence: Omaha, Nebraska

Steve Ballmer

• Residence: Hunts Point, Washington

Mukesh Ambani

• Residence: Mumbai, India
• Citizenship: India

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The world's 10 richest people added $402 billion to their fortunes in 2021. Here's whose net worth grew the most

Heading into 2022, the 10 wealthiest individuals in the world are all worth more than $100 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index .

Some of these individuals, like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, have been worth $100 billion for some time: Gates first reached the mark in 1999 , while Bezos did it in 2017. But most of the others are newcomers to the 12-digit club.

Combined, the 10 richest billionaires added $402.17 billion to their net worths in 2021. They were led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who this year became the world's richest man and briefly saw his net worth top $300 billion. He added $121 billion to his net worth in 2021 — just shy of the $140 billion he added in 2020 .

As 2021 winds to a close, here's how much the 10 richest people in the world added to their fortunes, according to  Bloomberg's Billionaires Index . (All numbers were accurate as of the end of trading on Dec. 29.)

1. Elon Musk: $277 billion (+$121 billion)

The Tesla co-founder, who this year changed his title from CEO to " Technoking of Tesla " in a March regulatory filing, has enjoyed a massive wealth increase thanks to the rapid growth of his electric automaker. Tesla shares are up about 60% this year, and the company hit a $1 trillion market cap for the first time in October.

Musk has recently been selling millions of shares of Tesla to pay a reported $12 billion tax bill associated with a stock option package he received in 2012.

2. Jeff Bezos: $195 billion (+$5 billion)

The former world's richest man did not add nearly as much to his net worth as Musk, but Bezos is still leaving 2021 with $5 billion more than he entered it with.

The 57-year-old stepped down from his role as CEO of Amazon in July, and has said he is spending more time on initiatives like the Bezos Earth Fund, his Blue Origin spaceship company, The Washington Post and the Amazon Day 1 Fund.

3. Bernard Arnault: $176 billion (+$61 billion)

The CEO of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH , which owns brands such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Givenchy, added $61 billion to his net worth in 2021. The 72-year-old holds the title of Europe's richest man.

4. Bill Gates: $139 billion (+$7 billion)

Despite giving away tens of billions of dollars over the past few decades, Gates' wealth continues to grow, thanks in part to the strong performance of shares of Microsoft , the company he co-founded and still owns about 1% of.

Gates has long since given up the reins at Microsoft and spends most of his time with his charitable foundation. In 2021, Gates also divorced his wife Melinda French Gates after 25 years of marriage.

5. Larry Page: $130 billion (+$47 billion)

The Google co-founder added $47 billion to his fortune thanks to the strong performance of Alphabet in 2021, which surpassed the $2 trillion market cap in November and was recently  crowned Big Tech stock of the year  by CNBC. Page is no longer CEO of Alphabet, but remains a board member.

6. Mark Zuckerberg: $128 billion (+$24 billion)

The only member of the top 10 under the age of 40, 37-year-old Zuckerberg's wealth increased by $24 billion this year. Zuckerberg owns a 13% stake in Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram of which he is CEO — which has grown in value by more than 20% this year.

7. Sergey Brin: $125 billion (+$45 billion)

Google's other co-founder's net worth grew by $45 billion, bringing it above $100 billion for the first time. The 48-year-old owns about 38 million shares in Alphabet and sits on the company's board.

8. Steve Ballmer: $122 billion (+$41 billion)

The former Microsoft CEO and owner of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers is $41 billion richer at the end of 2021 than he was at the start of the year. Ballmer's net worth benefitted from the popularity of tech stocks like Microsoft, which this year grew in value by more than 50% .

9. Larry Ellison: $109 billion (+$29 billion)

Oracle had its second-best biggest gain in 20 years earlier this month, and chairman and founder Larry Ellison reaped the rewards. The 77-year-old broke into the $100 billion club this year, adding $29 billion to his net worth thanks to his firm's strong earnings.

10. Warren Buffett: $109 billion (+$21 billion)

The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway earlier this year revealed that he is "halfway" toward his stated goal of giving away the vast majority of his fortune , but the performance of his company's stock isn't helping. This year, 91-year-old Oracle of Omaha added $21 billion to a fortune he has described as "an almost incomprehensible sum."

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The 10 Richest People in the World

There are 10 people in the world with a net worth of at least $100 billion. The group includes the likes of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

Gautam Adani has hit a net worth of $100 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, putting him among the top 10 wealthiest people in the world.

Mr. Adani is founder and chairman of the Adani Group, a sprawling conglomerate with businesses in sectors such as energy, mining, real estate and agriculture.

Tap through to see the 10 richest people in the world and their total net worth. The figures listed here are as of April 10, 2022.

10. Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle

$102 billion

9. Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft

$104 billion

8. Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of the Adani Group

$110 billion

7. Sergey Brin, co-founder of Alphabet

$114 billion

6. Larry Page, co-founder of Alphabet

$119 billion

5. Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway

$128 billion

4. Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft

$131 billion

3. Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton

$142 billion

2. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon

$179 billion

1. Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla

$260 billion

Produced by Julia Munslow

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Wealth information: The Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which measures personal wealth based on changes in markets, the economy and other reporting. The figures are updated at the close of every trading day in New York.

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Forbes has released its list of the world's billionaires. There are more than ever before — and they're wealthier.

By Caitlin O'Kane

Edited By Allison Elyse Gualtieri

April 2, 2024 / 10:24 AM EDT / CBS News

Forbes has released its annual list of the world's billionaires and in 2024, there are more people on the list than ever — and they're richer than ever.

There are 141 more billionaires in the world than last year, with 2,781 in total. Their combined worth equals $14.2 trillion — up by $2 trillion in 2023.

The 2024 list also broke records set in 2021, with 26 more billionaires on the list and their combined net worth up by $1.1 trillion. 

Billionaires themselves are also wealthier, with two-thirds adding to their worth. The top 20 on the list gained the most, adding $700 billion to their combined worth since 2023. And the U.S. has a record 813 billionaires — the most of any country.

China has 473 billionaires and India has 200, which set a record for that country.

To tally their wealth, Forbes used stock prices and exchange rates from March 8, 2024.

Bernard Arnault and his family are at number one, with a net worth of $233 billion. Arnault is head of LVMH, a luxury fashion and cosmetics conglomerate in France. The family is usually in the top three of Forbes' wealthiest people in the world lists.

Elon Musk, once the richest person in the world, is No. 2 on the list, with a net worth of $195 billion. Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, also bought Twitter for $44 million in 2022, renaming it X. 

Musk owns an estimated 74% of the social media company, which is now worth nearly 70% less than he paid, Forbes estimates. This and other factors like low Tesla earnings have lead to his net worth dipping below $200 billion several times over the last two years.

Coming in at No. 3 is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who has a net worth of $195 billion. Then comes Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is worth $177 billion.

Other famous names on the list include: 

• 100. Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch and his family, worth $19.5 billion
• 137. Dallas Cowboys General Manager and President Jerry Jones, worth $13.9 billion
• 1,330. Jay-Z, worth $2.5 billion 
• 1,851. Kim Kardashian, worth $1.7 billion 
• 2,545. Taylor Swift, worth $1.1 billion

The wealthiest woman on the billionaires list comes in at No. 15: Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the granddaughter of the founder of L'Oreal. As the richest woman in the world, she is worth $99.5 billion.

The top four wealthiest women after Bettencourt: 

• 21. Alice Walton, Walmart founder Sam Walton's daughter, who is worth $72.3 billion
• 23. Julia Koch and her three children, who inherited a stake in Koch Industries from her husband when he died and is worth $64.3 billion
• 35. Jacqueline Mars, who owns one-third of candy and food company Mars, who is worth $38.5 billion
• 43. MacKenzie Scott , the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, who is worth $35.6 billion 
• Billionaire
• Jerry Jones
• Mark Zuckerberg
• Rupert Murdoch
• Bernard Arnault

Caitlin O'Kane is a New York City journalist who works on the CBS News social media team as a senior manager of content and production. She writes about a variety of topics and produces "The Uplift," CBS News' streaming show that focuses on good news.

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These Black women billionaires are too poor to make Forbes’ top 10 richest women in 2024 list

W omen account for just 13% of Forbes’ World Billionaires list. Of the 2,781 billionaires, 369, or 13.3%, are women. The current number of women billionaires is an increase from the previous number, which was 337 in 2023.

This means that they are richer than ever before. According to Forbes, the world’s richest women are collectively worth nearly $1.8 trillion, about $240 billion more than last year. And for the fourth consecutive year, L’Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers is the world’s richest woman, with a net worth of $99.5 billion.

She first took the number one spot in 2019, two years after the death of her mother, Liliane Bettencourt. Her mother ranked as the richest woman in six of the years from 2006 to 2017. Per Forbes’ publication , Walmart founder Sam Walton’s only daughter and art devotee Alice Walton is the second richest woman in the world with a net worth of $72.3 billion.

Although the publication ranked women in the world who have reached billionaire status, some women billionaires were too poor to be considered. As such, the top 10 list did not include any of the Black women billionaires in the U.S. below:

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey is the richest black woman on earth, with an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion. In 2023, she was ranked 13th on Forbes’ latest ranking of the wealthiest self-made women in America.

According to Forbes, the media mogul made her money by reinvesting profits from her talk show and films like The Color Purple, Beloved, and Selma. Winfrey launched the cable channel OWN in 2011. Her 25.5% stake in the network is worth more than $65 million.

In 2022, the Barbados singer became a certified billionaire. Forbes recognized her as the youngest self-made billionaire woman in America, with a net worth of $1.4 billion.

Although the nine-time Grammy Award winner rose to fame through her music, the majority of her fortune comes from her Fenty Beauty business, while the rest comes from her stake in her lingerie company, Savage x Fenty, worth an estimated $270 million, as well as her earnings from music and acting.

She founded  Fenty Beauty in 2017 in her bid to create a cosmetic company that made “women everywhere feel included” in partnership with luxury goods company LVMH. The cosmetic line initially sold foundation shades and later expanded to include lipstick, lip gloss, body glitter, and more. In its first year of operation, Fenty Beauty generated more than $550 million. In 2019, Rihanna became the first black woman to create a clothing brand for LVMH called Fenty and also announced new high-end clothing, shoes, and accessories.

Aside from her cosmetic business, Rihanna has earned millions of dollars from endorsement deals from brands and companies like River Island, Mac, Armani, and Balmain. In 2014, she signed a $1 million endorsement deal to work as Puma’s creative director.