Forbes: 200 Top Working Rich Worth $1 Trillion
A booming stock market and newly created Internet wealth has expanded the world’s billionaires club and pushed the collective net worth of the richest 200 working people beyond $1 trillion, Forbes magazine says in its latest ranking of billionaires around the globe.
Just as the Internet has sped the pace of life today, hastening everything from stock trading to travel planning, it also has accelerated the creation of wealth--particularly among the richest individuals.
In its 13th annual list of the world’s billionaires, in Forbes’ July 5 issue, the magazine counts a total of 465, and No. 1 is Microsoft Corp. co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates, with $90 billion.
The magazine has a separate list for what it calls the “World’s Working Rich,” those who made their own wealth or are working with their inheritance. The magazine notes that the total wealth of the Top 200 working rich not only surpassed $1 trillion this year but their collective net worth is more than double the $463 billion that the top 200 billionaires had 10 years ago. Also, Gates alone has as much money as the top 9 on the list 10 years ago.
Gates remains by far the world’s richest man as his net worth nearly doubled from $51 billion last year, briefly touching $100 billion in April before the stock market retrenched somewhat.
Microsoft boosted two others into the top five. Co-founder Paul Allen was in the No. 3 spot, with a $30-billion net worth, behind investor Warren Buffett’s $36 billion. Microsoft President Steven Ballmer was in fourth place, with $19.5 billion.
In fifth place were the Oeri, Hoffman and Sacher families of Switzerland with $17 billion from the Roche Holdings pharmaceuticals firm.
Tied for sixth place with a net worth of $16.5 billion were oil, rail and telecom magnate Philip Anschutz and Dell Computer Corp. Chairman Michael Dell, who at 34 was the youngest among the top 10.
The top 10 list is actually a top 11, because the next four spots, eight through 11, are held by members of the Walton family, heirs of the late Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton. Forbes estimated their wealth at $16 billion each.
“Dot-com” billionaires from around the globe were catapulted onto this year’s list. Jay Walker, founder of Priceline.com, and Pierre Omidyar, founder of EBay, went from nowhere into the Top 50. Walker was No. 25 with a net worth of $10.2 billion, while Omidyar was No. 36 with $10.1 billion.
In another list, Forbes ranked the estimated net worths of what it called the world’s “Kings, Queens and Dictators.” Leading that category were the Sultan of Brunei, with $30 billion in wealth, Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd with $28 billion, Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein with $6 billion, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands with $5.2 billion and Syria’s President Hafez al-Assad with $2 billion.
