Bernard Arnault tops Forbes' list of the world's richest people
Forbes magazine has released its list of the world's richest people, which includes 2,781 billionaires from all countries of the world, including businessmen in the Middle East.
Billionaires of the world from the United States
According to Forbes, the wealth of the 2,781 included in the report amounted to $14.2 trillion, an increase of $2 trillion from 2023, when the highest record reached was $1.1 trillion, which was also recorded in 2021.
Most of the gains come from the first 20 people, who added $700 billion to their wealth since 2023, from the United States, which now includes a record number of 813 billionaires with a combined wealth of $5.7 trillion.
The world's richest people
China remains in second place, with 473 people (including Hong Kong) worth $1.7 trillion, and India came in third, with 200 Indian billionaires on the list of the world's richest people, also a record.
The world's richest person was Bernard Arnault, owner of the Louis Vuitton LVMH empire, which includes 75 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora, with $233 billion.
Elon Musk came in second place
Elon Musk came in second place with $195 billion, and he is the owner of Tesla, SpaceX, which is responsible for manufacturing space rockets, and the X platform (formerly Twitter).
In third place came Jeff Bezos, owner of the well-known Amazon company, with a fortune estimated at $194 billion, while Bill Gates, who owns Microsoft, came in seventh place among the world's richest people with a fortune estimated at $128 billion.
Rich Arabs
The founder and owner of the Telegram application, Pavel Durov, is the richest billionaire in the Middle East, with a net worth estimated at $15.5 billion in 2024.
Nassef Sawiris came in as the richest Arab billionaire in the world, and ranked second on the list of the richest people in the Middle East, with a net worth of $8.8 billion.
Sawiris family wealth
Sawiris's wealth increased by about $1.4 billion compared to 2023, and his 6% stake in Adidas, the sportswear manufacturer, is his largest investment. Sawiris also heads OCI, one of the largest producers of nitrogen fertilizers in the world, with factories in the US states of Texas and Iowa.
While the UAE has the largest number of rich people in the Middle East, with the highest cumulative wealth of $55.1 billion, including 7 residents of Indian nationality.
Two newcomers from India join the list: Renuka Jagtiani, who leads retail conglomerate Landmark Group and is the Middle East’s only female billionaire, with a net worth of $4.8 billion, and Kabir Mulchandani, founder of real estate and hospitality firm FIVE Holdings, was also added, with a fortune of $2 billion.
