Microsoft Founder Bill Gates has topped the Forbes 2017 Billionaires List, the fourth straight year with a net worth of $86bn.
He was followed by Warren Buffett, the chief of Berkshire Hathaway, whose wealth is around $75.6 billion.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos came third, followed by Amancio Ortega from Spanish clothing retailer Zara.
Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg came fifth.
The global billionaire population climbed nearly 13 percent from 1810 to 2043 over the past year.
This annual increase is at an all-time high in the 31-year history of the list, Forbes said. “Their total net worth rose by 18% to $7.67 trillion, also a record,” Forbes added.
The U.S. had the most billionaires with a number of 565, and China came the second with 319 billionaires.
Forbes said there were 195 new billionaires, adding that Mainland China had the most of that number with 76. The U.S. was second with 25.
“Notable newbies include Patagonia sportswear founder Yvon Chouinard; Viking Cruises founder Torstein Hagen of Norway; U.S. hedge fund tycoon Cliff Asness and two of his partners; and John and Patrick Collison, Irish citizens who co-founded San Francisco-based Stripe, which enables online payments. John Collison, age 26, is now the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, just two months younger than Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel.
The Collisons are two of just four self-made billionaires in their 20s (the other two are the Snapchat cofounders). There are 56 billionaires under age 40, down from 66 last year, after some aged out and others dropped below the $1 billion mark,” Forbes said.
Nigeria’s industrialist, Aliko Dangote is on the 105 spot in the list, with a fortune of $12.2 billion, making him the richest person on the African continent.
He is followed by South Africa’s Nicky Oppenheimer, who is on the 199 spot with a fortune of $7 billion.
U.S. President Donald Trump also slipped slipped 220 spots on the list.
According to the list, Trump lost $1 billion dollars, with his worth dropping from $4.5 billion to $3.5 billion.
That was enough to see the president fall from the 324th to 554th spot on the list.
Forbes pinned his wealth shrinkage on the receding real estate market.
Forty per cent of Trump’s wealth is tied up in Trump Tower and eight other buildings within a short distance of it.
“Midtown Manhattan real estate is down; therefore, so is Donald Trump’s fortune,” Forbes said.
See the full list HERE.
See the full list of the 21 African Billionaires including Isabel Dos Santos of Angola and Nigeria’s Folorunsho Alakija of Nigeria HERE.
