: Elon Musk overtakes Jeff Bezos on Forbes’ richest billionaires list

Here are some key takeaways from the list:

Fewer billionaires than last year

There are 2,668 billionaires in the world in 2022, 87 fewer than last year.

While the total number of billionaires fell, 40% of those who remained got richer.

Forbes’ research indicated that Russian billionaire wealth fell by more than $260 billion in the past year, resulting in 34 fewer Russian billionaires on the list amid Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent financial sanctions from several countries, including the U.S.

The total wealth of billionaires actually fell to $12.7 trillion this year, down from a record $13.1 trillion in the 2021 list.

A new No. 1

As previously stated, Elon Musk has the top spot on the billionaires list. He surpasses Bezos who held the top spot the previous four years.

Musk was helped by an uptick in Tesla’s stock price, which is up 58.9% over the past 12 months, while Amazon’s stock is up “only” 4.18% over the same period.

The data and figures were as of March 11, 2022, and do not include Musk’s recent net worth jump from his Twitter equity purchase.

Notable female billionaires

Of the 2,668 billionaires in the world, just 327 of them are women. This figure includes individuals who share their net worth with their spouse, according to Forbes. There were 327 female billionaires in 2022, down from 328 last year.

Of those women, 101 are “self-made” billionaires, meaning they started a company or established their own fortune, as opposed to inheriting it in some way, as defined by Forbes.

Some new female billionaires on the list are musical artist and fashion mogul Rihanna, Melanie Perkins, co-founder of design company Canva, and Melinda French Gates, who is now listed separately after her divorce from Bill Gates in 2021.

The U.S. has the most female billionaires (90), followed by China (63) and Germany (35).

Top 5 richest people in the world

1. Elon Musk has an estimated net worth of $219 billion — Musk’s businesses are Tesla and SpaceX.

2. Jeff Bezos has an estimated net worth of $171 billion — Bezos’s main wealth source is Amazon.

3. Bernard Arnault & family have an estimated net worth of $158 billion — Arnault’s main wealth source is the LVMH fashion empire, which includes Louis Vuitton and Sephora.

4. Bill Gates has an estimated net worth of $129 billion — Gates’s main wealth source is Microsoft
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5. Warren Buffett has an estimated net worth of $118 billion — Buffet’s main wealth source is Berkshire Hathaway
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