This comprehensive dataset encapsulates a detailed snapshot of the wealthiest individuals globally, as listed by Forbes in 2024. Compiled through meticulous web scraping and data aggregation, the dataset includes a wide range of attributes for each billionaire. Fields encompass basic personal information such as name, age, and gender, alongside financial details including net worth and sources of wealth. The dataset further delves into aspects like industry involvement, organizational affiliations, philanthropic endeavors, and educational backgrounds.

Key attributes in this dataset include:

Name: Full legal name of the billionaire. Age: Age of the individual. 2024 Net Worth: Estimated net worth in USD for the year 2024. Industry: Primary industry or sector of operation. Source of Wealth: Origin of the billionaire’s wealth. Title: Professional title or position. Organization: Name of the associated organization. Self-Made: Indicator if the wealth is self-made. Self-Made Score: A quantitative score assessing how self-made their wealth is. Philanthropy Score: A score reflecting the extent of their philanthropic activities. Residence: Main residence of the individual. Citizenship: Legal citizenship. Gender: Gender identity. Marital Status: Current marital status. Children: Number of children. Education: Highest level of education attained.

This dataset is ideal for analysis, offering insights into the distribution of wealth, the influence of education on wealth accumulation, and trends across different industries. It also provides a foundation for exploring the impact of socioeconomic factors on personal wealth. The data were collected and formatted with careful consideration to ensure accuracy, making it a valuable resource for researchers, economists, and anyone interested in the dynamics of wealth and success.

Please note that some data is missing in this dataset, primarily due to the unavailability of information from Forbes. This issue becomes more prevalent beyond the top 400 entries. Many individuals lack a self-made score, a philanthropy score, or specific details regarding their title or organization as per Forbes' listings. I am currently working to update the dataset with this missing information. However, this update process is quite tedious and time-consuming since it is mostly manual. I appreciate your patience and understanding as I work through these details.

This article introduces an original dataset of formal political participation for over 2,000 individuals included in the Forbes Billionaires List. We find that billionaire politicians are a surprisingly common phenomenon: Over 11% of the world’s billionaires have held or sought political office. Even compared to other elite groups known for producing politicians from their ranks, this is a high rate of political participation. Moreover, billionaires focus their political ambitions on influential positions, have a strong track record of winning elections, and lean to the right ideologically. We also document substantial cross-national variation: A country’s number of billionaire politicians is not simply a product of its total number of billionaires but is instead related to regime type. Indeed, billionaires formally enter the political sphere at a much higher rate in autocracies than in democracies. We conclude by discussing the normative implications of our findings and outlining a new research agenda on billionaire politicians.

As of March 2025, Elon Musk had a net worth valued at 328.5 billion U.S. dollars, making him the richest man in the world. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos followed in second, with Marc Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, in third. The list is dominated by Americans, and Alice Walton and Francoise Bettencourt Meyers are the only women among the 20 richest people worldwide.

About the Ranking

The World's Billionaires is an annual ranking by documented net worth of the wealthiest billionaires in the world, compiled and published in March annually by the American business magazine Forbes. The list was first published in March 1987. The total net worth of each individual on the list is estimated and is cited in United States dollars, based on their documented assets and accounting for debt and other factors. Royalty and dictators whose wealth comes from their positions are excluded from these lists. This ranking is an index of the wealthiest documented individuals, excluding any ranking of those with wealth that is not able to be completely ascertained.

Forbes Methodology

Each year, Forbes employs a team of over 50 reporters from a variety of countries to track the activity of the world's wealthiest individuals and sometimes groups or families – who share wealth. Preliminary surveys are sent to those who may qualify for the list. According to Forbes, they received three types of responses – some people try to inflate their wealth, others cooperate but leave out details, and some refuse to answer any questions. Business deals are then scrutinized and estimates of valuable assets – land, homes, vehicles, artwork, etc. – are made. Interviews are conducted to vet the figures and improve the estimate of an individual's holdings. Finally, positions in a publicly traded stock are priced to market on a date roughly a month before publication. Privately held companies are priced by the prevailing price-to-sales or price-to-earnings ratios. Known debt is subtracted from assets to get a final estimate of an individual's estimated worth in United States dollars. Since stock prices fluctuate rapidly, an individual's true wealth and ranking at the time of publication may vary from their situation when the list was compiled.

Context

Who are the world's wealthiest individuals and where are they of 2018?

Content

Based on the annual ranking of the individual fortunes in the world with a net worth above $1 billion compiled by Forbes magazine for 2018, I have created this dataset. It contains information about their citizenship and residence, as well as their age and of course net worth (in $ billions).

Why are there more super-rich people in some countries than in others? Extraordinary wealth is often regarded with envy and might raise the suspicion that it can only be accumulated with the help of a minimalist state that does not concern itself with the plight of the many. This raises the issue whether a high number of billionaires can co-exist with a high-taxing, interventionist, social and welfare spending government? These two questions are at the heart of this paper’s analysis. To answer them a quantitative analysis of the global Forbes list of billionaires is undertaken.