With a net worth of 342 billion U.S. dollars, Elon Musk, the cofounder of seven companies, such as electric car maker Tesla and the rocket producer SpaceX, was the wealthiest man in the world in March 2025. The wealthiest people in the world Marc Zuckerberg, the cofounder of Meta Platforms, came second with a wealth of 235.6 billion U.S. dollars. Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos followed in third. All the 10 richest people in the world were men. Wealth distribution worldwide As of 2022, one percent of people held nearly half of the world's combined wealth. Moreover, 2.8 billion of the world's population hold a combined wealth of less than 10,000 U.S. dollars, compared to 59 million people having a combined wealth of 1 billion dollars or more, underlining the vast inequalities around the world. Where do the most affluent people live? Most millionaires live in the United States, while Hong Konk was the city hosting the largest number of high net worth individuals worldwide. The country with the highest number of billionaires is China.

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.

As of April 2025, Elon Musk was estimated as the wealthiest person in the United States with a net worth of around 342 billion dollars. Richest people in the United States - additional information Every year since 1982, the American business magazine Forbes has been compiling lists of the 400 richest people in the United States, known as the “Forbes 400.” In addition to that, since 1987, the publication has also been compiling a ranking of the 500 richest people in the world (excluding royalty and dictators), as well as more specialized tops, such as “World's Most Powerful Women,” “America's Richest Families,” “Most Valuable Brands” or “30 Under 30,” which focuses on young entrepreneurs from various fields which have gained millions in the past year by the use of social media, technical innovations and generally new and fresh approaches to business.

According to the Hurun Global Rich List 2025, the United States housed the highest number of billionaires worldwide in 2025. In detail, there were *** billionaires living in the United States as of January that year. By comparison, *** billionaires resided in China. India, the United Kingdom, and Germany were also the homes of a significant number of billionaires that year. United States has regained its first place As the founder and exporter of consumer capitalism, it is no surprise that the United States is home to a large number of billionaires. Although China had briefly overtaken the U.S. in recent years, the United States has reclaimed its position as the country with the most billionaires in the world. Moreover, North America leads the way in terms of the highest number of ultra high net worth individuals – those with a net worth of more than ***** million U.S. dollars. The prominence of Europe and North America is a reflection of the higher degree of economic development in those states. However, this may also change as China and other emerging economies continue developing. Female billionaires Moreover, the small proportion of female billionaires does little to counter critics claiming the global economy is dominated by an elite comprised mainly of men. On the list of the 20 richest people in the world, only one was a woman. Moreover, recent political discourse has put a great amount of attention on the wealth held by the super-rich with the wealth distribution of the global population being heavily unequal.

Dataset

This dataset was created by Nitesh Saini

Contents

As of March 2025, Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, Tesla, and X (previously known as Twitter), was the richest person in the global tech industry with an estimated net worth of 312 billion U.S. dollars. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, followed with a net worth of 217 billion U.S. dollars. Elon Musk and Twitter/X On October 27th, 2022, Elon Musk bought the social network Twitter for around 44 billion U.S. dollars and became its CEO. Since Musk’s acquisition, the company has experienced some adjustments, including a name change to X and the option for users of becoming verified members for eight U.S. dollars per month. Moreover, there has been reports of increasing hate speech and the platform after Musk's takeover. Other tech billionaires and their companies Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft ranked 5th. Today, Microsoft develops consumer and enterprise software, services, and consumer electronics. In its 2023 financial year, Microsoft generated revenues of just under 212 billion U.S. dollars. By contrast, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta, ranked third. The company, previously known as Facebook, was rebranded in 2021 and its products include Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Despite their wealth, these companies are not immune to the layoffs that have plagued the tech industry, which are affecting Meta and Amazon employees the most.

This dataset contains the Forbes Billionaire List for 2024, featuring the top individuals ranked by their net worth. It includes essential details such as their names, rankings, and net worth. This data is ideal for quick analysis and insights into the wealthiest people globally in 2024.

In 2024, two of the three richest people in Latin America were Mexicans. The leader of the rank was the Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim, the 14th richest person in the world. Slim had a fortune of 102 billion U.S. dollars, derived from his multiple businesses and investments. At third place was a fellow Mexican businessman, German Larrea, with a fortune of nearly 27.3 billion dollars.

Billionaires' wealth distribution Within each country's economy, there exists a relatively small segment of wealthier individuals who contribute significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of their respective countries. In Latin America, Chile stands out for its high concentration of wealth among billionaires, accounting for approximately 16 percent of the GDP. Mexico also exhibits a notable wealth concentration, with billionaires contributing around 12 percent of the country's GDP. Regarding the financial magnitude of these billionaires in Latin America, Mexico leads with an average individual wealth of approximately nine billion dollars, compared to an average wealth per adult of 43,140.
Income inequality In most countries within the region, the GINI Index, which measures income inequality among the population, falls within the range of 40 to 50. Notably, Colombia has the highest level of income inequality in Latin America, at 54.2. As a result of this income inequality, only around 2.8 percent of the population in the region is classified as having a high economic status, while the largest portion of the population consists of non-poor individuals with low incomes, and approximately 281 million people in the region live below the poverty line.

Context

The Original dataset had some incongruencies in the collection of the data for the feature "Source".

The feature "Source" aims at capturing the main origin of the billionaires' accumulated wealth. However, Forbes had adopted an inconsistent approach in collecting these data. When the source of wealth is connected with a popular or well-known company, then the Company name is reported (i.e. Amazon, Microsoft, Google and so forth). In other instances, the economic sector where the billionaire business operates is reported (i.e., software, machinery, food and beverage, and so forth).

For instance, Bill Gates' source of wealth is recorded as "Microsoft", while for Larry Ellison (founder of Oracle), the dataset mentions a generic "software". Jeff Bezos's source is Amazon, but e-commerce is the provenience of Jack Ma's wealth. This approach creates series of difficulties when aggregating the data. When billionaires are grouped by the "Source" as it appears in the original dataset, billionaires like Jeff Bezos or Jack Ma would be classified in two different buckets. However, they both operate in the same economic sector.

Therefore, the dataset was reviewed to standardize the "Source" entries. As a result, taking the first six wealthiest people in the world as an example, Amazon becomes e-commerce, Tesla is replaced by "electric vehicles", LVMH by "luxury good", Microsoft by "software", Facebook by "social media" and Berkshire Hathaway by "finance".

Acknowledgements Skimmed the data from forbes.com Based on the original dataset uploaded here by Alexander Bader : Link

Graph and download economic data for Share of Net Worth Held by the Top 1% (99th to 100th Wealth Percentiles) (WFRBST01134) from Q3 1989 to Q1 2025 about net worth, wealth, percentile, Net, and USA.

Patterns of educational attainment vary greatly across countries, and across population groups within countries. In some countries, virtually all children complete basic education whereas in others large groups fall short. The primary purpose of this database, and the associated research program, is to document and analyze these differences using a compilation of a variety of household-based data sets: Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS); Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS); Living Standards Measurement Study Surveys (LSMS); as well as country-specific Integrated Household Surveys (IHS) such as Socio-Economic Surveys.As shown at the website associated with this database, there are dramatic differences in attainment by wealth. When households are ranked according to their wealth status (or more precisely, a proxy based on the assets owned by members of the household) there are striking differences in the attainment patterns of children from the richest 20 percent compared to the poorest 20 percent.In Mali in 2012 only 34 percent of 15 to 19 year olds in the poorest quintile have completed grade 1 whereas 80 percent of the richest quintile have done so. In many countries, for example Pakistan, Peru and Indonesia, almost all the children from the wealthiest households have completed at least one year of schooling. In some countries, like Mali and Pakistan, wealth gaps are evident from grade 1 on, in other countries, like Peru and Indonesia, wealth gaps emerge later in the school system.The EdAttain website allows a visual exploration of gaps in attainment and enrollment within and across countries, based on the international database which spans multiple years from over 120 countries and includes indicators disaggregated by wealth, gender and urban/rural location. The database underlying that site can be downloaded from here.

As of August 2024, a combined value of 856 billion U.S. dollars was held by the top five wealthiest billionaires in the United States. According to the source, the five wealthiest billionaires were Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and Warren Buffett.

As of March 2025, Alice Walton was ranked the richest woman with over 97 billion U.S. dollars in net worth. By comparison, the richest man in the world had a fortune of over 328 billion dollars as of March 2025. The philanthropy of MacKenzie Scott MacKenzie Scott has become well known in the world of philanthropy for providing billions to thousands of non-profit organizations. Globally, the United States has the most philanthropic outflows out of any nation, reaching nearly 49 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. By comparison, the country with the second highest philanthropic outflows, the United Kingdom, reached nearly 5.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. Across the United States, basic needs, religious and spiritual causes, and healthcare are the sectors affluent individuals have given the most. Wealth in the United States Out of each country, the United States has the most people within the top one percent of ultra-high-net-worth individuals globally, with 21 million residents belonging to this group. By comparison, China ranked second with over five million belonging to the top one percent of ultra-high net worth individuals. Regionally, North America has the most billionaires, reaching over 1,100 followed by Europe and Asia.

Historical chart and dataset showing World GDP per capita by year from 1960 to 2023.

Jordan JO: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data was reported at 27.500 % in 2010. This records an increase from the previous number of 26.600 % for 2008. Jordan JO: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data is updated yearly, averaging 28.100 % from Dec 1986 (Median) to 2010, with 7 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 35.000 % in 1992 and a record low of 26.600 % in 2008. Jordan JO: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Jordan – Table JO.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

Dataset provides public data from various sources and codes used for the statistical analyses in the article for World Bank Economic Review by Charan van Krevel. None of the data is original by the author. All data is originally from the references.

Data and insights on Wealth Distribution in India - share of wealth, average wealth, HNIs, wealth inequality GINI, and comparison with global peers.

Qatar Proportion of People Living Below 50 Percent Of Median Income: % data was reported at 16.500 % in 2017. Qatar Proportion of People Living Below 50 Percent Of Median Income: % data is updated yearly, averaging 16.500 % from Dec 2017 (Median) to 2017, with 1 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 16.500 % in 2017 and a record low of 16.500 % in 2017. Qatar Proportion of People Living Below 50 Percent Of Median Income: % data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Qatar – Table QA.World Bank.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. The percentage of people in the population who live in households whose per capita income or consumption is below half of the median income or consumption per capita. The median is measured at 2017 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the Poverty and Inequality Platform (http://www.pip.worldbank.org). For some countries, medians are not reported due to grouped and/or confidential data. The reference year is the year in which the underlying household survey data was collected. In cases for which the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the first year in which data were collected is reported.;World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see http://pip.worldbank.org.;;The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than 2000 household surveys across 169 countries. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) for details (www.pip.worldbank.org).

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In 2023, there were nearly 22 million people with a net worth of over one million U.S. dollars in the United States, which put the country on the top of the ranking. China was ranked second in that year, with more than six million individuals with wealth exceeding one million U.S. dollars. The United Kingdom followed in third with around three million millionaires.