The richest man in the world. The richest people in the world: who they are and how they achieved success. Amancio Ortega

Bill Gates, with an estimated net worth of $79.2 billion, is in the lead for the 16th time since 1995. A striking newcomer is Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, who led Alibaba's IPO in September, increasing his net worth by 127%. Two of his fellow citizens, Wang Jianling and Li Heijun, also made the list for the first time. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who at the age of 30 managed to earn a fortune of $33.3 billion, became the youngest participant, and the richest woman is Wal-Mart heiress Christy Walton, with a fortune of $41.7 billion.

Jim Walton
$160.8 billion the combined wealth of the four Wal-Mart heirs, which is 10% of the total wealth of all participants in the ranking of the top 50 richest people in the world.

Bernard Arnault
60 brands are part of the world-famous LVMH conglomerate, including Louis Vuitton, Moët, Fendi, Tag Heuer.

Forrest Mars J.
33% This is exactly how much the Mars family’s fortune has grown over the past year, increasing it to $79.8 billion. The company owns such well-known chocolate brands as Twix, Snickers, M&M’s, and others.

Lee Shawki
By 3.2% Real estate rental prices in Hong Kong increased in 2014. Over the past year, Li Shawqi's wealth has increased by 26.5%.

Lee Heijun
67% China's market share in solar cell manufacturing. According to Lee, his company is the largest manufacturer of thin batteries.

Dilip Shanghvi
$4.3 billion was the combined 2014 revenue of Sun Pharmaceuticals and Ranbaxy, which Shangvi acquired in December. The new company became the largest manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals in Asia.

Asian sensation

The United States, home to 536 billionaires, has for many years occupied a leading position in the growth of rich people. However, over the past 10 years (since 2006), 205 billionaires from China have been added to the list, thanks to which the championship has passed to the Middle Kingdom. India is also performing well, with 90 billionaires and surpassing Russia for the first time this year.

Today we have top 10 most valuable companies in the world.

Today, many people will probably recognize the company logo, because Apple Corporation has truly become one of the most successful companies with a market value of more than $720.12 billion.

The company was founded on April 1, 1976 by Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne, and Steve Jobs. Initially, the trio began assembling home computers and producing their own PC models, but the greatest success came precisely in the last years of the company, when Apple introduced the world to its line of mobile products - iPhone smartphones and iPad tablets.

Today, the company’s range of products is very wide – smart watches, computers and laptops, tablets and smartphones, etc. But the main feature of the popularity of Apple gadgets was the high quality, stylish design and the smartest marketing program of Steve Jobs.

Today the company includes thousands of representative offices, branded stores and service centers around the world, with a staff of about 132 thousand employees.

The headquarters is located in the USA, in Cupertino, California.

$482.36 billion

Industry: Insurance, finance, railway transport, utilities, production of food and non-food products.

The company is known for its permanent owner, American investor and entrepreneur Warren Buffett. The headquarters is located in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.

The cost of one share of this company is $293,750, making it the most expensive share in the world.

Affiliated companies:

GEICO (auto insurance);
General Re (reinsurance);
Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group (insurance);
Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group (insurance and reinsurance);
BNSF - (railway transport);
Berkshire Hathaway Energy (electricity and gas supply);
McLane Company (wholesale).

In 2015, the number of participants in the annual meeting of shareholders exceeded 40 thousand people.

For this reason, the company's shareholders' meeting received the humorous nickname "Woodstock for capitalists."

$413.25 billion

Industry: Internet.

Facebook was developed by Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004. Today, the social network Facebook is visited by over 1.86 billion people every day. For one Internet project, with a market value of 413.25 billion dollars, this is simply an astronomical indicator of popularity and demand.

Today, Facebook generates more than $8 billion in net revenue per year from advertising. In addition, Facebook is the leader among this list in terms of profitability, as it increased its net profit by 54% in the last year alone.

The headquarters is located in Menlo Park, California.

$400.90 billion

Industry: Conglomerate.
Products: Social networks, instant messaging, mass media, web portals, etc.

Tencent is a venture capital firm, conglomerate, investment holding company, and one of the largest companies in the gaming industry.

This Chinese multinational investment holding company was founded in 1998. Today it ranks 7th in the ranking of the most valuable companies.

Its many services include social networking, mobile gaming, music, web portals, payment systems, e-commerce, Internet services, smartphones and massively multiplayer online games, which are among the largest and most successful in the world in their respective categories.

Tencent Seafront Towers (also known as Tencent Binhai Mansion) is headquartered in Nanshan District, Shenzhen.

$392.25 billion

Industry: Internet.
Products: E-commerce, online auction hosting, online money transfers, mobile commerce.

Industry: Banking.

JPMorgan Chase is the largest commercial bank in the United States and the 6th largest commercial bank in the world by assets.

The nucleus for the formation of JPMorgan Chase was Chemical Bank, from which it inherited its headquarters and stock price history.

Brand J.P. Morgan, historically known as Morgan, provides investment banking services, asset management, private banking, and wealth management.

Location: USA, New York, Manhattan, 270 Park Avenue.

Market capitalization as a method of estimating the value of a company

Market capitalization, along with annual income and the sum of all assets, is one of the methods for assessing the investment attractiveness of a company.

Using market capitalization to represent company size is important because company size is a major determinant of various characteristics that investors are interested in, including risk.

Being the product of the number of shares and their price, market capitalization is not the price at which the owner will necessarily sell his company.

Despite the fact that companies can be overvalued by the market or, on the contrary, undervalued, in order to obtain the real value of a company it is necessary to consider its activities from a fundamental point of view.

1. Bill Gates

State:$86 billion

Change over the year:+ $11 billion

Status source: Microsoft

Age: 61

A country: USA

Bill Gates became the richest person in the world, according to Forbes, for the fourth year in a row and 18 times in the last 23 years. More than 40 years ago, Gates and Paul Allen created the world's largest software manufacturer, Microsoft Corporation. Gates now owns almost 3% of his company, which is only 13% of his fortune.

Gates' other investments include investments in the Canadian National Railway, the American engineering company Deere & Co., the waste management company Republic Services, and the auto dealer AutoNation. In 2016, Gates, along with a team of investors including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, created the $1 billion Breakthrough Energy investment fund.

One of the billionaire's priorities is the Bill and Melinda Gates Charitable Foundation. Its main goal is to improve the healthcare system and overcome hunger in poor countries.

2. Warren Buffett

State:$75.6 billion

Change over the year:+ $14.8 billion

Status source: Berkshire Hathaway

Age: 86

A country: USA

In 2016, the world's wealthiest and most famous investor became almost $15 billion richer, which helped him return to second place in the Forbes ranking, displacing Zara owner Amancio Ortega. Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett's holding company, owns stakes in more than 60 companies, including Geico, Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom, among others. The billionaire invests in Wells Fargo, IBM and Coca-Cola.

Warren made his first investment at age 11. With money he borrowed from his father, he bought three shares of Cities Service Preferred stock, then sold them at a higher price. True, shares bought for $38 and sold for $40 later soared to $200. Life, Buffett believes, already taught him his first lesson in investing - patience is rewarded.

Buffett and Bill Gates, with whom he likes to play bridge, founded The Giving Pledge, a philanthropic campaign in which billionaires pledge to give at least 50% of their wealth to charity. Buffett himself is going to give 99%. He has already donated $28.5 billion.

3. Jeff Bezos

State:$72.8 billion

Change over the year:+ $27.6 billion

Status source: Amazon.com

Age: 53

A country: USA

Jeff Bezos has been luckier than anyone this year. Shares of the company he created, Amazon, rose by 67%, adding almost $28 billion to his fortune. The growth of the online retailer's capitalization allowed Bezos to take third place in the ranking of the richest people on the planet for the first time. In particular, Bezos has replaced Mexico's richest man, Carlos Slim Helu, and Zara owner Amancio Ortega on the Forbes list.

Before starting his own business, Bezos worked at a hedge fund, where he left in 1994 for a simple idea - selling books online. Thus Amazon was born.

In recent years, the billionaire's main passion has been space travel. His aerospace company Blue Origin is developing reusable rockets that Bezos says will carry passengers. In November 2015, Blue Origin successfully conducted a controlled landing of the reusable BE-3 rocket. Bezos’ unusual hobby is also connected with space: together with a team of “underwater archaeologists,” he retrieves parts of NASA spacecraft from the seabed.

5. Mark Zuckerberg

State:$56 billion

Change over the year:+ $11.4 billion

status source: Facebook

Age: 32

A country: USA

Mark Zuckerberg founded the social network Facebook in 2004, when he was 19 years old. For the sake of Facebook, Zuckerberg left the prestigious Harvard, but it was the social network that made him a billionaire. Last year was a particularly successful year for Zuckerberg, just like the previous one: rising share prices for his company brought him an additional $11.4 billion.

Zuckerberg takes an active part in managing the social network. He initiated transactions to acquire the social network Instagram, the WhatsApp messenger and the developer of virtual reality helmets Oculus VR.

In 2015, Mark and his wife Priscilla Chan became parents for the first time. The happy couple promised to give 99% of their stake in Facebook to charity. In 2017, the couple announced that they were expecting a second child.

6. Carlos Slim Helu

State:$54.5 billion

Change over the year:+ $4.5 billion

Status source: Telecom

Age: 77

A country: Mexico

Carlos Slim Helu is still the richest man in Mexico, but he has fallen out of the top five richest people in the world. For the first time in the last twelve years.

Slim and his family control America Movil, the largest telecom operator in Latin America. He holds stakes in Mexican companies in the development, real estate and mining sectors, and the consumer goods sector. He also owns 17% of The New York Times newspaper.

During the US presidential elections, Slim harshly criticized Donald Trump. After meeting with him in December 2016, Slim called one of his rare press conferences, in which he called on Mexico to unite against threats from the new US president.

7. Larry Ellison

State:$52.2 billion

Change over the year:+ $8.6 billion

Status source: Oracle

Age: 72

A country: USA

The talented software developer studied at two universities, but never graduated from either of them. But at the beginning of his career, Ellison managed to work for the CIA.

In 1977, the entrepreneur founded Oracle, which made him a billionaire. In 2014, Ellison stepped down as CEO of Oracle, but retained his positions as chairman of the board of directors and director of technology development. A year later, Ellison announced that the company would focus on developing cloud technologies. And apparently, this idea has begun to pay off - over the past 12 months, Oracle shares have risen 18%.

Ellison is a sailing fan and one of the largest sponsors of sailing competitions in the United States. The businessman is actively involved in charity work. In 2016, he pledged $200 million to the University of Southern California to develop cancer drugs.

8. Charles Koch

State:$48.3 billion

Change over the year:+ $8.7 billion

Status source: Koch Industries

Age: 81

A country: USA

Charles Koch and his brother David own the family holding company Koch Industries. With revenue of $100 billion, the company ranks second on the list of the largest private companies in the United States. The oil refinery, from which the history of the diversified holding began, was founded in 1940 by the brothers’ father.

Since 1967, Charles Koch has held the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors at Koch Industries, and the intensive growth of the business is his merit. Charles and David Koch are among the most influential figures in American politics, philanthropy and business.

9. David Koch

State:$48.3 billion

Change over the year:+ $8.7 billion

Source states: Koch Industries

Age: 76

A country: USA

Along with his older brother Charles Koch, David owns the family company Koch Industries, founded by their father in 1940. The diversified holding is engaged in oil refining, pipeline construction, production of cups and paper towels, etc.

Republicans Charles and David Koch are among their party's most generous donors. The area of their charity is education. In mid-2014, for example, they awarded a $25 million grant to a fund supporting African-American students.

State:$47.5 billion

Change over the year:+ $7.5 billion

Status source: Bloomberg L.P.

Age: 75

A country: USA

The influential businessman and former mayor of New York began his career on Wall Street in 1966. Bloomberg worked at the investment bank Salomon Brothers for 15 years. After his dismissal, the future billionaire created Bloomberg LP, which provides financial information.

From 2001 to 2009, New Yorkers elected Bloomberg as their mayor. The billionaire resigned as mayor of the city in 2014 and returned to the leadership of his company less than a year later. Bloomberg is actively involved in charity work. In total, he donated $4 billion to various causes.

11. Bernard Arnault

State: $41.5 billion

Change per year: + $7.5 billion

State Source: luxuries

Age: 68

A country: France

Bernard Arnault is the president of the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy group of companies, which controls 70 brands, including Dom Perignon, Bulgari, Louis Vuitton, Sephora and Tag Heuer, as well as about 3,900 retail stores.

In 2016, LVMH sold Donna Karan (Donna Karan and DKNY brands) and acquired Rimowa, a premium carry-on luggage manufacturer.

Arnault has headed the company since 1989. In 2016, the holding's sales increased by 5% and reached a record €37.6 billion. Shares of Christian Dior and LVMH over the past year have risen in price by 20% and 29%, respectively.

Result: Arnault’s fortune increased by $7.5 billion, the businessman rose from 14th to 11th place in the ranking of the wealthiest people in the world. This is the highest figure for Arnault since 2013.

12. Larry Page

State:$40.7 billion

Change over the year:+ $5.5 billion

Status source: Google

Age: 43

A country: USA

Larry Page is the CEO of Alphabet, Google's parent company. It was created in October 2015 to differentiate the search engine's core business from other areas of activity.

Page founded Google in 1998 with Stanford University student Sergey Brin. In 2016, Google shares rose 18%, increasing Page's wealth by $5.5 billion.

According to media reports, Larry Page is personally funding two secret flying car startups: Zee.Aero and Kitty Hawk.

13. Sergey Brin

State:$39.8 billion

Change over the year:+ $5.4 billion

Status source: Google

Age: 43

A country: USA

Brin serves as president of Alphabet, Google's parent company. Previously led the Google X division, which created Google's "ill-fated glasses" (one of Google's most notorious failures).

During 2016, Brin sold $760 million worth of Google shares.

The businessman founded Google in 1998 with Larry Page, whom they met at Stanford University.

Brin, a native of the USSR, is the richest immigrant to the United States and an outspoken critic of Donald Trump's anti-immigration initiatives.

14. Liliane Bettencourt

State:$39.5 billion

Change over the year:+ $3.4 billion

Status source: L'Oreal

Age: 94

A country: France

Liliane Bettencourt is the richest woman in the world; together with her children, she owns 33% of the cosmetics giant L'Oréal. Over the past year, the holding's shares have risen in price by 17%, increasing her fortune by $3.4 billion.

L"Oréal was founded by Eugene Schuller (father of Liliane Bettencourt) in 1907. In 2011, Bettencourt, suffering from dementia, was placed under the care of her daughter, Françoise Meyers-Bettencourt. In 2012, Jean-Victor Meyers took over as head of L"Oréal - grandson of Lilian Bettencourt.

Bettencourt's relatives also initiated legal proceedings against photographer François-Marie Banier. He was accused of exploiting the physical weakness of Liliane Betancourt for personal gain as a trusted person.

In August 2016, a French appeals court ordered Banier to pay a fine of $400,000 and return assets worth $90 million. Later, a court decision was also made to arrest Banier, he was ordered to pay an additional $170 million. Banier denies his guilt, he appealed the decision to the Supreme Court .

15. Robson Walton

State:$34.1 billion

Change over the year:+ $2.2 billion

Status source: Walmart

Age: 72

A country: USA

Rob Walton is the eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. He ran Walmart for 23 years after his father died in 1992. In 2015, Rob Walton was replaced as chairman of Walmart by his son-in-law Greg Penner.

In September 2016, Walmart acquired online retailer Jet.com. The holding's shares rose in price by 5% over the past year. Rob Walton still owns Walmart, and his family collectively owns more than half of the company.

16. Jim Walton

State:$34 billion

Change over the year:+ $400 million

Status source: Walmart

Age: 68

A country: USA

Jim Walton is the youngest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. He runs his family's Arvest Bank, whose total assets exceed $16 billion.

The businessman served on Walmart's board for more than a decade before giving way to his son, Stuart, in June 2016. Collectively, Jim and Sam Walton's other heirs own more than half of Walmart's shares, which are up more than 5% in 2016.

17. Alice Walton

State:$33.8 billion

Change over the year:+ $1.5 billion

Status source: Walmart

Age: 67 years old

A country: USA

Alice Walton is the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton. Unlike her brothers, who worked at Walmart, Alice focused on art projects.

In 2011, Alice Walton opened the Crystal Bridges Museum in her family's hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas. It features works by artists such as Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell and Mark Rothko. Her personal art collection is valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.

18. Wang Jianlin

State:$31.3 billion

Change over the year:+ $2.6 billion

Status source: real estate, entertainment

Age: 62

A country: China

Wang Jianlin is the richest man in China. He has been like this for the last four years in a row. Jianlin made his fortune by building hotels, residential properties and shopping centers. He owns the Dalian Wanda Group, which has made several high-profile deals in the entertainment industry over the past few years.

In particular, in January 2016, Dalian Wanda Group acquired the American film company Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion (where, for example, the film The Dark Knight was created). Earlier, in 2012, Dalian Wanda Group acquired the AMC Entertainment cinema chain in the United States for $2.6 billion. In March 2017, Jianlin's company tried to acquire Dick Clark Productions (an American producer of television shows) for $1 billion, but the deal fell through.

At the same time, Jianlin is investing in the Chinese entertainment industry. In May 2016, Dalian Wanda opened Dalian Wanda-City, a $3 billion theme park complex in Nanchang, China. In total, Wang plans to open 20 more such complexes, mainly in China.

19. Li Ka-shing

State:$31.2 billion

Change over the year:+ $4.1 billion

Status source: various

Age: 88

A country: Hong Kong

Li Ka-shing is the richest man in Hong Kong and owns real estate developer Cheung Kong Property. Over the past 12 months (as of mid-February), the company's shares have risen by 31%. The businessman also made good money thanks to a jump in the value of shares of the Canadian oil company Husky Energy, which he controls.

Li Ka-shing last year invested in the Postal Savings Bank of China and also announced the $5 billion acquisition of Australian electricity and natural gas distributor Duet.

One of the largest investors in Asia, Li Ka-shing has invested more than $28 billion in European companies over the past five years. Li Ka-shing's areas of interest include ports, utility providers, telecommunications, real estate, and retail. The billionaire employs more than 310,000 people in more than 50 countries.

20. Sheldon Adelson

State:$30.4 billion

Change over the year:+ $5.2 billion

Status source: casino

Age: 83

A country: USA

Sheldon Adelson runs Las Vegas Sands, the largest player in the US casino market. The company's shares have risen 23% in the 12 months to mid-February, which has been the main reason Adelson's fortune has risen over the past year.

Adelson actively invests abroad. In September 2016, Las Vegas Sands opened a new themed resort in Macau, China. The cost of the project was $2.9 billion. Earlier, in April 2016, Las Vegas Sands agreed to pay a fine of $9 million to the US Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges of violating the corruption law in Macau.

Sheldon Adelson has a reputation as one of the Republicans' "wallets" and is part of President Donald Trump's "inner circle." Adelson donated $5 million to Trump's election campaign, and the entrepreneur invested about $40 million more in the campaigns of Republican candidates in the congressional elections.

The son of immigrants from Lithuania and Wales, Sheldon Adelson grew up poor. As a child, he had to sleep on the floor in a cramped high-rise apartment in Boston. The future billionaire began earning money by selling newspapers. Adelson opened his first retail outlet at the age of 12, borrowing $200 from his uncle.

Journalists from the American financial and economic magazine published an annual list of stars who earned the most money in a year.

The leader in the top is the undefeated American professional boxer who competed in the welterweight category, Floyd Mayweather. Over the course of a year, he managed to earn about 285 million dollars, which in Ukrainian equivalent at the current exchange rate is about 7.5 billion hryvnia.

Notably, he is also considered the highest paid boxer in professional boxing history.

Following the legendary athlete on the list is an American actor, director, producer, businessman and activist. According to Forbes, in a year the star enriched himself by almost 240 million dollars - 6.3 billion hryvnia.

The top three is completed by a model, businesswoman and TV show participant The Kardashians Kylie Jenner. Thanks to his successful cosmetics brand Kylie Cosmetics The socialite earned $165.5 million over the past year. In hryvnia equivalent – 4.3 billion.