How many rich people are there in the world? The richest people in the world: who they are and how they achieved success. Biography of Bill Gates

Forbes magazine annually compiles a popular ranking of the planet's billionaires, which determines who is the richest person in the world; in 2018, the ranking included 2,124 businessmen with a fortune ranging from $1 to $112 billion. Let's look at the top ten.

Bezos tops the Forbes list, rightfully, as one of the richest people of 2018, having increased his net worth by $39 billion over the past year. The main, first ideological creator of the online store Amazon.com. He is the only owner of a twelve-figure fortune on the planet - $112 billion. Having been successful in the financial sector for many years, Jeff took a risk (1994) with his successful career on Wall Street, deciding to develop an Internet platform and was not mistaken; his rapid success brings profit to this day. Bezos's large income last year was due to increased demand for the brand's shares. The multi-billionaire at the top of the list has a passion:

• To astronautics;
• Development of modern equipment for passenger transportation of citizens beyond space;
• Passion for “sea excavations”, retrieving the remains of the NASSA space shuttles from the depths.

2nd place. Bill Gates

Once one of the richest people in the world according to the Forbes rating, he ranks honorably second among the top ten richest people of 2018. The well-known company Microsoft brings a stable income to Gates, who owns 3 percent of the corporation's shares. His fortune is estimated at $90 billion, additional income comes from investments aimed at several progressively developing areas: Canadian Railways, the processing company Republic Services, a car dealer plant. Gates' focus on charitable goals is worthy of praise; special attention is paid to the healthcare system and the poverty of second world countries.

3rd place. Warren Buffett

At the age of 87, Buffett reached the third level of the ranking of wealthy people on the planet ($84 billion). The main way to increase his capital is by investing in many popular companies, such as:

• Coca-Cola;
• Dairy Queen;
• Bank of America;
• Many others, more than fifty of them.

Buffett began his career quite early - at the age of 11, investing dollars borrowed from his parent into shares of several companies; his wait was crowned with success. Charity is not alien to this entrepreneur, who has created a family foundation. Despite his sedate age, Buffett continues to actively participate in the affairs of his company, investing, and cooperation with the largest corporations in the United States of America.

4th place. Bernard Arnault

A French capitalist, a connoisseur of true luxury, Arnault returned in 2018 to the Top 5 ranking of rich people ($72 billion). His famous company has the right to sell luxury items from the world's most famous brands:

• Hennessy;
• Louis Vuitton;
• Christian Dior.

By the way, speaking of the latter, the Arnault family entered into a deal with the fashion house in 2017, thereby becoming the sole holders of the Christian Dior fashion brand, which brings a lot to the budget. An increase in demand and sales for luxury products by 13% (about $42 billion) contributed to Arnault rising to fourth place in the ranking.

5th place. Mark Zuckerberg

Despite many conflicting reviews about the famous Facebook network, of which Zuckerberg is the founder, pressure from government structures (the Russian-US controversy after the presidential election), the company's shares began to rise steadily. The estimated fortune of the young genius, who is included in the ranking of the richest people in the world, according to Forbes magazine, is at just over $70 billion. The full owner is actively engaged in his activities (in the area of ​​IT development), collaborating with other popular projects such as Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus VR (modern virtual reality devices).

6th place. Amancio Ortega

The Spanish textile tycoon, 80 years old, is a shareholder of the largest Zara holding, one of the main components of his capital. Ortega opened his first business with his wife in his first marriage, sewing bath accessories and cutting underwear at home, then mastering the entire Spanish market. 2017 brought a financial loss of $1.3 billion due to a decline in the company's stock prices. An additional tool for stable income to one’s fortune ($70 billion) are annual investments, about $400 million, in real estate of the largest city centers:

• NY;
• Miami;
• Barcelona;
• London;
• Madrid.

7th place. Carlos Slim Helu

In addition to this American ranking, Slim Elu is considered the richest man in Mexico ($67 billion) in 2018. Owns a controlling stake in the largest Latin American mobile operator. The unprecedented rise in America Movil shares by 39 percent in 2017 had a significant impact on his financial well-being. He is the holder of a 17% stake in the business newspaper The New York Times, and also receives investments from real estate (real estate firm), the consumer market, and the mining segment.

8th place. Charles Koch

An influential American, Koch, who has weight in US politics, business, and philanthropy. A successful 82-year-old entrepreneur, he increases his wealth ($60 billion) by making profits from the production of the oil refinery and other areas of the Koch holding. The family contract, together with his brother, owns the huge, profitable corporation Koch Industries, where Charles Koch presides as chairman of the board of directors.

9th place. David Koch

Slightly inferior to his brother Charles, David Koch topped the top ten “richest people in the world 2018.” The stability of his income is provided by Koch Industries, founded back in 1940 by their father. The company has many industries, in various fields:

• Oil refining;
• Construction of a pipeline system;
• Large-scale production of paper products, glasses, and other profitable projects.

The Koch family pays special attention to the field of education, allocating significant funds for charitable needs, such as developing programs and receiving grants. David Koch's fortune is estimated at $60 billion.

10th place. Larry Ellison

Rounding out the top 10 richest and most influential people on the planet, according to Forbes magazine, is Larry Ellison, a former CIA employee and former CEO of his own business project, Oracle. Net profit for the previous year amounted to $6.3 billion, the main source of income was Oracle assets (price increase by 18%). The company is engaged in cloud technologies. The entrepreneur is a fan of yachting (sailing), and also actively cooperates with charitable organizations. His fortune is estimated at 58.5 billion.

Complete Forbes list

In total, the list of dollar billionaires according to Forbes contains more than two thousand names! You can get acquainted with it by following the link. Unfortunately, it is not possible to translate such a long list, so you will have to read it in English. The list can be sorted by name, age, condition, field of activity and nationality.

The richest man in Russia was born in Ivanovo. He received his higher education at the Siberian Metallurgical Institute. After this, Lisin entered graduate school and graduated in 1984. The future billionaire began his working career as an electrician. In the research and production association, Lisin went through his entire career path from a simple steelworker to deputy shop manager. The next stage for him was work at the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant as deputy general director.

In the late eighties and early nineties, he took his first steps in business with the company Trans Commodities.
A turning point in his career was the purchase of a controlling stake in the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant; he remains the chairman of the board of directors to this day. Since then, Vladimir Lisin has been one of the largest figures in the world of Russian business. By 2014, he managed to earn 24 billion. Lisin leads a quiet life, avoids scandals and rarely gives interviews.

2.

The second place winner was born in Moscow into the family of the head of the International Relations Department of the USSR State Sports Committee and an institute teacher. After serving in the army, he entered the State Financial Academy, which he successfully graduated in 1989. In the early 90s, Prokhorov began collaborating with Vladimir Potanin. The turning point in his career can be called his appointment to the post of general director of Norilsk Nickel, then still state-owned. In this position, he was able to demonstrate excellent management skills. Prokhor, together with his partner Potanin, owned a controlling stake in the enterprise. But in 2005, entrepreneurs began a long process of dividing their common property and assets. Currently valued at $22 billion. In 2011, he entered the world of politics becoming the leader of the Right Cause party, but soon left its ranks due to a split in the ranks of like-minded people. Although Prokhorov leads a fairly private life, his name is associated with several international scandals that were widely covered by the press.

3rd place - Alisher Usmanov $20 billion.

Alier Usmanov was born in Tashkent in the family of a prosecutor. He received his education in Moscow. He managed to enter MGIMO to major in international law. In 1980, he was convicted of extortion and spent six years in prison. He was subsequently rehabilitated in court, and all evidence in this case was found to be fabricated. After his release, Usmanov went into business. He started in Kazakhstan, organizing extreme hunting for wealthy businessmen. After moving to Russia, his business took off sharply. His projects in the field of communications have become especially successful. He is the owner of the Kommersant publishing house, has a controlling stake in the cellular operator Megafon and controls the operation of the Internet portal Mail.ru.

4th place - Oleg Deripaska $19 billion.

The future “aluminum” king of Russia was born and raised in the village of Zhelezny, Krasnodar Territory. His grandparents were involved in his upbringing. Deripaska received an excellent education - he graduated with honors from the physics department of Moscow State University and Plekhanov University. Oleg Deripaska's first enterprise was the Military Investment and Trading Company. Even then, in the mid-90s, he saw the potential in the metallurgical field and actively invested money there. He also received the post of general director of the Sayanogorsk aluminum smelter. Deripaska became the ideological inspirer and one of the main figures of the Siberian Aluminum group, which was later renamed Basic Element. This group united the largest Russian enterprises producing aluminum products, and within a few years it became a leader not only in the Russian but also in the world market. In 2000, the RUSAL company, whose general director is Deripaska, merged the Siberian Aluminum and Sibneft companies.

5th place - Roman Abramovich - more than 17 billion dollars.

One of the most famous Russian oligarchs was born in Saratov into a Jewish family. Abramovich spent his childhood constantly moving, until he finally began living in Moscow with his uncle Abram Abramovich. After serving in the army, he decided not to go to college, but to immediately go into business. Having started his activity with trading, he soon switched to one of the most promising areas at that time - the purchase and sale of oil. In the mid-90s, he actively collaborated in this field with Boris Berezovsky. A big step in his career was the creation of the Sibneft company. Abramovich has always taken an active part in big politics, for example, he financed Boris Yeltsin’s election campaign. In 2000, he was elected governor of the Chukotka region.

The activities of Roman Abramovich have always been a favorite topic of the press. His interest in football, expensive purchases and personal life do not leave the pages of newspapers.

6th place - Alexey Mordashov, $17 billion.

Alexey Mordashov began his career in entrepreneurship thanks to his acquaintance with Anatoly Chubais. Mordashov studied at the Leningrad Institute of Engineering and Economics, where Chubais taught at that time. After graduation, the future billionaire began working at the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant, where he quickly moved up the career ladder. Soon the plant, where Mordashov already worked as a director, was reorganized into OJSC Severstal. The enterprise did not seem so profitable - the plant’s products turned out to be not in great demand in Russia and the CIS countries. However, this became one of the key motives for starting to sell metal to the West, on which Mordashov made his fortune.

7th place - Suleiman Kerimov $16.5 billion.

The seventh place winner, Suleiman Karimov, grew up in the family of a lawyer and accountant in Derbent. The future billionaire always had a penchant for the exact sciences, so he decided to receive higher education at the Dagestan Polytechnic Institute at the Faculty of Construction, but he soon transferred to the Faculty of Economics. After graduating from university, Kerimov got a job at the Eltav plant as an economist. A sharp analytical mind allowed him to quickly climb the career ladder and in 1995 he became deputy director of the Soyuz-Finance corporation in Moscow. Currently, the businessman owns shares in most of Russia's top enterprises, including Gazprom, Sberbank, Polyus Gold and many others. Kerimov’s main asset is considered to be a controlling stake in the Cyprus company Nafta-Moscow. Kerimov mainly earned his fortune from financial

8th place - Mikhail Fridman $16 billion.

Mikhail Fridman was born in the city of Lvov into a family of engineers. He received his higher education at the Moscow Institute of Steel and Pilaf, after which the future billionaire got his first job at the Elektrostal plant. In the late eighties, he began to engage in entrepreneurial activities and was very successful. It was then that, together with his partner Mikhail Alfimov, he organized the Alfa-Eco company, which was later reorganized into Alfa Group. The company managed to make huge profits from the export of raw materials. Fridman is on the board of directors of Public Russian Television, and also takes an active part in the political life of the country.

9. Vladimir Potanin 14 billion dollars.

The future president of the Interros holding received higher education at MGIMO. After graduating from the institute, Potanin begins his career in government organizations. After working at the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Potanin moved to the private sector. In the early 90s, he established a partnership with Mikhail Prokhorov, who ranks second among the richest people in Russia. Potanin is actively investing in the communications market. The Prof-Media holding owned by him owns such popular Russian publications as Izvestia, Afisha and Komsomolskaya Pravda. But still, the main source of his wealth is income from enterprises specializing in the export of raw materials - Interros and Norilsk Nickel. He also takes an active part in charitable activities. In 1999, he founded the V. Potanin Charitable Foundation.

10. Vagit Alekperov 14.8 billion dollars.

Vagit Alekperov was born in Baku into the family of an oil worker. After graduating from the Azerbaijan Institute of Oil and Chemistry, the future billionaire received a position as an engineer at the Kaspmorneft enterprise. The oil industry has always been his priority. He held senior positions at various oil enterprises in the country until 1990, when Alekperov was appointed Deputy Minister of the USSR Gas Industry. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Alekperov returned to private business and since 1993 has held the position of General Director of the Lukoil oil concern. Despite the scandals associated with the concern, Alekperov managed to significantly increase his fortune over the past ten years.

For dessert, video: the richest and most famous people in Russia:

The American magazine Forbes traditionally announced the list of the richest people in the world based on the results of the past year. The 32nd annual world ranking, published on March 6, 2018, included 2,208 people from 72 countries around the globe, each of whom owns a fortune of at least $1,000,000,000. At the same time, the total income of billionaires from all over planet Earth increased by 18% compared to last year and amounted to $9.1 trillion. We invite you to familiarize yourself with this year’s list and the types of activities to which billionaires owe their capital.

The top ten absolute world leaders in terms of wealth earned included businessmen, software developers, representatives of the fashion industry, publishing, media and the mobile communications market.

The top ten people on Forbes' 2018 list of the world's richest people are:

• Jeff Bezos ($112 billion) topped the 2018 Forbes Billionaires List for the first time and became the world's richest person. The rapid rise in price of shares of his brainchild Amazon by 59% allowed 53-year-old Bezos to add $39,200,000,000 to his net worth compared to last year.

Interesting! Jeff Bezos managed not only to top the list of the world's richest people in 2018, but also to become the first billionaire whose fortune is estimated at 12 figures.

• Bill Gates ($90 billion) ranks 2nd on the Forbes list. Despite the fact that Microsoft brought him fame and the bulk of his fortune, today Gates's stake in the company does not exceed 3%. Now he makes money mainly from a mechanical engineering company, an investment fund and a number of other sources.

• Warren Buffett ($84 billion) is in 3rd place in the 2018 top richest people. The 87-year-old billionaire's income throughout his life comes from the investment holding Berkshire Hathaway, which owns various shares of shares in more than 60 companies.

• Bernard Arnault ($72 billion) was able to get to 4th place in the Forbes top and increase his wealth by $30,500,000,000 (while in 2017 he was only in the second ten). The 69-year-old Frenchman is the sole owner of the LVMH Moët Hennessy holding, which represents luxury brands Louis Vuitton, Sephora, Christian Dior (since 2017), etc.

• Amancio Ortega ($70 billion) is the founder of the Inditex holding, which includes the famous brands Zara, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, etc., and is the 6th billionaire in the world. The 80-year-old Spaniard also buys real estate in prestigious locations in Europe and America and receives substantial dividends from its resale or rental.

• Carlos Slim Helu ($67.1 billion) is seventh on the Forbes world list of billionaires. The Mexican is the owner of the mobile operator America Movil, as well as a co-owner of the New York Times newspaper and a number of real estate and mining companies.

• Charles Koch ($60 billion) is on the eighth line of the Forbes 2018 top list. Together with his brother, he is the owner of the Koch Industries holding. The latter's history began in 1940, when their father founded an oil refinery.

• David Koch ($60 billion) is the second co-owner of Koch Industries, who, thanks to the decision to buy out the Times publishing house, managed to add $11,700,000,000 to his capital and take 9th place in the ranking of world billionaires.

• Larry Ellison ($58.5 billion), an American ranked 10th on the Forbes list, is the founder of the IT company Oracle, which has recently been developing cloud services. Ellison also actively invests in her favorite pastime, sailing, and spares no expense for charitable causes.

The richest people in Russia in 2018

Among the world's richest people in the 2018 Forbes list, 102 people from Russia were noted, whose total wealth was estimated at $410,800,000,000. Most of them earned their fortune in the oil and gas sector or in other commodity markets. So, the ten richest representatives of the Forbes list from Russia:

• Vladimir Lisin ($19.1 billion) is the richest person in Russia in 2018 and is on the 57th line of the Forbes global ranking. Lisin holds the position of Chairman and is the main owner of shares in NLMK (steel sector) and Universal Cargo Logistics Holding.

On a note! Vladimir Lisin holds the position of vice president of the International Shooting Sports Organization. It was thanks to him that the largest shooting complex in Europe, “Fox Hole,” appeared in the Moscow region.

• Alexey Mordashov ($18.7 billion) is the second (as last time) place among the richest Russians and 60th place in the world top. The capital of the co-owner of Severstal, tour operator TUI and gold mining company Nord Gold N.V increased by $1,200,000,000.

• Leonid Mikhelson ($18 billion), the winner of last year’s Russian Forbes rating, dropped to 3rd place in 2018 (64th place in the Forbes top). The fortune of the co-owner of the chemical holding Sibur and the largest private gas production company Novatek decreased by $400,000,000.

• Vladimir Potanin ($15.9 billion) – ranks 6th and 83rd in the Forbes lists of Russia and the world, respectively. Possession of shares in the Norilsk Nickel company, the Petrovax Pharm concern and the most famous ski resort in Russia, Rosa Khutor, brought Potanin an additional $1,600,000,000.

• Andrey Melnichenko ($15.5 billion) - the main owner of Eurochem, the companies SGK (energy) and SUEK (coal mining) in 2018, ranks 7th in the Russian and 88th place in the international list of billionaires according to Forbes 2018 .

• Mikhail Fridman ($15.1 billion) – an increase in his own finances by $700,000,000 allowed the founder of Alfa Bank, co-owner of Alfa Group and LetterOne to be ranked 8th on the Forbes 2018 list.

• Viktor Vekselberg ($14.4 billion) – ranks 9th among the richest people in Russia (89th in the world). The lion's share of his income now comes from the Suzler company from Switzerland (which produces pumping equipment). In addition to her, Vekselberg also receives income from the activities of the Renova Group of Companies, of which he is the founder.

Interesting! Viktor Vekselberg’s private collection contains famous works of art, including 9 Faberge eggs; he paid the Forbes family about $100,000,000 for the acquisition.

• Alisher Usmanov ($12.5 billion) closes the top 10 richest people in Russia according to Forbes 2018 and ranks 118 in the world top. Having started a business with the production of polyethylene products during the Soviet era, today Usmanov is a co-owner of the Metalloinvest holding, Megafon, Mail.ru Group, Arsenal FC and a stake in Xiaomi.

I introduced you to the twenty richest dollar billionaires of our time, occupying leading positions in the Forbes ranking. Today I want to bring to your attention TOP 10 richest people in the world in history. It turns out that history knows examples of achieving wealth that are several times greater than the successes of modern billionaires. It is them that I want to consider today as a good motivational example.

TOP 10 richest people on the planet in history.

1. John Rockefeller. The fortune of this famous multi-billionaire from the United States was equal in terms of current dollars, taking into account inflation $318 billion, which is more than 4 times more than the richest person of our time, Bill Gates.

John Rockefeller is the richest man on earth in its entire history and the world's first dollar billionaire. In old dollar terms, he created $1.4 billion in wealth during his lifetime, which was 1.54% of annual US GDP at the time.

John Rockefeller was born in 1839 into a poor large family (his father was a lumberjack, and then became a traveling elixir merchant). At the age of 7, he began working part-time in his neighbors’ garden and got himself a little book in which he wrote and put all his earnings in a piggy bank. At the age of 13, he borrowed $50 to a farmer he knew at 7.5% per annum.

His only official paid employment was a short-lived job as an accounting assistant, which Rockefeller took at the age of 16, having previously completed accounting courses. John did not like that his salary was set less than that of his predecessor, and he soon quit.

Next, John Rockefeller became a partner of the entrepreneur, with whom he opened a joint trading business. Moreover, he borrowed the missing $800 from his father at 10% per annum. Later, he was able to convince a representative of one of the banks to give their company a loan for business development, due to which turnover was significantly increased.

In the early 1860s, kerosene lamps began to spread in America, which increased the demand for oil, the raw material for the kerosene used in lamps. John Rockefeller met a chemist involved in oil refining, and together they created a small oil refining company. And already in 1870, Rockefeller created his main vital asset - the Standard Oil oil company, which began searching for and producing oil.

Developing and increasing turnover, John Rockefeller bought up other oil companies, and was soon able to conclude a profitable deal with railway companies, which allowed him to crush his competitors by reducing the cost of oil transportation. Rockefeller presented them with a choice: merger with him or bankruptcy, and competitors chose the first option.

So in 1880, John Rockefeller became a monopolist oil magnate, concentrating 95% of US oil production in his hands. Gradually he expanded his business to other areas of activity.

It is noteworthy that from a young age, John Rockefeller constantly spent 10% of all his income on charity. Rockefeller died at the age of 97.

John Rockefeller's most famous quote: He who works all day has no time to make money.

2. Andrew Carnegie. American businessman, originally from Scotland, whose fortune in modern currency amounted to $310 billion.

Andrew Carnegie was born in 1835, he came from a poor family of weavers who huddled in one room. From the age of 13, Andrew worked in a textile factory 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, and earned $10 a month for his labor. Then he changed jobs to a telegraph company with a salary of $4 a week.

At the age of 20, he left his mother's house as collateral and took out a loan of $500, with which he purchased stock in the Adams Express railroad company. They began to bring good profits to Carnegie, which he began to invest in securities of metallurgical enterprises involved in car building, shipbuilding, railway construction, as well as in oil producing companies.

Thus, having become rich from the growth in stock prices, he was able to become the largest steel and iron producer in the United States by 1885, first forming the Carnegie Steel Company and then the U.S. Steel, which made him a dollar billionaire.

Like John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie allocated a portion of his earnings to charity throughout his life.

3. Nicholas II. The TOP-3 richest people on the planet in the entire human history is closed by the All-Russian Emperor Nicholas II Romanov. His financial condition in today's money was $253 billion.

However, unlike the aforementioned billionaires, he, as a tsar, inherited all his wealth, considered the sovereign’s property, from his father Alexander the Third. There is no information in popular sources about whether he was in any way involved in increasing his fortune; attention is paid only to his government.

As you know, the life of Nicholas II was tragically cut short in 1918, when he, along with his family and associates, were shot by the Bolsheviks.

4. William Henry Vanderbilt. Next in the TOP of the richest people in the world is the 19th century American capitalist William Vanderbilt, whose name is not so well known and there is little information about him. However, he ranks 4th in the TOP of the world's richest people in history - his financial fortune in terms of almost $232 billion.

Vanderbilt inherited a large fortune from his father, who at first did not want to allow him into the family business (he had 11 children in total, of which three were sons), but then, convinced of William’s abilities as a businessman, gradually took him into the share.

After the death of his father, William Henry Vanderbilt inherited a fortune worth $90 billion, and then increased it by more than 2 times. His main asset was the railway company. In 1885, Vanderbilt was considered the richest man in the world at that time.

5. Osman Ali Khan. Rounding out the TOP 5 richest people in the world in history is Osman Ali Khan Asaf Jah the Seventh, originally from India. His fortune was almost $211 billion at the current rate.

Osman Ali Khan had a princely title: he inherited the throne of one of the Indian states from his father. At the same time, he was the head of the largest diamond trading business - a global monopolist in the supply of these precious stones. In the early 40s of the 20th century, his wealth was estimated at 2 million then dollars, which at that time amounted to 2% of US GDP.

6. Andrew Mellon. American banker who briefly served as US Secretary of the Treasury and US Ambassador to Great Britain. His fortune was almost $189 billion translated into modern currency.

Andrew Mellon was born in 1855 in the USA and followed in the footsteps of his father, who was also a banker. First, at the age of 17, with the help of his father, he opened a manufacturing enterprise engaged in logging, and then, at the age of 27, he became a bank manager.

Throughout his life, Andrew Mellon worked in various areas of business, and already in old age he held major government positions.

7. Henry Ford. Here, finally, is a familiar name again - the famous automobile tycoon Henry Ford, whose fortune amounted to $188 billion.

Henry Ford can serve as a good example of how to achieve great success and become a dollar billionaire from scratch. He was born in 1863 in the USA into a family of immigrants living on a farm. At the age of 16, Ford ran away from home and went to look for work in Detroit, where he began his career as a mechanical engineer and gradually rose through the ranks.

In 1883, he independently assembled his first car (not for work, but as a hobby), then became a co-owner of the Detroit Automobile Company, and in 1903 founded his own automobile company, the Ford Motor Company. This company began to independently produce cars: first the Ford A brand, but its main success was brought by the Ford T brand, production of which began in 1908.

Ford Motor Company repeatedly faced serious competition, and Henry Ford even suffered losses in this struggle, but did not stop and moved on. He constantly improved production technologies and, as a result, switched to a full production cycle: from the extraction of iron ore to the production of the finished car.

Henry Ford also became famous for paying his employees the highest wage in the United States at that time - $5 a day.

As you know, the business started by Henry Ford lives on to this day: Ford cars are a huge success all over the world.

8. Marcus Licinius Crassus. Ancient Roman commander. Unlike other representatives of the TOP 10 richest people in the world throughout history, Crassus lived all the way back to 115-53 BC. However, he was able to achieve wealth, which in today's money amounted to almost $170 billion.

It turns out that even before our era it was possible to run a thriving business. Marcus Licinius Crassus made his fortune mainly by buying houses for next to nothing that had been damaged by fires, which were a common occurrence in Ancient Rome due to wars, restoring them with the help of 500 hired workers and reselling them at a significantly higher price. Crassus also made money from the slave trade and silver mining.

Marcus Licinius Crassus was known as a very greedy and dishonest man. There were rumors that he even deliberately set fire to houses in order to build a business on it. As a result, he was killed; according to one version, he was executed by having molten gold poured into his mouth, as a symbol of his greed.

9. Basil II. Byzantine emperor from the family of Alexander the Great, whose reign spanned 976-1025. His net worth in today's money was $169 billion.

There is little information about this man, who is among the TOP 10 richest people in the world in history. It is only known that he was able to significantly expand the borders of the Byzantine Empire, annexing other lands to it. What’s interesting is that after his death the empire soon collapsed.

10. Cornelius Vanderbilt. American businessman, father of William Henry Vanderbilt, who occupies 4th position in the TOP 10 richest people in the world. His wealth in today's money was $167 billion.

Cornelius Vanderbilt was born in the USA in 1794 into a family of poor farmers. At the age of 11, he decided that studying at school would not bring him anything good (he owns the saying “If I received an education, I would not have time to learn everything else”), he dropped out of school and went to work as a ferryman.

At the age of 16, he borrowed $100 from his mother, with which he opened his own business: he began transporting people on a small barge. A year later, he gave away 11 times more money: $1,100, which he managed to earn from this business.

Then Vanderbilt began to buy other ships, and soon he had a whole flotilla at his disposal. Later he switched to the railway business, and also began organizing transcontinental transportation.

Cornelius Vanderbilt was known as a very tough man, merciless in competition. It is believed that it was thanks to this character trait that he was able to achieve such magnitude.

This is what the TOP 10 richest people in the world in history look like. As you can see, there are both good and bad role models here. But it can still be argued that the majority of the richest people on the planet, mainly US citizens, were able to do it on their own, through investing and developing businesses, coming from poor families and starting from scratch. Which once again confirms the fact that this is possible.

I hope that it was not in vain that I carefully collected this information, and that the information received will have a certain motivating effect on you. Stay on, improve your financial literacy, and perhaps in the future you will be the one who will be able to bring your financial condition, your wealth and success closer to these historical characters. See you again!

Recently, the business magazine Forbes published its annual ranking of Russian show business and sports stars who have the highest income level in Russia. Compared to last year, almost nothing has changed, but there are still a few new faces and an exchange of places in the rankings.

When compiling the list, we took into account income for the year, media attention and the interest that the star arouses among the audience on the Internet.

Legendary hockey player Alexander Ovechkin, with an annual income of $14.5 million, topped the annual ranking of the richest Russian show business and sports stars, published by Forbes magazine.

Second place went to musician Sergei Shnurov ($13.9 million), third place went to his colleague Philip Kirkorov ($8.9 million).

First place on the list, as in 2017, was taken by Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin. According to Forbes, he earned $14.5 million for the year. Sergei Shnurov was in second place - his annual income, according to the publication, was $13. 9 million. Journalists placed Philip Kirkorov ($8.9 million) in third place. Last year, second and third places were taken by Kirkorov and Grigory Leps, Rosregister has learned. Forbes then estimated their income at $7.4 million and $6 million, respectively.

Olga Buzova, a blogger and host of the reality show “Dom-2”, entered the rating for the first time. According to the publication's calculations, she earned $3.9 million over the year, with the bulk of this amount coming from advertising revenue, in particular from paid posts on social networks. Such advertising, according to Forbes estimates, accounts for almost 90% of Buzova’s total income.

The top 10 also included musicians Grigory Leps ($8.2 million), Dima Bilan ($7.7 million), Stas Mikhailov ($7.4 million), TV presenter Ivan Urgant ($8.5 million) and hockey player Evgeni Malkin ($9. 5 million). TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak ($1.4 million) closes the top ten in the rating. Sobchak, who ran for the post of President of Russia, this year was in the lead by a large margin over all participants in the rating in terms of mentions in the press and television programs. At the same time, Sobchak lost the leadership in terms of requests for her name in Yandex to Buzova this year.

Among women, the highest place—sixth—was taken by TV presenter and singer Olga Buzova. The ex-star of “House-2” opened her own restaurant in Moscow in 2018 and promised to release the Buzcoin cryptocurrency. She earned $3.9 million.

According to the magazine's estimates, the total income of all participants in the star rating increased by a third compared to last year - to $211 million from $155 million. Forbes also notes that over the past few years the price tag for corporate events has doubled, and movie actors began to earn twice as much in one shooting day.

It’s interesting that if you look at the ranking of the richest celebrities, the top 5 would look different. Alexander Ovechkin would still be the richest, but behind him would be Sergei Shnurov, hockey players Evgeny Kuznetsov and Evgeny Malkin, and singer Philip Kirkorov.

If the rating were compiled among those stars who are most often written about in the press, then the first line of the rating would be taken by TV presenter and former Russian presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak. TV presenter and singer Olga Buzova would be on the second line, followed by TV presenter Andrei Malakhov, singer Philip Kirkorov, and director Nikita Mikhalkov would close the top 5.

But the rating of stars whose names users most often search for in the Yandex search engine looks like this: the first line is occupied by the ultimate fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov, whose name was typed into the search engine more than 40 million times, the second place would be taken by TV presenter Olga Buzova, and the third by singer Egor Creed, rapper Basta (Vasily Vakulenko) would be in fourth place, and singer Grigory Leps would be in fifth place.

It was previously reported that, according to the ranking published on the website of the American financial and economic magazine Forbes, the richest athlete of all time is the legendary basketball player from the United States, “his air,” Michael Jordan. During his illustrious career, he earned $1.85 billion.

The top three richest athletes also include American golfers Tiger Woods ($1.7 billion) and Arnold Palmer ($1.4 billion).