The total assets of the world's billionaires reached a record high of $ 7.67 trillion (up 18%).
Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, is now the richest man in the world for the fourth year in a row. He was, however, in first place 18 times in the past 23 years. His assets rose from last year's $ 75 billion to $ 86 billion this year.
The legendary investor Warren Buffett holds second place for the second year. In the past 12 months, his fortune rose by $ 14.8 billion to $ 75.6 billion.
In terms of revenue increase, the last 12 months were the best for Jeff Bezos, the Director of Amazon, whose account has increased by $ 27.6 billion. His fortune grew to $ 72.8 billion. He ranked among the three richest people in the world for the first time (last year he was in 5th place).
The top ten richest people in the world also include Amancio Ortega (Zara), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Carlos Slim Helu and family (America Movil), Larry Ellison (Oracle), Charles Koch (Koch Industries), David Koch (Koch Industries) and Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg LP).
A total of 195 new billionaires entered the Forbes ranking this year. Most of them come from China (76) and the USA (25). Four new billionaires are younger than 30 years old. Fifty-six billionaires are less than 40 years old.
There were also 15 new female billionaires, most of whom came from Asia (China, Vietnam). In total, the ranking included 227 women (202 last year). Their fortune reaches a total value of $ 852.8 billion. With her assets of $ 39.5 billion, the owner of L'Oreal Liliane Bettencourt is is the richest woman for the second time.
Most billionaires are from the USA (565), China (319 + Hong Kong 67), Germany (114) and India (101). In comparison with 2016, 78 billionaires drop from the ranking and 20 billionaires died.
The Czech Republic is represented by six billionaires, including Daniel Křetínský, co-owner of the Energy and Industrial Holding (EPH), who entered the ranking for the first time.
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