How much richer the top 10 billionaires are now compared to the beginning of the decade
Published Thu, Dec 26 2019 9:31 AM EST
Catherine Clifford
@CATCLIFFORD
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Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announces Blue Moon, a lunar landing vehicle for the Moon, during a Blue Origin event in Washington, DC, May 9, 2019.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announces Blue Moon, a lunar landing vehicle for the Moon, during a Blue Origin event in Washington, DC, May 9, 2019.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
In the last 10 years, the rich have gotten a whole lot richer.
Here’s a look at the net worth of the 10 richest people in the world, as ranked Tuesday, Dec. 24, according to Forbes’ Real Time Billionaires List, compared to the same billionaires’ net worth on Aug. 25, 2010, the date Forbes locked in 2010’s ranking of the wealthiest billionaires.
1. Jeff Bezos
CEO of Amazon
2010 net worth: $12.3 billion
2019 net worth: $111.5 billion
How much richer: $99.2 billion
2. Bernard Arnault (and family)
Chairman and chief executive of French company LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods conglomerate
2010 net worth: $27.5 billion
2019 net worth: $109.9 billion
How much richer: $82.4 billion
3. Bill Gates
Co-founder of Microsoft
2010 net worth: $53 billion
2019 net worth: $108.2 billion
How much richer: $55.2 billion
4. Warren Buffett
Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
2010 net worth: $47 billion
2019 net worth: $88.8 billion
How much richer: $41.8 billion
5. Amancio Ortega
Co-founder of Spanish fashion company Inditex, which owns Zara
2010 net worth: $25 billion
2019 net worth: $77.1 billion
How much richer: $52.1 billion
6. Mark Zuckerberg
CEO of Facebook
2010 net worth: $4 billion
2019 net worth: $76.3 billion
How much richer: $72.3 billion
7. Larry Ellison
Co-founder of Oracle
2010 net worth: $28 billion
2019 net worth: $66.4 billion
How much richer: $38.4 billion
8. Carlos Slim Helu (and family)
Telecom mogul, including on the board of directors of America Movil, Latin America’s biggest mobile telecommunications company
2010 net worth: $53.5 billion
2019 net worth: $63.5 billion
How much richer: $10 billion
9. Larry Page
Co-founder of Google
2010 net worth: $17.5 billion
2019 net worth: $61.1 billion
How much richer: $43.6 billion
10. Mukesh Ambani
Chair of Indian oil and gas company Reliance Industries
2010 net worth: $29 billion
2019 net worth: $59.7 billion
How much richer: $30.7 billion
In 2010, the 10 richest people in the world had total wealth of $296.8 billion as compared to $822.5 billion now.
For context, in 2010, global wealth totaled $200 trillion as compared to $360.6 trillion in 2019, according to an October report on global wealth from financial services company Credit Suisse.
Today, wealth inequality between the world’s richest and poorest continues to grow. According to an Oxfam report published in January, the world’s wealthiest 26 individuals had the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the population in 2018, the latest figures available. During the same period, the wealth of the world’s billionaires increased by $900 billion ($2.5 billion per day), while the wealth of the poorest half of the population (3.8 billion people) fell by 11%, the Oxfam report found.