Forbes Reveals Its World's Richest Persons List for 2018

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos tops the list for the first time

Mar. 7, 2018

U.S. banknotes of various denominations are arranged for a photograph in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017Credit: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg

Reuters

Mar. 7, 2018

Forbes Magazine released its annual list of the world's richest persons on Tuesday, which was topped by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos for the first time.

Bezos is estimated to be worth $112 billion according to Forbes, up almost $40 billion from last year, the biggest one-year gain ever.

Bill Gates dropped to the number two spot, with a fortune estimated to be worth $90 billion, up from $86 billion last year.

Gates was the richest person in the world 18 out of past 24 years.

The Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett is worth $84 billion and dropped to the third spot, while Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH is ranked fourth with a fortune of $72 billion, ascending 7 spots.

Arnault is the only non-American in the top five and the richest person in Europe.

Amazon's Jeff Bezos tops 2018 Forbes' billionaires list

In the fifth spot is Facebook-founder Mark Zuckerberg with a fortune worth $71 billion.

Amancio Ortega, whose Inditex owns Zara fashion chain dropped to number 6 after his wealth decreased $1.3 billion in 2017 to $70 billion.

Some newcomers have made it to the top 20 list in 2018, including Pony Ma of Tencent valued at $45.3 billion at number 17.

India's Reliance Industries' chairman Mukesh Ambani ranks number 19 valued at $40 billion, while Alibaba's Jack Ma rounds out the top 20 valued at $39 billion.

According to Forbes magazine, there are 2,208 billionaires in the world, up from 2,043 in 2017 who have a combined worth of $9.1 trillion, with 259 new billionaires joining the club.

U.S. president Donald Trump's wealth has declined in the last year, and he is estimated to be worth $3.1 billion, ranking 766 in the list, falling from 544 in 2017.

1. Jeff Bezos: $112 billion ... Up from 2017 ... U.S.

2. Bill Gates: $90 billion ... Up ... U.S.

3. Warren Buffett: $84 billion ... Up ... U.S.

4. Bernard Arnault family: $72 billion ... Up ... France

5. Mark Zuckerberg: $71 billion ... Up ... U.S.

6. Amancio Ortega (Zara): $70 billion ... Down ... Spain

7. Carlos Slim Helu family: $67.1 billion ... Up ... Mexico

8. Charles Koch: $60 billion ... Up ... U.S.

9. David Koch: $60 billion ... Up ... U.S.

10. Larry Ellison: $58.5 billion ... Up ... U.S.

11. Michael Bloomberg: $50 billion ... Up ... U.S.

12. Larry Page: $48.8 billion ... Up ... U.S.