Forbes Billionaire List 2024: Forbes has released the Forbes Billionaire List 2024 with Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries Limited, maintaining the position of the ninth richest person in the world with a net worth of more than $116 billion, up by over 32 billion when compared to the last year. 

On the other hand, Gautam Adani, the founder and Chairman of the Adani Group has jumped seven positions to secure the 17th position in the list with a total net worth of more than $84 billion. The chairman of Adani Group has recorded a spike of $36.8 billion in the total net worth which was $47.2 last year, said the Forbes report. 

Topping the list is Bernard Arnault  the owner of the  LVMH empire that includes Louis Vuitton and Sephora with $233 billion in personal wealth. Following Arnault is Elon Musk, founder of Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, Neuralink, xAI, and owner of X.com, with a total net with of $195 billion, recoding a rise of $15 billion in personal wealth. Followed by Musk are Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerburg, Larry Ellison, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Steve Ballmer. 

Highest billionaire count

As per Forbes, the number of billionaires has surged to an all-time high of 2,781 individuals, marking an increase of 141 from the previous year and 26 more than the record established in 2021. 

The collective wealth of the billionaire has reached unprecedented levels, totalling $14.2 trillion, reflecting a $2 trillion rise from 2023 and surpassing the prior record by $1.1 trillion, which was also set in 2021. The report suggests that two-thirds of the list’s members are worth more than a year ago and only one-fourth are poorer. According to the reports, now 14 individuals have become the member of the $100 Billion Club, the elite group of people whose fortunes stretch into 12 digits. 

The majority of the increase in wealth stems from the top 20 individuals, who collectively saw a rise of $700 billion in wealth since 2023. The United States leads the pack with a record 813 billionaires, boasting a combined net worth of $5.7 trillion. 

Despite challenges such as weak consumer spending and a real estate downturn resulting in a loss of approximately $300 billion in wealth, China remains in second place, with 473 billionaires (including Hong Kong), worth $1.7 trillion. India, with a record 200 billionaires, occupies the third position. 

Indians among top 100

In the list of the world’s 100 richest, eight Indians have been able to secure a place. In the list, Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani are followed by the founder and chairman of HCL Technologies Shiv Nadar at 39th position and Savitri Jindal & family at 46th position. 

The above-mentioned Indian billionaires were followed by Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharmaceuticals, Cyrus Poonawalla MD of the Cyrus Poonawalla Group, Kushal Pal Singh, CEO of real estate developer DLF Limited, and Kumar Birla of the Aditya Birla Group

To determine the net worth of the individuals Forbes has used stock prices and exchange rates as of March 8, 2024.