The world’s richest people have been named on an updated list which puts their combined wealth at more than $16trillion.
Tech mogul Elon Musk, 53, is leading the Forbes’ billionaires list 2025 with a net worth of $342billion (£264.73billion) after co-founding companies like Tesla, SpaceX and artificial intelligence firm xAI.
Musk moved to the top of the list after his net worth increased by 75 per cent, giving him a $126billion (£97.4billion) lead over the second billionaire listed, Forbes said.
The jump was due to new evaluations of SpaceX, xAI and Tesla, even though the latter has recently seen a plunge in stock price after Musk joined President Donald Trump’s administration and came out in support of hard-right parties in Europe.
Trump also featured on the list – albeit lower down – after his net worth more than doubled compared to the 2024 Forbes list from $2.3billion to $5.1billion due to his investments into crypto currencies and his Truth Social company going public.
Facebook and Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, 40, has come in second with a net worth of $216billion (£167.4billion), while Jeff Bezos, the 61-year-old founder of e-commerce giant Amazon, came in third with a net worth of $215billion (£166.6billion).
In Forbes’ annual billionaires list, which has been published for 39 years, the publication gives a ‘definitive ranking of the world’s richest people’. The top ten spots were all taken by men, the majority of whom made their billions in the tech sphere.
Included on the 2025 compilation are 3,028 billionaires worldwide, which are 247 more than last year. Their combined net worth is an astonishing $16.1trillion.
Tech mogul Elon Musk (pictured), 53, is leading the Forbes’ billionaires list 2025 with a net worth of $342billion (£264.73billion) after co-founding companies like Tesla, SpaceX and artificial intelligence firm xAI
Facebook and Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg (pictured), 40, has come in second with a net worth of $216billion (£167.4billion)
Jeff Bezos (pictured), the 61-year-old founder of e-commerce giant Amazon, came in third with a net worth of $215billion (£166.6billion)
In fourth place is Larry Ellison, 80, who co-founded tech company Oracle. His net worth is listed as $192billion (£148.7billion).
Rounding off the top five is Bernard Arnault, 76, and his family with $178billion (£137.9billion).
The Arnault family owns luxury goods conglomerate LVMH including brands like Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Tiffany & Co.
The fifth rank is Arnault’s lowest spot on the list since 2017, according to Forbes, which attributed the change to a drop in LVMH shares.
Warren Buffett, a 94-year-old investor, takes sixth place due to his $154billion (£119.3billion) fortune, while Google founders Larry Page, 52, at $144billion (£111.6billion) and Sergey Brin, 51, at $138billion (£107billion) took the seventh and eighth spot.
In ninth comes Amancio Ortega, 89, who is the only non-American billionaire in the top ten of the Forbes list.
The Spaniard owns brands like Zara and Bershka as part of his Inditex fashion conglomerate.
The last spot in the top ten is taken by Steve Ballmer, 69, who used to be the CEO of Microsoft. He amassed a net worth of $118billion (£91.4billion).
In fourth place is Larry Ellison (pictured), who co-founded tech company Oracle. His net worth is listed as $192billion (£148.7billion)
Rounding off the top five is Bernard Arnault (pictured) and his family with $178billion (£137.9billion). The Arnault family owns luxury goods conglomerate LVMH including brands like Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Tiffany & Co
Warren Buffett (pictured), an investor, takes sixth place due to his $154billion (£119.3billion) fortune
There are 288 new billionaires listed by Forbes, one of whom is Sundar Pichai.
He leads Alphabet, the parent company of Google, and has a net worth of $1.1billion (£850million) due to an increase in the value of his Google shares.
But 107 people who were included in the 2024 ranking saw their net worth dip so much they didn’t make the cut anymore to be considered a billionaire.
Among them is Nicholas Puech, one of the heirs to luxury goods conglomerate Hermes, who says his fortune has vanished, according to Forbes.
Included in the 2025 list are people who Forbes believes to have a net worth of at least $1billion as of March 7, 2025.
The outlet also publishes a daily billionaires ranking that takes stock changes and other factors into account.
The daily ranking is also led by Musk, whose net worth is listed as $345.6billion today, which is $3.6billion more than on the annual list.
