101 Indian billionaires on Forbes's list of world's richest people

As many as 101 Indians, including 13 newcomers made it to the latest ‘The World’s Billionaires’ list, Forbes said in a statement on Monday.

With a net worth of $23.2 billion, Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), is the highest-ranked Indian in the list, at No. 33. He is followed by Lakshmi Mittal (No. 56; $16.4 bn); Azim Premji (No. 72; $14.9 bn); Dilip Shanghvi (No. 84; $13.7 bn) and Shiv Nadar (No. 102; $12.3 bn), to round off the top five Indian entries in the list.

Click here to view the full ‘The World’s Billionaires’ list

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates retained the top spot on Forbes’s ‘The World’s Billionaires’ list, with a fortune of $86 billion, up from $75 billion last year. Gates retained his top spot for the fourth year in a row and has been the richest person in the world for 18 out of the past 23 years.

The total combined net worth of this year’s billionaires was $7.67 trillion, up from $6.48 trillion last year. 2,043 billionaires (up from 1,810 in 2016) made the list, with an average net worth of $3.75 billion.

“Booming stock markets, higher commodities prices and plain old-fashioned entrepreneurship helped make this a record year in terms of wealth creation around the globe,” said Luisa Kroll and Kerry Dolan, Assistant Managing Editors of Wealth at Forbes Media.

The ‘Oracle of Omaha’, Warren Buffett, reclaimed the second spot on the list, after a two-year hiatus, as his net worth rose to $75.6 billion, up from $60.8 billion in 2016.

The biggest gainer on the 2017 list is Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos (No. 3), whose fortune increased by $27.6 billion for a total net worth of $72.8 billion. This is Bezos’ first time in the top three.

Spanish clothing retailer Amancio Ortega (the founder of the Zara fashion chain) dropped to No. 4, despite his net worth increasing to $71.3 billion.

Facebook’s co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, took the fifth spot with a net worth of $56 billion.

“Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list is a snapshot of wealth taken on February 17, 2017, when stock prices and exchange rates were locked in from around the world. The list features individuals rather than multigenerational families who share large fortunes. In some cases, siblings and couples are listed together if the ownership breakdown among them isn’t clear; however, they still must be worth on average a minimum of $1 billion apiece to make the cut,” Forbes said in its statement.

According to Forbes, the change in the total number of billionaires – up 233 since last year – was the biggest increase in 31 years. Breaking up the numbers, 1,371 members of the list were self-made billionaires; 238 inherited their wealth; while another 434 inherited at least a portion but are still growing it.

Forbes also released a detailed analysis of US President Donald Trump’s currently worth. He ranks No. 544 on the list, with a net worth $3.5 billion.

“Midtown Manhattan real estate is down; therefore, so is Donald Trump’s fortune. In October 2016, at the time of the release of the 2016 Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans, Forbes valued Trump’s net worth at $3.7 billion,” Forbes said.

The top 20 billionaires have a combined net worth of $938.4 billion, up from $826.5 billion in 2016.  Regionally, Asia-Pacific boasted the most billionaires, with 720 billionaires, followed by the United States with 565 and Europe with 530.

Click here to view the full ‘The World’s Billionaires’ list

(Reliance Industries is the owner of Network 18, publisher of Forbes India)