Bill Gates
The man is a legend, the founder of Microsoft, a business leader who for more than a decade held the status of the richest person on the planet.
This year, Forbes estimates Gates' fortune at $96.5 billion.
At the age of 12, the genius first became acquainted with a computer at school, where he and his friend Paul Allen, the future co-founder of Microsoft, sat in front of the monitor all weekend.
At 13, he created the first tic-tac-toe program.
In 1975, having seen the first computer for the mass market on the cover of a magazine, he began to embody the idea of creating the BASIC programming language.
Bill Gates achieved incredible heights thanks to his remarkable perseverance, high ability to work and love for his work - “Enjoy what you do, and you will never work in your life.”
Warren Buffett
Financial genius Warren Buffett is one of the most influential investors in the world. According to Forbes, he has a fortune of 84.6 billion.
As a child, he began to read early and learned to multiply multi-digit numbers in his head. At the encouragement of his father, a businessman, he became involved in financial education.
At the age of 11 I bought my first shares. At the age of 13, he worked as a mail carrier and, thanks to an unconventional approach, was able to significantly increase his salary, and with his savings he purchased land, which he rented out.
Young Buffett also bought broken slot machines, took them in for repairs, and then installed them in hair salons. Well, who doesn't need resourcefulness!
“I enjoy the process much more than the income. Although I’ve learned to put up with them too.”
In 1956, he organized the investment partnership Buffett Associates and turned the firm's initial capital - 105 thousand dollars - into 7 million.
Alain the Red (1040-1093) – $165-195 billion
Wikipedia
Alain is a Breton knight who became one of the richest men in the world thanks to his successes in the conquests of William I. For his service, he received from the king extensive possessions in Yorkshire and other counties of England, and after some time inherited the lands of his brother.
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs is an innovative businessman who gave the word “Apple” another, much more popular definition. He was raised by a foster family, who discovered the boy’s exceptional talents in time and contributed in every possible way to their development.
Jobs dropped out of a prestigious college without graduating.
In 1976, together with Wayne and Wozniak, he created Apple. In the late 70s, their series of personal computers sold around the world in quantities of more than 5 million.
By the age of 29, Jobs is already included in the ranking of the richest people. And in December 1980, Steve’s fortune increased overnight to $217 million when Yabloko shares were floated on the stock exchange.
But Steve’s main goal in life was not money:
“Being the richest person in the cemetery is not important to me. Going to bed and knowing that you did something wonderful is what’s valuable.”
Russian billionaires of 2020
10th place. Roman Abramovich - $11.3 billion
Abramovich started in the toy business in the 1980s with the Uyut cooperative. In the 1990s, he became interested in trading shares, in particular oil (he acquired shares of well-known oil producing companies). An important acquisition was a controlling stake in Sibneft. The company developed successfully and brought good dividends to Abramovich. In 2005, he received a huge amount (something about 13 billion USD) from the sale of most of the shares of Sibneft to Gazprom. For several years after this deal, he was the richest Russian.
Currently, Roman Abramovich is the owner of Chelsea FC (since 2003), (steel production), invests money in various real estate, seaports, etc.
In 2020, after being outside the top ten, he still ended up in 10th place on the list of Russian billionaires. This was facilitated by the sale of his 1/5th share of the shares of Channel One.
Interesting fact!
Roman Abramovich is passionate about art, and does not hide the fact that he has collections of paintings and other art objects totaling about 1 billion US dollars. And he continues to add to this collection.
Abramovich does not skimp on charity either. Everyone knows that he donated about 50 million dollars for the construction of the Moscow School of Management.
9th place. Andrey Melnichenko - $12.5 billion
Melnichenko is almost the sole owner of two energy companies - Eurochem (the billionaire owns a 90% stake) and the Siberian Coal and Energy Company (92.2% of the shares). Minority shares belonged to his partners Dm. Strezhnev and V. Rashevsky, who led the companies for a long time.
Andrey Melnichenko
Until 2007, Melnichenko owned MDM Bank, but as a result of the liquidation of the MDM Group, the industrial assets of the company were transferred to Andrey, and the bank was transferred to his partner S. Popov.
Even earlier, in 2006, Melnichenko sold his stake in TNK - immediately before the concern’s IPO.
Now the businessman, through his companies Eurochem and SUEK, is actively investing money in potash and ammonia production, as well as in mining in Siberia. He is still 9th in the ranking of the richest people in Russia.
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Interesting fact!
Melnichenko owns the world’s largest yacht “A” worth $425 million. According to the billionaire’s entourage, he spends almost all his time on it. The owner of Eurochem no longer has any other personal property.
Yacht Melnichenko
8th place. Mikhail Fridman - $13 billion
Mikhail Fridman is the main owner of Alfa-Bank, VimpelCom (now VEON), the oil and gas company DEA, Turkcell X5 Retail Group (brands Pyaterochka and Perekrestok). Until 2013, he owned a stake in TNK, and then sold it to Rosneft for $14 billion.
Friedman began his career in 1988 by organizing the Courier cooperative with friends, which was engaged in the delivery of groceries and office supplies, as well as window cleaning. Then Alfa Photo, the Soviet-Swiss Alfa Eco, and in 1991 Alfa Bank appeared.
Abroad, Friedman’s interests are represented by the Luxembourg company LetterOne, which owns the billionaire’s foreign assets, and in Russia by Alfa Group, which, in addition to Alfa Bank, includes Alfa Insurance, retailer X5 Retail Group and investment company A1.
In 2020, Friedman made a deal to merge his company DEA with the German Wintershall. As a result, one of the largest oil and gas companies on the European continent was formed. This deal brought Fridman to 8th place in the list of the richest Russians in 2020.
Mikhail Fridman
Interesting fact!
The Alfa Photo cooperative became the first of a series of Friedman’s enterprises that have the “Alpha” prefix. It was named in honor of Friedman’s scientific advisor, Mikhail Alfimov, and not in honor of the Greek letter, as many believe.
7th place. Alisher Usmanov - $13.4 billion
In the TOP of the richest Russians, Alisher Usmanov takes 7th place. In 2018, his fortune decreased significantly compared to last year - from $15.2 billion to $12.5 billion. The fall was mainly due to the sale of a large stake in Mail.ru and the abandonment of management of the company. In addition, many companies of Usmanov and his partners were subject to sanctions. As a result, the billionaire moved from 5th to 10th place in Forbes magazine's list of rich Russians.
However, in 2020, his capital continued to grow, and Usmanov began to return to his former positions. In the ranking of the richest people in Russia in 2020, he has already moved to 7th place.
Today, Alisher Usmanov owns 49% of USM Holding, which, in turn, owns stakes in Metalloinvest, Baikal Mining Company, Megafon and a number of other companies. Usmanov also owns shares in Kommersant Publishing House, Khimki Group, DST Global, YuTV, STS, Mail.ru.
Usmanov is on the lists of the richest people in the UK and Switzerland.
Alisher Usmanov
Interesting fact!
In 1980, together with his friends, he was accused by a court of economic crimes and served 6 out of 8 years in prison. In 2000, the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan declared the case fabricated and expunged his criminal record. According to Usmanov, he became a victim of clan squabbles, and the process was organized to undermine the positions of high-ranking parents of young people.
6th place. Gennady Timchenko - $14.3 billion
Gennady Timchenko is one of the most invisible Russian billionaires. He practically does not advertise his personal life and little is known about his work history. Timchenko's main business is oil. He owns stakes in companies such as:
- Novatek is the largest gas company after Gazprom;
- Transoil is the largest oil carrier;
- Sibur – petrochemical holding;
- Stroytransgaz is one of the largest construction companies in Russia;
- Aquanika is a plant for the production of clean water.
Gennady Timchenko
In addition, Timchenko owns apple orchards in Krasnodar and a network of wineries producing premium wines. In general, the billionaire actively invests in agriculture and environmental production.
Timchenko’s permanent partner is Leonid Mikhelson. Businessmen included in the ranking of the richest people in Russia own many assets on a parity basis.
Timchenko is also known as a peer and close friend of the current President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.
Interesting fact!
Timchenko is fond of hockey and plays it at a semi-professional level. He is the president of the SKA hockey club and serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Kontinental Hockey League. In 2023, the billionaire plans to complete the construction of the SKA club in St. Petersburg - according to his plan, it will be the largest ice arena in the world.
5th place. Vagit Alekperov - $15.3 billion
Alekperov is one of the “oil barons” of Russia, owner, and closes the top 4 richest people in Russia. By the way, it was Lukoil that in 2018 became the second largest company in Russia by capitalization, overtaking the previous leaders - Gazprom and Rosneft, yielding leadership to the clear favorite - Sberbank.
Lukoil was formed in 1993, when three oil companies, Urayneftegaz and Kogalymneftegaz, merged under the leadership of Alekperov. Since then, the billionaire has been the permanent director of the united concern.
Now Vagit Alekperov owns directly or through other companies about 24.8% of the company. At the same time, he continues to buy shares, intending to increase the stake to 30%.
Vagit Alekperov
Interesting fact!
Alekperov bequeathed his shares in Lukoil to his son Yusuf. But on one condition - he will not sell or divide the package he received.
4th place. Alexey Mordashov - $16.9 billion
The main asset of Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov is. In addition to it, he owns large stakes in TUI AG, Power Machines, Nord Gold and Utkonos.
The future rich man began his career at the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant. The director of the plant, Yuri Lipukhin, noticed him and brought him closer. In 1993, he instructed a young specialist to carry out the privatization of the enterprise. In secret from the director, Mordashov acquired a controlling stake in ChMK, and in 1996 removed Lipukhin from the management of the plant. Soon ChMK acquired its modern name - Severstal.
Alexey Mordashov
In 2001, Mordashov bought out the last block of shares belonging to him from the former director. Now the businessman owns about 83% of all shares of Severstal. Over the past 5 years, he has received more than $4 billion in dividends from the company.
Mordashov also owns the National Media Group (it includes the channels “First”, “Fifth” and REN-TV, the newspapers “Izvestia”, “Metro”, “Sport-Express”) on the basis of joint ownership with Surgutneftegaz and Rossiya Bank, and also half of the shares of the Tele2 operator.
Interesting fact!
When the Russian version of Forbes magazine began publishing in Russia in 2004, it was Mordashov who appeared on its cover, thus becoming the first billionaire on the cover of Forbes.
3rd place. Leonid Mikhelson - $17.1 billion
Mikhelson has already been mentioned in our ranking of the richest businessmen in Russia - he is known as a partner of Gennady Timchenko and the main owner of the Novatek and Sibur companies.
The businessman is actively investing in the Tyumen north. Thus, in 2017, Russia’s largest gas liquefaction plant was launched in Yamal, and the first deliveries have already found their buyers. In 2020, the opening of Zapsibneftekhim, one of the largest petrochemical enterprises for the production of ethylene, propylene and butane, is planned in Tobolsk.
Mikhelson is also known as a philanthropist. He heads the Victoria Foundation, named after his daughter, and provides support to young artists.
Leonid Mikhelson
Interesting fact!
Leonid Mikhelson began his career as a foreman on the construction of a gas pipeline from Urengoy to Chelyabinsk. He had former prisoners under his command. Mikhelson kept them under strict control, for which the prisoners did not particularly like their boss. However, when the future billionaire was offered a job in Samara - construction of the metro, he refused. Gasification seemed to him a more “noble” occupation.
2nd place. Vladimir Lisin - $18.1 billion
The current chairman of the board of directors of NLMK took first place among the richest people in Russia in 2020. Vladimir Lisin owns 84% of the shares of NLMK and 100% of the transport holding UCL.
The career of the future billionaire began in the 1980s. Having been assigned to the Tulachermet plant as an assistant steelmaker, he quickly rose to become a deputy shop manager. Then he moved to the Karaganda Metallurgical Plant, and from there to Moscow, using the patronage of the plant director Oleg Soskovets, who received a position in Yeltsin’s cabinet.
Soon Lisin took a leadership position in the metallurgical concern Trans World Group. In 1996, when the concern collapsed, Lisin was able to get his hands on its fragment - the Novolipetsk Metallurgical Plant. Then a struggle for control over the plant began with the former owners of the plant, the Cherny brothers, and with one of the shareholders, Vladimir Potanin.
But Lisin managed to defend NLMK and bring it to IPO. He now owns more than 84% of the shares. In 2020, he received $1.6 billion in dividends from the plant. In 2020 he was the richest person in Russia, but in 2020 he was overtaken.
Vladimir Lisin
Interesting fact!
Lisin is an avid hunter. In the Moscow region, he built a sports and shooting complex, named very symbolically - “Fox Hole”. The complex, by the way, is the largest in Europe.
Henry Ford
Henry Ford is the largest businessman of the 20th century, the “father” of the automobile industry. He was born into a family of farmers, where, according to him, there was too much manual labor, incommensurate with the results.
At the age of 12, he saw a locomobile for the first time and since then, attempts have been made to construct a moving mechanism.
In 1983 he created his first car, dreaming of turning it from a luxury item into a means of transportation accessible to the people.
Having suffered many failures and rejection from society, Henry Ford does not give up trying to implement his ideas, arguing that “far more often people give up than fail.”
Sales of the released Ford T bring huge profits. Today, his company, Ford Motor Company, is the fourth largest automobile manufacturer in the world.
Ranking of the richest people of all time.
They say that counting other people's money is the height of indecency.
But what if we are talking about the money of the richest people throughout the existence of mankind? The number of zeros in which the capital sums of outstanding individuals end, and the stories of their success are unlikely to make you envious - rather, they will become motivation on the path to your own achievements. After all, not all of them were born into wealthy families. We have compiled a ranking of the 15 richest people of all time, which shows that anyone can get rich. If you want to get on this list, start saving today.
Ray Kroc
Ray Kroc is an American entrepreneur and founder of the McDonald's chain. The man who personally scraped gum in his first restaurant has amassed a $500 million fortune.
Kroc began creating a fast food empire at the age of 52, with experience as a radio musician, real estate sales manager, and music store owner, as well as poor health.
In 1955, Kroc's first McDonald's opened in Illinois. 13 years later, the thousandth restaurant opens there.
In Russia, over 600 fast food restaurants of this popular brand receive more than 1 million visitors every day.
You can also learn about his journey by watching the film “The Founder.”
LeBron James
Source of wealth: sports
Revenue: $88.2 million
The NBA superstar, nicknamed King James, has a 4-year contract with the LA Lakers worth $154 million.
But it’s not basketball alone that’s growing LeBron’s bank account. He owns the production company SpringHill Entertainment, a sports agency, and a minority stake in Liverpool. In addition, he successfully invested in the Blaze Pizza chain and has a lifetime contract with Nike for an unknown amount. According to unofficial information, it exceeds $1 billion.
George Soros
George Soros is an influential investor, master market speculator, financial guru and founder of charitable foundations in 25 countries. He ranks 7th on the list of American billionaires with a fortune of over $20 billion.
Having miraculously escaped genocide in the Holocaust as a child, he later faced ethnic discrimination in employment. But a person who persistently sets a goal for himself always achieves it.
He learned the intricacies of buying and selling securities at a brokerage firm on Wall Street.
In 1970, George Soros founded the famous hedge fund Quantum, which for decades provided more than 30% return on stocks, and brought a total of $32 billion to its investors.
In 1992, Soros was one of the culprits behind the devaluation of the pound, which brought him billions in profit.
7. Neymar
Source of wealth: sports
Revenues: $95.5 million
Neymar is currently fulfilling his five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain football club. His move to PSG for $263 million became the most expensive transfer in football history.
But this year Neymar's wallet will be slightly empty. He will pay Barcelona 6.7 million euros, although he himself wanted 43.6 million euros from him as a bonus for extending the contract. Let us remember that in 2020 the footballer extended his contract with Barça until 2021, and then in 2017 he bought it out, paying 222 million euros in compensation, and went to PSG. Whether Neymar will appeal the court's decision is still unknown.
Robert Kiyosaki
Robert Kiyosaki is an investor, entrepreneur, sought-after international financial advisor and best-selling author on financial literacy. His fortune currently exceeds $2 billion, and his books have been sold in more than 26 million copies.
He is also the creator of the popular investment game Cash Flow, which I recently talked about.
The smart guy grew up in a family of teachers, had the opportunity to study at a prestigious local school and communicate with the children of high-status parents, including the parents themselves.
One of these was the father of Robert’s friend, who gave the boy lessons in financial education and became the prototype of the “rich dad” in Kiyosaki’s book of the same name, which brought real popularity to the author.
Having earned initial capital, Robert learns how to invest wisely. In 1985, he married Kim, an entrepreneur and experienced investor, and together with her he began to realize his many ideas and goals.
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is a TV presenter and the only black woman included in the list of the richest people in America. Her “The Oprah Winfrey Show” broke all known ratings records and brought the star a fortune.
Her credo: “You only need you to succeed” is very clearly illustrated by Winfrey’s life itself. A difficult childhood, sexual abuse, a colony - her father’s education and faith brought her out of the abyss of emotional death.
At the age of 16, she wins a public speaking competition and the right to study at the University of Tennessee, where, thanks to her efforts, she becomes one of the best students.
“The meaning of life is precisely to develop into the person you should be.”
In South Africa, Oprah opened a school for girls from poor families. He is a representative of the charitable organization Angel Network.
Pavel Durov
Pavel Durov is a Russian businessman, developer and co-founder of the social network Vkontakte and the Telegram messenger. At the age of 31, he entered the Forbes ranking of “200 richest businessmen in Russia”, and today he firmly occupies a position in the TOP-100.
In the 4th grade, I became interested in programming and, together with my brother, began creating programs on my first computer, an IBM PC XT. He graduated from the Academic Gymnasium with honors, and has 9 foreign languages in his knowledge base.
Inspired by the creation of Mark Zuckerberg - the social network Facebook - together with a classmate, he created the Russian-language analogue of Vkontakte in 2006.
By 2008, the network’s audience already amounted to more than 20 million registered users.
In 2013, Durov launched Telegram, an application for smartphones and other mobile devices with an emphasis on speed and security, which 3 years later gained more than a hundred million active users.
Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel is the founder of a fashion house and a famous female fashion designer. Chanel No. 5 perfume is still a top seller to this day, and Time magazine puts Mademoiselle in the TOP 100 most influential people in the fashion industry.
Having grown up in the strict discipline of a monastery, the girl was accustomed to breaking stereotypes. Her design imagination was nurtured in a small clothing repair shop.
Later, this skill will be useful to the fashion designer: her customized hats, women's trousers, little black dresses, and suits made from "men's" jersey, which were previously considered unacceptable, become standards of style and fashion.
This woman made herself. She literally became a fashion reformer and the founder of a brand associated with quality and respectability.
Walt Disney
Walt Disney is a legendary artist, director and producer. Creator of the first full-length musical cartoons in the history of cinema.
He is the winner of 29 Oscars and 4 Emmys, and his “The Walt Disney Company” ranks 13th on the list of the most influential brands.
Disney had a difficult childhood. The family lived in poverty, the father beat the child and forced him to deliver leaflets in any weather.
There was no money even for pencils and paper: the boy who loved to draw had to embody ideas with sticks and resin, using walls and fences as a canvas.
As a young man, he was fired from his job as a newspaper cartoonist due to his "prominent inability to draw." Employers would be surprised to learn that years later Walt would become an outstanding cartoon creator!
Richard Branson
Richard Branson is the richest man in Great Britain, the founder of the international corporation Virgin, one of the most brilliant businessmen in the world.
His name is included in the Guinness Book of Records, and his fortune is off the charts at $4 billion.
Richard does not accept the word “impossible” in his vocabulary. His autobiographical and motivational book “To hell with everything, get on and do it” perfectly shows his strong nature, iron-clad tenacity and tireless enthusiasm and adventurism.
The boy’s passion for entrepreneurship manifested itself early: he was breeding and selling parrots, growing Christmas trees, and publishing a newspaper at school.
Today, the Virgin Group conglomerate includes dozens of companies in the field of mobile communications, rail and air transportation, television, beverage production, book publishing, radio stations, medical services - and this is only part of the list!
Top 10 richest people on the planet
According to Bloomberg, the following ten top the international ranking of dollar billionaires:
- Jeff Bezos is “Mr. 143 Billion,” creator and shareholder of the online marketing network Amazon.
- Bill Gates ($93.7 billion) is the co-founder of MS Corporation, which is a key supplier of advanced software.
- Warren Buffett ($82.9 billion) is the CEO of Berkshire holding, the number one investor on the planet.
- Mark Zuckerberg ($79.7 billion) is a Facebook developer and manager of the company of the same name.
- Bernard Arnault ($78.1 billion) is the founder of LVMH, the copyright holder of world-famous luxury brands, including Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Hennessy.
- Amancio Ortega ($75.5 billion) is the former president of the Inditex corporation, the “father” of the super fashionable brand Zara.
- Carlos Slim ($56.5 billion) is one of the most influential figures in the telecommunications industry, under whose control are America Movil, Altria Group, Telcel, Grupo Carso.
- Larry Page ($56.4 billion) is the CEO of the Alphabet holding, which is the parent company of Google.
- Sergey Brin ($55.0 billion) – President, creator of the Google search engine robot and technologies in the field of online advertising.
- Larry Ellison ($52.3 billion) is the founder and largest shareholder of Oracle Corporation, which supplies server hardware and software.
The given indicators of the personal fortunes of the richest people correspond to the results of New York trading on June 15, 2018.
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerburg is the creator of the world's largest social network, Facebook, where about 1.5 billion accounts are registered!
A breakthrough is a breakthrough, but Mark is also the youngest billionaire in human history, having become rich by the age of 22. In 2014, the market value of the social network was estimated at $150 billion.
Ever since school, he had fun inventing and developing programs.
The self-learning music player Synapse, which he created, was offered to be bought by Microsoft, but Mark refused and soon made it publicly available.
His credo: “If a person has brains, he simply does not have the moral right to work not for himself.”
How do the richest people in the world earn money?
Over the past 5-6 years, the list of the richest people in the world has been quite stable. It includes:
- owners of IT concerns;
- creators of large Internet trading platforms;
- professional investors and stock speculators;
- owners of large transnational corporations and mobile communications companies.
Highly profitable areas of business also include trade in luxury goods and natural resources.
According to Forbes as of 2020, there are more than 2,000 billionaires . Their combined wealth is more than $8.7 trillion .
The size of the capital of ultra-rich people depends on current stock prices. During economic crises, the losses of billionaires are impressive: their wealth can decrease by several million dollars in a day.
It is also interesting to follow the distribution of the richest people across the world: the most billionaires are in the USA, China, and Germany. There are fewer rich and very rich people in emerging economies. Thus, in overpopulated India there are only 106 people with a fortune of over a billion dollars. In Russia, according to the rating, 98 entrepreneurs own billions of dollars in assets.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk is an American inventor, entrepreneur, co-founder of PayPal, who took on the development of global industries: solar energy, rocket science. His fortune is estimated at $20 billion.
He is one of the thirty richest people in the United States and one of the twenty most influential people on the planet. He sees the salvation of humanity in space exploration and the colonization of Mars.
Like Thomas Edison, he was often absent-minded and “withdrawn into himself.” Elon could imagine pictures in great detail.
According to the mother, she used to be worried about the boy’s detached state, but now she knows that her son is again inventing a new rocket.
The richest man in Russia
Of course, in our homeland we also have our own rich people, whose success stories we can admire and be proud of. As for the first place in the ranking of the richest people in Russia, it is not Abramovich, as everyone is accustomed to thinking, but Leonid Mikhelson, chairman of the board and a major shareholder of Sibur. His fortune, according to the official version, is $18.4 billion, which is quite modest by world standards, but very respectable in our country.
Mikhelson is a civil engineer by training, but either by the will of fate or due to personal hard work, Leonid quickly moved up the career ladder and already occupied major management positions in 1987. It is known that Mikhelson is no stranger to sacrifice and actively invests in various charitable projects, and also supports technical educational institutions.
