michaelaThis graphic shows the richest people that live outside of America, based on data from Bloomberg.
The World’s Richest: A Global Perspective
Here are the wealthiest non-American people in the world as of January 2024:
| Rank | Name | Country | Net Worth Jan 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernard Arnault | ???????? France | $183B |
| 2 | Mukesh Ambani | ???????? India | $108B |
| 3 | Carlos Slim | ???????? Mexico | $101B |
| 4 | Françoise Bettencourt Meyers | ???????? France | $97B |
| 5 | Gautam Adani | ???????? India | $96B |
| 6 | Amancio Ortega | ???????? Spain | $85B |
| 7 | Zhong Shanshan | ???????? China | $62B |
| 8 | Gerard Wertheimer | ???????? France | $47B |
France’s Bernard Arnault, with a net worth of $183 billion, is the world’s richest person thanks to the success of LVMH, the luxury conglomerate he runs.
With brands including Louis Vuitton, Fendi, and Christian Dior, LVMH is among the largest public companies in Europe, reaching a $444 billion valuation in 2024. Last year, the company witnessed record revenues driven by sales in its fashion and leather divisions.
Latin America’s richest person is Carlos Slim, with a fortune of $101 billion. Slim’s net worth is equal to nearly 8% of Mexico’s GDP. His wealth is largely derived from his ownership of América Móvil, Latin America’s largest mobile-phone operator, as well as his conglomerate, Grupo Carso.
The world’s richest woman is Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, also from France. According to Bloomberg, Bettencourt Meyers’ controls one-third of L’Oreal, and is the chairwoman of her family’s private equity firm, Tethys Investments.
As China’s richest person, Zhong Shanshan is chairman of bottled water company, Nongfu Spring. The company is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, where it raised $1.1 billion from its 2020 IPO. He is also involved with Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise, a producer of vaccines.
While the richest people in America are heavily concentrated in tech, not one on this list derives the majority of their wealth from the sector, illustrating a clear departure from this trend.
MONEY
The Richest People in the World in 2024
Bernard Arnault overtook Elon Musk as the richest person in 2024 due to a 21% decline in Musk’s wealth, from $245.3 billion to $194.6 billion.
The billionaire chairman and CEO of the global luxury goods company LVMH runs dozens of luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Sephora, and Tiffany & Co. The French businessman also has investments in businesses such as Netflix and ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.
| Rank | Name | Net Worth | Source | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernard Arnault & family | $212.1B | LVMH | ???????? France |
| 2 | Elon Musk | $194.6B | Tesla, SpaceX | ???????? United States |
| 3 | Jeff Bezos | $192.4B | Amazon | ???????? United States |
| 4 | Mark Zuckerberg | $161.8B | ???????? United States | |
| 5 | Larry Ellison | $144.0B | Oracle | ???????? United States |
| 6 | Warren Buffett | $128.7B | Berkshire Hathaway | ???????? United States |
| 7 | Bill Gates | $123.1B | Microsoft | ???????? United States |
| 8 | Larry Page | $120.3B | ???????? United States | |
| 9 | Steve Ballmer | $119.2B | Microsoft | ???????? United States |
| 10 | Sergey Brin | $115.4B | ???????? United States |
The cumulative net worth of the top five richest individuals grew 4% in 2023, to $904.9 billion.
Among women, the richest person, L’Oréal’s Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, saw her fortune grow by $1.2 billion in 2023.
In China, Zhong Shanshan, the chairman and founder of bottled water and beverage producer Nongfu Spring, remains the country’s richest person with a net worth of $60.5 billion.
In India, the list is topped by Mukesh Ambani. The chairman of Reliance Industries, which has interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom, retail, and financial services, has a $102.1 billion fortune.
How Fortunes Have Changed
Just as in 2023, Mark Zuckerberg saw the most significant growth in his fortune among the top 10 richest individuals. The Facebook co-founder’s net worth surged by over $45 billion by February 2024 compared to November 2023, after Meta’s latest results far exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, sending its shares up.
Zuckerberg’s net worth growth of 39% moved him from 7th to 4th, overtaking Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Larry Ellison.
