Who is the richest person in the world? Top 10 rich list, net worth ranked - from Bernard Arnault to Elon Musk

After dropping to second place in the list of world's richest people earlier this year, Elon Musk has once again taken back the title after the value of Bernard Arnault's LVMH shares took a dip.

Musk has been making headlines after completing the sale for the social media platform Twitter, with the Tesla CEO wasting no time in making sweeping changes, firing key staff members and changing the policy on blue tick verification.

These are some of the richest people in the world, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, their net worth and how they made their fortune.

Elon Musk - $199 billion

Elon Musk now ranks as the richest person in the world following a turbulent year in 2022. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO still has an eye-watering net worth of $148.4 billion.

Born in South Africa, he grew up in Pretoria before moving to America to study at the University of Pennsylvania. His first software startup, Zip2 was bought in 1999 for $307 million and he went on to co-found Paypal, which sold to eBay in 2002 for $2.5 billion. Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 and runs electric vehicle maker Tesla, of which he is a shareholder.

Musk has been married twice and allegedly has eight children. His last public relationship was with singer Grimes, with whom he has two children, a son named, X Æ A-12 and a daughter called Exa Dark Sideræl, he also reportedly had twins with his work colleague Shivon Zilis.

In April 2022, he bought the social media network Twitter for $44 billion, only to then pull out of the sale in July. As of 28 October however, the deal was finalised, with the Tesla CEO taking to Twitter to tell his 110 million followers “the bird is freed”. Since coming into ownership he has made sweeping changes, firing staff members and causing chaos after he allowed accounts to buy the blue tick verification.

Bernard Arnault - $191 billion

Bernard Arnault is the second richest person in the world, with a total net worth of $191 billion. The 73-year old French billionaire oversees 70 of the world’s most famous fashion and beauty brands including Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co and Sephora.

Arnault came from a wealthy background, with his father owning a successful construction business. He broke into the fashion industry in 1985 after using $15 million from his father’s business to buy Christian Dior. Currently based in Paris, France, Arnault is married to concert pianist Helene Mercier. The couple have five children, with four of them - Frédéric, Delphine, Antoine and Alexandre, working in the family business.

Jeff Bezos - $116.8 billion

Jeff Bezos is the fourth richest person in the world, with a net worth of $112.6 billion. Bezos is originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico and famously started Amazon from a garage in his home. The company began by selling books, but by the early 2000s it had expanded offering things from electronics to furniture and toiletries.

Bezos owns several apartments in New York City, homes in Washington, California and Washington DC and a ranch in Texas which is the private base for his company Blue Origin which ferried tourists into space in 2021. Bezos divorced from his wife MacKenzie in 2019 after 25-yeas of marriage, announcing his new relationship with Lauren Sanchez in the same year.

His company Amazon has been called into question due to its tax avoidance, with the organisation Ethical Consumer calling for an Amazon boycott. There have also been concerns about treatment of staff: in April 2022, warehouse employees in Staten Island, New York, successfully voted in favour of unionising. Union leader Chris Smalls said: “We want to thank Jeff Bezos for going to space because while he was up there we were signing people up.”

Larry Ellison - $106.7 billion

Lawrence Joseph is the co-founder, executive chairman, chief technology officer and former chief executive officer of the American technology company Oracle Corporation. Under his supervision the company grew to become the largest supplier of data based software in America, making the businessman a billionaire.

He stepped down as CEO for Oracle in 2014, but has stayed on in the company as the executive chairman, chief technology officer.

Ellison is friends with Musk, reported by the Business Insider, he had pledged $1billion towards Musk’s deal with Twitter.

Bill Gates - $101.8 billion

Bill Gates is no longer in the top 5 richest people in the world, with the Tech mogul currently dropping to seventh place. In July 2022 he took to Twitter to share that he would be donating his wealth to his foundation, with the plan to “move down and eventually off of the list of the world’s richest people.” It definitely seems like he has gotten his wish.

Gates made his fortune through the software company Microsoft, which he co-founded with Paul Allen in 1975. He was married to Melinda Gates for 27-years until their divorce in 2021. The pair formed the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, of which they still co-chair together. The foundation supports global health initiatives around the world, including improving global sanitation and working to eradicate diseases such as Malaria and Aids.

Who are the Top 10 richest people in the world?

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the top 10 richest people in the world are:

1. Elon Musk, $199 billion
2. Bernard Arnault, £191 billion
3. Jeff Bezos, $148 billion
4. Bill Gates, $128 billion
5. Larry Ellison, $119 billion
6. Steve Ballmer, $116 billion
7. Warren Buffet, $116 billion
8. Larry Page, $113 billion
9. Sergey Brin, $107 billion
10. Mark Zuckerberg $99.3 billion