Page 77 - Forbes - USA (March 2018)

the world’s

billionaires

total
otal
e
n
net worth:
net worth: :
r
t
w

t
h
o
$9.1 trillion
Billionaires:
2,208
united states the aMericas europe Middle east & africa asia-pacific
worth: worth: worth: worth: worth:
$3.1 trillion $563 billion $2.4 trillion $250 billion $2.8 trillion
Billionaires: Billionaires: Billionaires: Billionaires: Billionaires:
585 138 559 99 827
Capitalism’s global conquest continues. There were 140 billionaires in the world when we published our
first list, 31 years ago. Today there are more than 2,200. The vast majority are entrepreneurs—including
Jeff Bezos, the world’s wealthiest person and the first to appear with a $100 billion-plus fortune—who
got rich building their own companies, creating wealth and jobs and sparking innovation along the way.
Surging stock markets and rising commodity prices have made this a particularly strong year for the
ultra-rich: The average billionaire is worth some $4.1 billion this year, up 9% over the past 12 months.
Still, 120 people fell from our ranks, for reasons ranging from politics to philanthropy; another 25 died.
For much more on the world’s wealthiest, including a global ranking in order of net worth, go to:
www.ForBeS.Com/BillionaireS
Editors: luisa Kroll and Kerry a. dolan
AdditionAl Editing: John Koppisch, chase peterson-withorn
Country Editors: Graham Button, Grace chunG, russell Flannery, naazneen Karmali, aBram Brown, tatiana seraFin
WEAlth tEAm: anGel au-yeunG, elena BerezansKaya, iGor BosilKovsKi, deniz Çam, maGGie chen, carter coudriet, alexandra GarFinKle, max Jedeur-palmGren, noah Kirsch, elaine mao, zina mouKheiBer,
andrea murphy, anis muslimin, oma seddiq, chloe sorvino, michela tindera, JenniFer wanG
and reporters at ForBes licensed editions in austria, czech repuBlic, hunGary, France, KazaKhstan, Korea, indonesia, middle east, mexico, poland, russia, slovaKia, turKey and vietnam
rEportErs: yuri aKsyonov, dan alexander, prisca anG, meGha Bahree, madeline BerG, Kim Bode, nilGun cavdar, lauren Gensler, ricardo Geromel, roBert Kidd, nicole lindsay, roBert olsen, lucinda
schmidt, leonard schoenBerGer, James simms, ozer turan, alexandra wilson, susan adams, Jason Booth, Biz carson, caroline chen, shu-chinG Jean chen, muhammad cohen, till dalrup, James dunn,
reBecca FenG, antoine Gara, christopher helman, alvaro hernandez zorrilla, Jane ho, sean Kilachand, Joann muller, Johannes musial, suzanne nam, lan anh nGuyen, wendy puGh, anuradha raGhu-
nathan, natalie roBehmed, sheela sarvananda, samantha sharF, neha soni, Jessica tan, tim treadGold, Kate vinton, JenniFer wells
rEsEArCh: Sue RadlaueR • photo rEsEArCh: MeRRilee BaRton, Gail toivanen, KRiStine Gentile SMith • dAtAbAsE: dmitri slavinsKy
ACknoWlEdgmEnts: special thanKs to lw hospitality advisors, Factset research systems, orBis By Bureau van diJK, real capital analytics, euromonitor international, pitchBooK and dozens oF other
experts who helped us with our reportinG and valuations
march 31, 2018 FOrBES | 75