The richest people on Earth are not immune to the coronavirus. As the pandemic tightened its grip on Europe and America, global equity markets imploded, tanking many fortunes. When we finalized this list, Forbes counted 2,095 billionaires, 58 fewer than a year ago and 226 fewer than just 12 days earlier, when we initially calculated these net worths. Of the billionaires who remain, 51% are poorer than they were last year. In raw terms, the world’s billionaires are worth $8 trillion, down $700 billion from 2019.

METHODOLOGY

The Forbes World’s Billionaires list is a snapshot of wealth using stock prices and exchange rates from March 18, 2020. Some people become richer or poorer within days of publication. We list individuals rather than multigenerational families who share fortunes, though we include wealth belonging to a billionaire’s spouse and children if that person is the founder of the fortune. In some cases we list siblings or couples together if the ownership breakdown among them isn’t clear, but here an estimated net worth of $1 billion per person is needed to make the cut. We value a variety of assets, including private companies, real estate, art and more. We don’t pretend to know each billionaire’s private balance sheet (though some provide it). When documentation isn’t supplied or available, we discount fortunes.

#1 Jeff Bezos

Net Worth: $113 B

Age: 56

Country/Territory: United States

Source: Amazon

Industries: Technology

Jeff Bezos founded e-commerce colossus Amazon in 1994 out of his garage in Seattle. He remains CEO and owns a nearly 11.2% stake. He divorced his wife MacKenzie in July 2019 after 25 years of marriage and transferred a quarter of his Amazon stake to her. MacKenzie Bezos’s 4% slice of Amazon makes her one of the world’s richest women. In 2018, Amazon had $230 billion in revenues and a record $10 billion in net profit, up from $3 billion the prior year. In March 2020, Amazon announced it would hire 100,000 workers to meet increased demand during the coronavirus pandemic. Bezos owns The Washington Post and Blue Origin, an aerospace company that is developing a rocket for commercial use.

#2 Bill Gates

Net Worth: $98 B

Age: 64

Country/Territory: United States

Source: Microsoft

Industries: Technology

With his wife Melinda, Bill Gates chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest private charitable foundation. In February 2020, the Gates Foundation said it would spend up to $100 million to improve detection and treatment of the novel coronavirus. Gates has sold or given away much of his stake in Microsoft — he owns just over 1% of shares — and invested in a mix of stocks and other assets. In mid-March, Gates said he’s stepping down as a board member of Microsoft, the software firm he founded with Paul Allen (d. 2018) in 1975. The foundation works to improve global health and to create equal opportunity for people around the globe. To date, Gates has donated $35.8 billion worth of Microsoft stock to the Gates Foundation.

#3 Bernard Arnault & family

Net Worth: $76 B

Age: 71

Country/Territory: France

Source: LVMH

Industries: Fashion & Retail

One of the world’s ultimate taste-makers, Bernard Arnault oversees an empire of 70 brands including Louis Vuitton and Sephora. In November 2019, LVMH struck a deal to buy American jeweler Tiffany & Co for $16.2 billion, believed to be the biggest luxury brand acquisition ever. LVMH spent $3.2 billion in 2019 for luxury hospitality group, Belmond, which owns or manages 46 hotels, trains and river cruises. His father made a small fortune in construction; Arnault got his start by putting up $15 million from that business to buy Christian Dior in 1985. Four of Arnault’s five children work in corners of the LVMH empire: Frédéric, Delphine, Antoine and Alexandre.

#4 Warren Buffett

Net Worth: $67.5 B

Age: 89

Country/Territory: United States

Source: Berkshire Hathaway

Industries: Finance & Investments

Known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors of all time. Buffett runs Berkshire Hathaway, which owns more than 60 companies, including insurer Geico, battery maker Duracell and restaurant chain Dairy Queen. The son of a U.S. congressman, he first bought stock at age 11 and first filed taxes at age 13. He’s promised to give away over 99% of his fortune. In 2019 he donated $3.6 billion, much of it to the foundation of friends Bill and Melinda Gates. In 2010, he and Gates launched the Giving Pledge, asking billionaires to commit to donating half their wealth to charitable causes.

#5 Larry Ellison

Net Worth: $59 B

Age: 75

Country/Territory: United States

Source: Software

Industries: Technology

Larry Ellison cofounded software firm Oracle in 1977 to tap into the growing need for customer relationship management databases. He gave up the Oracle CEO role in 2014 but still serves as chairman of the board and chief technology officer. Oracle has grown in part through steady acquisitions of software companies, the biggest of which was $9.3 billion for Netsuite in 2016. In May 2016, Ellison pledged $200 million to the University of Southern California for a cancer treatment center. In 2012, Ellison spent $300 million to buy nearly all of Hawaiian island Lanai; so far, he has built a hydroponic farm and a luxury spa there. Ellison joined Tesla’s board in December 2018, after purchasing 3 million Tesla shares earlier that year.

#6 Amancio Ortega

Net Worth: $55.1 B

Age: 84

Country/Territory: Spain

Source: Zara

Industries: Fashion & Retail

Amancio Ortega is one of the richest men in Europe, and the wealthiest clothing retailer in the world. A pioneer in fast fashion, he cofounded Inditex, known for its Zara fashion chain, with his ex-wife Rosalia Mera (d. 2013) in 1975. He owns about 60% of Madrid-listed Inditex, which has 8 brands, including Massimo Dutti and Pull & Bear, and 7,500 stores around the world. Ortega typically earns more than $400 million in dividends a year. He has invested his dividends primarily into real estate in Madrid, Barcelona, London, Chicago, Miami and New York.

 

#7 Mark Zuckerberg

Net Worth: $54.7 B

Age: 35

Country/Territory: United States

Source: Facebook

Industries: Technology

Facebook. the social network Zuckerberg runs, has become a go-to communications tool during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, his philanthropic and advocacy arm, announced it would help quadruple the Bay Area’s COVID-19 testing capacity. Zuckerberg started Facebook at Harvard in 2004 at the age of 19 for students to match names with photos of classmates. He took Facebook public in May 2012 and still owns about 15% of the stock. In December 2015, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, pledged to give away 99% of their Facebook stake over their lifetimes.

#8 Jim Walton

Net Worth: $54.6 B

Age: 71

Country/Territory: United States

Source: Walmart

Industries: Fashion & Retail

Jim Walton is the youngest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. He gave away $1.2 billion in Walmart stock in June 2019, but remains the richest Walton in part thanks to an estimated 44% stake in Arvest Bank. Jim sat on Walmart’s board for more than a decade before yielding the seat to his son, Steuart, in June 2016. Collectively, he and other heirs of Sam Walton own about half of Walmart’s stock. Jim and sister Alice are spearheading a program that will issue $300 million in bonds to help charter schools invest in facilities.

#9 Alice Walton

Net Worth: $54.4 B

Age: 70

Country/Territory: United States

Source: Walmart

Industries: Fashion & Retail

Alice Walton is the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton. She has focused on curating art, rather than working for Walmart like her siblings, Rob and Jim. In 2011 she opened the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in her hometown, Bentonville, Arkansas. Crystal Bridges features works from the likes of Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell and Mark Rothko. She and brother Jim are spearheading a program that will issue $300 million in bonds to help charter schools invest in facilities.

#10 Rob Walton

Net Worth: $54.1 B

Age: 75

Country/Territory: United States

Source: Walmart

Industries: Fashion & Retail

Rob Walton is the eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. He took over as Walmart’s chairman upon his father’s death in 1992. Walton retired as chairman in June 2015 and was replaced by his son-in-law, Greg Penner. He still sits on Walmart’s board. He and other heirs of Sam Walton collectively own about half of Walmart’s stock. After a deadly mass shooting at one of its stores, Walmart said in September 2019 it would limit ammunition sales and discourage ‘open carry’ of guns.

#11 Steve Ballmer

Net Worth: $52.7 B

Age: 64

Country/Territory: United States

Source: Microsoft

Industries: Technology

Steve Ballmer is the high-wattage former CEO of Microsoft, who led the company from 2000 to 2014. He joined Microsoft in 1980 as employee No. 30 after dropping out of Stanford’s MBA program. Ballmer oversaw Microsoft at a difficult time, after the first dot-com crash and through efforts to catch Google in search and Apple in mobile phones. The same year he retired from Microsoft he bought the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion. He has ramped up his philanthropy since 2014, putting over $2 billion into a donor-advised fund, with a focus on lifting Americans out of poverty. In 2018, he invested $59 million in Social Solutions, which makes software for nonprofits and government agencies.

#12 Carlos Slim Helu & family

Net Worth: $52.1 B

Age: 64

Country/Territory: Mexico

Source: Telecom

Industries: Telecom

Mexico’s richest man, Carlos Slim Helu and his family control America Movil, Latin America’s biggest mobile telecom firm. With foreign telecom partners, Slim bought a stake in Telmex, Mexico’s only phone company, in 1990. Telmex is now part of America Movil. He also owns stakes in Mexican construction, consumer goods, mining and real estate companies and 17% of The New York Times. His son-in-law Fernando Romero designed the Soumaya Museum in Mexico City, home to Slim’s extensive, eclectic art collection.

#13 Larry Page

Net Worth: $50.9 B

Age: 47

Country/Territory: United States

Source: Google

Industries: Technology

Larry Page stepped down as CEO of Alphabet, the parent of Google, in December 2019 but remains a board member and a controlling shareholder. He cofounded Google in 1998 with fellow Stanford Ph.D. student Sergey Brin. With Brin, Page invented Google’s PageRank algorithm, which powers the search engine. Page was CEO until 2001, when Eric Schmidt took over, and then from 2011 until 2015, when he became CEO of Google’s new parent company Alphabet. He is a founding investor in space exploration company Planetary Resources and is also funding “flying car” startups Kitty Hawk and Opener.

#14 Sergey Brin

Net Worth: $49.1 B

Age: 46

Country/Territory: United States

Source: Google

Industries: Technology

Sergey Brin stepped down as president of Alphabet, parent company of Google, in December 2019 but remains a controller shareholder and a board member. He cofounded Google with Larry Page in 1998 after the two met at Stanford University while studying for advanced degrees in computer science. Google went public in 2004 and changed its name to Alphabet in 2015. Brin has been absent from public Alphabet events for much of 2019; he spends his time on Alphabet’s moonshot research lab X. Brin is reportedly funding a high-tech airship project.

#15 Francoise Bettencourt Meyers & family

Net Worth: $48.9 B

Age: 66

Country/Territory: France

Source: L’Oreal

Industries: Fashion & Retail

Francoise Bettencourt Meyers is the richest woman in the world and the granddaughter of L’Oreal’s founder. Bettencourt Meyers and her family own 33% of L’Oreal stock, which recorded its best sales growth in more than a decade in 2019. She has served on L’Oreal’s board since 1997 and is chairwoman of the family holding company. She became France’s reigning L’Oreal Heiress in 2017 when her mother Liliane Bettencourt, then the world’s richest woman, died at age 94. Bettencourt Meyers serves as the president of her family’s philanthropic foundation, which encourages French progress in the sciences and arts. Together, L’Oreal and the Bettencourt Meyers family agreed to donate $226 million to repair Notre Dame cathedral following the April 2019 fire.