By Kerry A. Dolan and Luisa Kroll
(see more credits and acknowledgments below)
Volatile stock markets, cratering oil prices and a stronger dollar led to a dynamic reshuffling of wealth around the globe and a drop in ten-figure fortunes for the first time since 2009. For our 30th annual guide to the world’s richest, we found 1,810 billionaires, down from a record 1,826 a year ago. Their aggregate net worth was $6.48 trillion, $570 billion less than last year. It was also the first time since 2010 that the average net worth of a billionaire dropped – it is now $3.6 billion, $300 million less than last year.
Behind these figures is a story of huge upheaval, as 221 people fell off the list, while 198 newcomers joined the ranks; another 29 people from 2015 died while 29 who’d previously fallen off climbed back on. Of those who were billionaires both years, 892 are poorer while 501 added to their fortunes.
The reshuffling starts at the top. Only 2 people in the top 20 managed to hold onto their ranks. Bill Gates remains the richest person in the world with a net worth of $75 billion, despite being $4.2 billion poorer than a year ago. He has been No. 1 one for 3 years in a row and topped the list 17 out of 22 years. (In the 30 years FORBES has tracked global wealth, only 5 people have held the title of richest person on planet; 3 of those 5 still rank among the 4 richest in the world including Warren Buffett and Carlos Slim.) Also holding steady is Buffett at No. 3.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg had the best year of all billionaires. The 31-year-old added $11.2 billion to his fortune and moved up to No. 6 from 16. He and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos both make their first appearance in the top ten of FORBES’ annual ranking of the world’s wealthiest. Another first: A billionaire from China’s mainland, Wang Jianlin, whose company owns AMC Theaters and soon will own Legendary Pictures, has climbed into the top 20.
View the full list of 2016 billionaire rankings here.
Among the most notable newcomers are Cameron Mackintosh, the first theater producer to make the billionaire ranks; WeWork’s Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey and Pinterest’s Ben Silbermann and Evan Sharp. Neumann, Silbermann and Sharp are 3 of a record 66 billionaires under the age of 40. The youngest billionaire in the world is a 19-year-old Norwegain heiress, Alexandra Andresen, who has a 42% stake in her family’s business. Her sister Katharina is second youngest, just 20.
Another new entrant worth mentioning is Zhou Qunfei, whose $5.9 billion fortune from smartphone screens is enough to make her the richest self-made woman in the world. She is one of 190 women in the list, down from 197 last year. Among the notable drop-offs are fashion designer Tory Burch, Sam Adams chief Jim Koch and Dick’s Sporting Goods head Edward Stack.
The U.S. has 540 billionaires, more than any other country in the world. It's followed by mainland China with 251 (Hong Kong has another 69) and Germany with 120. Russia has 77, ten-figure fortunes, 11 fewer than last year, while Brazil is down 23 to 31.
The Forbes Billionaires list is a snapshot of wealth taken on Feb. 12; we used stock prices and exchange rates from that day. Some fortunes could have changed considerably since then.
Wealth Editors: Luisa Kroll and Kerry A. Dolan
Deputy Editors: Keren Blankfeld and Dan Alexander
Country Editors: Graham Button, Russell Flannery, Naazneen Karmali, John Koppisch, Tatiana Serafin, Nathan Vardi
Wealth Team: Elena Berezanskaya, Maggie Chen, Max Jedeur-Palmgren, Andrea Murphy, Chase Peterson-Withorn, Katia Savchuk, Chloe Sorvino, Kate Vinton, Jennifer Wang
Reporters: Forbes Indonesia, Forbes Korea, Forbes Mexico, Forbes Middle East, Forbes Russia, Forbes Turkey, Isabel Albino, Lateshia Beachum, Abram Brown, Deniz Cam, Caroline Chen, Grace Chung, Muhammad Cohen, Antoine Gara, Ricardo Geromel, Christopher Helman, Neerja Pawha Jetley, Arooba Khan, Li huimin, Zina Moukheiber, Micah Park, Anuradha Raghunathan, Saritha Rai, Leonard Schoenberger, Bartie Scott, Jessica Tan, Michela Tindera
Research: Susan Radlauer
Photo Research: Merrilee Barton, Gail Toivanen, Kristine Gentile Smith
Database: Dmitri Slavinsky, Ken Barney, Sherry Xia
Product: Ariana Santana, Louie Torres
Additional Reporting: Forbes Africa, Forbes Czech Republic, Forbes Japan, Forbes Kazakhstan, Forbes Poland, Forbes Romania, Susan Adams, Yuri Aksyonov, Kurt Badenhausen, Kim Bode, Erin Carlyle, Nilg un Cavdar, Kathleen Chaykowski, Shu-Ching Jean Chen, Chris Erb, Daniel Fisher, Sean Kilachand, Alex Konrad, Ernesto Linares Mascaro, Nicole Lindsay, Ryan Mac, Jan McCallum, Joann Muller, Johannes Musial, Suzanne Nam, Lan Anh Nguyen, Mfonobong Nsehe, Clare O’Connor, Robert Olsen, Parmy Olson, Natalie Robehmed, Matt Schifrin, Lucinda Schmidt, James Simms, Brian Solomon, Natalie Sportelli, Deborah Steinborn, Yuelun Sun, Glenda Toma, Tim Treadgold, Ozer Turan
Designers: Andres Jauregui, Nicholas DeSantis
QA: Kaushal Shah, Francesca Diaz, Titiksha Sukhadia, Bebin George
Producer: Daniel Kleinman
Video: Cara Cosentino, Amanda Tallini, Gregory Anderssen, Kelly Appleton, Meghan Christensen, Dikenta Dike, Morgan Sun, Brian Petchers, Tom Pierson, Will Sanderson, Kirsten Taggart, Kieran Meadows, Chad McClymonds, Matt Kang. Video Intern: Jiwei Li
Acknowledgments: Special thanks to LW Hospitality Advisors, Orbis by Bureau Van Dijk, Privco, Real Capital Analytics and dozens of other experts who helped us with our reporting and valuations:
Eric Anton, HFF; Farha Aslam, Stephens Inc.; Claudio Aspesi, Sanford C. Bernstein; Michael Braunholtz, Prestige Property Group; James Cahill, Costa Rica Invest; Keith Calder, Snoot Entertainment LLC; Galen Chase, Chase Brother Properties; Jeremy Cunnington, Euromonitor; Cushman & Wakefield; Karl Danielsson, Karl Danielsson Egendomar; Martin Deboo, Jefferies; Rommel Dionisio, Wunderlich Securities; Thomas Druyen, Sigmund Freud PrivatUniversitat; Euromonitor; Nicklas Fharm, SEB; Green Street Advisors; Alexander Hall, Vineyard Intelligence; Jeffrey Harwood, Oriel Securities; Matt Hegarty, Daily Racing Form; Lars Hevreng, Danske Bank; Donna Hood Crecca, Technomic; Julien Jarmoszko, S&P Capital IQ; Richard Knight, Liberum; Daniel Lesser, LW Hospitality Advisors; Mark Lester, Jones Lang LaSalle; Staffan Lijleqvist, Tornstaden; Jack McCabe, Jack McCabe research; Jonathan Miller, Miller Samuel; Diego Moyo-Ocampos, IHS Country Risk; Muskoka Tourism; Espen Nordbo, Haavind; Øyvind Bøhren, Norwegian Business School; Claudia Norrgren, Vessels Value; Bill Ostrove, Forecast International; Micheal Pachter, Webush Securities; Richard Parkes, Deutsche Bank; Pitchbook; Richard Pollak, Barrington Research; Matthias Queck, Lebensmittel Zeitung; John Ransom, Raymond James; Real Capital Analytics; Thomas Roeb, Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg; Erik Sandstedt, Handelsbanken; Andrew Sangster, Hotel Analyst; Patrick Scholes, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey; Martin Schreiber, Zurcher Kantonalbank; Bill Selesky, Argus Research; SNL Kagan; Lisa Springer, Singular Research; Duane Stanford, Beverage Digest; STR; Tim Swannie, Home Hunts; Paul Swinand, Morningstar; Christian Sylt, Formula Money; Matt Tiampo, Craig-Hallum Capital; Stephen Volkmann, Jefferies; Kwame Webb, Morningstar; David Windley, Jefferies; Jerry Witler, Northwest Forestry Services; Marcus Yaniv, Diamond Investment & Intelligence Center; Paul Yong, DBS Bank; Paul Zimnisky, independent diamond analyst; Konrad Zomer, ABN AMRO Bank.
