Forbes billionaire list 2015 has been
released and the the usual suspects like
Bill Gates retains the top spot, Five
Nigerians made the cut – Aliko Dangote,
Mike Adenuga, Folorunsho Alakija, Femi
Otedola and Abdulsamad Rabiu. Orji Uzor
Kalu and Tony Elumelu who made the list
last year were dropped off the list this
year.
Bill Gates is still the richest man in the
world. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is
now the 16th richest man in the world.
The youngest billionaire in the world is 24
year old Evan Spiegel, the co-founder of
photo- messaging app, Snapchat.
The year’s biggest loser in dollar terms is
Aliko Dangote of Nigeria, whose fortune
dropped to $14.7 billion from $25 billion
last year, propelled downward by a
weaker Nigerian currency and shrinking
demand for cement, his largest asset. He
still retains the title of Africa’s richest
man. The country that lost the most
ground by far was Russia, which now has
88 billionaires down from 111, less than
not just the U.S. and China but now also
Germany and India.
See the comprehensive list after the cut:
1. Bill Gates
Net Worth: $79.2 B
Source of wealth: Microsoft
2. Carlos Slim Helu & family
Net Worth: $77.1 B
Source of wealth: telecom
3. Warren Buffett
Net Worth: $72.7 B
Source of wealth: Berkshire Hathaway
4. Amancio Ortega
Net Worth: $64.5 B
Source of wealth: Zara
5. Larry Ellison
Net Worth: $54.3 B
Source of wealth: Oracle
6. Charles Koch
Net Worth: $42.9 B
Source of wealth: diversified
6. David Koch
Net Worth: $42.9 B
Source of wealth: diversified
8. Christy Walton & family
Net Worth: $41.7 B
Source of wealth: Wal-Mart
9. Jim Walton
Net Worth: $40.6 B
Source of wealth: Wal-Mart
10. Liliane Bettencourt & family
Net Worth: $40.1 B
Source of wealth: L’Oreal
11. Alice Walton
Net Worth: $39.4 B
Source of wealth: Wal-Mart
12. S. Robson Walton
Net Worth: $39.1 B
Source of wealth: Wal-Mart
13. Bernard Arnault & family
Net Worth: $37.2 B
Source of wealth: LVMH
14. Michael Bloomberg
Net Worth: $35.5 B
Source of wealth: Bloomberg LP
15. Jeff Bezos
Net Worth: $34.8 B
Source of wealth: Amazon.com
16. Mark Zuckerberg
Net Worth: $33.4 B
Source of wealth: Facebook
17. Li Ka-shing
Net Worth: $33.3 B
Source of wealth: diversified
18. Sheldon Adelson
Net Worth: $31.4 B
Source of wealth: casinos
19. Larry Page
Net Worth: $29.7 B
Source of wealth: Google
20. Sergey Brin
Net Worth: $29.2 B
Source of wealth: Google
21. Georg Schaeffler
Net Worth: $26.9 B
Source of wealth: ball bearings
22. Forrest Mars Jr
Net Worth: $26.6 B
Source of wealth: candy
22. Jacqueline Mars
Net Worth: $26.6 B
Source of wealth: candy
22. John Mars
Net Worth: $26.6 B
Source of wealth: candy
25. David Thomson & family
Net Worth: $25.5 B
Source of wealth: media
26. Jorge Paulo Lemann
Net Worth: $25 B
Source of wealth: beer
27. Lee Shau Kee
Net Worth: $24.8 B
Source of wealth: real estate
28. Stefan Persson
Net Worth: $24.5 B
Source of wealth: H&M
29. George Soros
Net Worth: $24.2 B
Source of wealth: hedge funds
29. Wang Jianlin
Net Worth: $24.2 B
Source of wealth: real estate
31. Carl Icahn
Net Worth: $23.5 B
Source of wealth: investments
32. Maria Franca Fissolo & family
Net Worth: $23.4 B
Source of wealth: Nutella, chocolates
33. Jack Ma
Net Worth: $22.7 B
Source of wealth: e-commerce
34. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud
Net Worth: $22.6 B
Source of wealth: investments
35. Steve Ballmer
Net Worth: $21.5 B
Source of wealth: Microsoft
35. Phil Knight
Net Worth: $21.5 B
Source of wealth: Nike
37. Beate Heister & Karl Albrecht Jr.
Net Worth: $21.3 B
Source of wealth: supermarkets
38. Li Hejun
Net Worth: $21.1 B
Source of wealth: solar power equipment
39. Mukesh Ambani
Net Worth: $21 B
Source of wealth: petrochemicals, oil &
gas
40. Leonardo Del Vecchio
Net Worth: $20.4 B
Source of wealth: eyeglasses
41. Len Blavatnik
Net Worth: $20.2 B
Source of wealth: diversified
41. Tadashi Yanai & family
Net Worth: $20.2 B
Source of wealth: retail
43. Charles Ergen
Net Worth: $20.1 B
Source of wealth: Dish Network
44. Dilip Shanghvi
Net Worth: $20 B
Source of wealth: pharmaceuticals
45. Laurene Powell Jobs & family
Net Worth: $19.5 B
Source of wealth: Apple, Disney
46. Dieter Schwarz
Net Worth: $19.4 B
Source of wealth: retail
47. Michael Dell
Net Worth: $19.2 B
Source of wealth: Dell
48. Azim Premji
Net Worth: $19.1 B
Source of wealth: software
49. Theo Albrecht Jr & family
Net Worth: $19 B
Source of wealth: Aldi, Trader Joe’s
50. Michael Otto & family
Net Worth: $18.1 B
Source of wealth: retail, real estate
67. Aliko Dangote
Net Worth: $14.7 B
Source of wealth: cement, sugar, flour
393. Mike Adenuga
Net Worth: $4.2 B
Source of wealth: telcom, oil
949. Folorunsho Alakija
Net Worth: $1.9 B
Source of wealth: oil
1741. Femi Otedola
Net Worth: $1 B
Source of wealth: oil and gas
1741. Abdulsamad Rabiu
Net Worth: $1 B
Source of wealth: cement, sugar, flour

I will be on that list by next edition. Stay tuned!