From a University drop out to the founder of the World’s largest fashion retailer, we have a look at the top 5 Richest People in the World as listed by Forbes Magazine in real time and what got them to where they are today.
1: Bill Gates
Real Time Net Worth: $81.8 Billion
- Age: 61 years old
- Source of Wealth: Co-founder of Microsoft and Founder of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Industry: Tech
- Citizenship: United States
- Education: Harvard University, Drop Out
Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft in 1975 when he was just 20, since then it has become the world’s largest PC Software Company. He gave up being the largest shareholder of the company in 2014 and has passed on CEO duties to Satya Nadella who was responsible for establishing the Microsoft Clouding Platform. Gates is also crowned with being the most generous man, running one of the most powerful charities in the world. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation focuses on lifting millions out of poverty by eliminating HIV, malaria and other diseases.
2. Amancio Ortega
Real Time Net Worth: $75.8 Billion
- Age: 80
- Source of Wealth: Founder of Inditex Fashion Group, the parent company to Zara
- Industry: Fashion & Retail
- Citizenship: Spain
- Education: Self-made
Amancio Ortega is the richest man in Europe and is known for cofounding the fashion giant Zara. He left his studies at the age of 14 and learnt the art of making clothes by hand by working at a local shirt maker shop. He started the manufacturing of his company and opened the first Zara store in 1975. He has always maintained large involvement in the supply chain of his company and believes this has been key to his success.
3. Jeff Bezos
Real Time Net Worth: $67 Billion
- Age: 52
- Source of Wealth: Amazon.com
- Industry: Online Retail
- Citizenship: United States
- Education: Princeton University
Bezos is the founder and chief of Amazon.com which has become the world’s largest online shopping retailer. He founded the company after leaving his full time job in a large Hedge Fund after noticing the strong growth in the internet and e-commerce sector. Besides being the fifth richest person in the world, Jeff Bezos also has a strong interest in aerospace and newspapers. He purchased the The Washington Post in 2013 and also founded aerospace development company, Blue Origin in 2000. The company has plans to commercially provide human spaceflight experiences by the beginning of 2018.
4. Warren Buffett
Real Time Net Worth: $64.8 Billion
- Age: 86
- Source of Wealth: Berkshire Hathaway
- Industry: Investments
- Citizenship: United States
- Education: University of Nebraska Lincoln & Columbia University
Warren Buffet is the most successful investor in the world. Warren Buffet isn’t your ordinary billionaire, he has pledged to give away 99% of his net worth for philanthropist causes and has successfully been treated for prostate cancer in 2012. More recently he has been a strong supporter of the Clinton Campaign and has gone to several lengths to make this a known fact by even launching Drive2Vote, which is a website encouraging communities to exercise their right to vote.
5. Mark Zuckerberg
Real Time Net Worth: $56.2 Billion
- Age: 32
- Source of Wealth: Facebook
- Industry: Tech
- Citizenship: United States
- Education: Harvard University, Drop out
Zuckerberg at the age of 19 co-founded the popular social network Facebook in 2004. The youngest on the list, Zuckerberg has had a massive impact in changing the social media sphere for billions of users all around the world. In 2012 Facebook acquired photo sharing app Instagram, in 2014 it completed its purchase of instant messaging app, WhatsApp and more recently is entering into the Virtual Reality industry.
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