Money
The Richest People in the World in 2024
See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.
The Richest People in the World in 2024
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
The combined wealth of the 10 richest individuals in the world amounts to $1.44 trillion.
Using data from Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List, we provide a snapshot of the richest people in the world as of February 2024.
Bernard Arnault Ahead of Elon Musk
Bernard Arnault overtook Elon Musk as the richest person in 2024 due to a 21% decline in Musk’s wealth, from $245.3 billion to $194.6 billion.
The billionaire chairman and CEO of the global luxury goods company LVMH runs dozens of luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Sephora, and Tiffany & Co. The French businessman also has investments in businesses such as Netflix and ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.
| Rank | Name | Net Worth | Source | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernard Arnault & family | $212.1B | LVMH | 🇫🇷 France |
| 2 | Elon Musk | $194.6B | Tesla, SpaceX | 🇺🇸 United States |
| 3 | Jeff Bezos | $192.4B | Amazon | 🇺🇸 United States |
| 4 | Mark Zuckerberg | $161.8B | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Larry Ellison | $144.0B | Oracle | 🇺🇸 United States |
| 6 | Warren Buffett | $128.7B | Berkshire Hathaway | 🇺🇸 United States |
| 7 | Bill Gates | $123.1B | Microsoft | 🇺🇸 United States |
| 8 | Larry Page | $120.3B | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Steve Ballmer | $119.2B | Microsoft | 🇺🇸 United States |
| 10 | Sergey Brin | $115.4B | 🇺🇸 United States |
The cumulative net worth of the top five richest individuals grew 4% in 2023, to $904.9 billion.
Among women, the richest person, L’Oréal’s Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, saw her fortune grow by $1.2 billion in 2023.
In China, Zhong Shanshan, the chairman and founder of bottled water and beverage producer Nongfu Spring, remains the country’s richest person with a net worth of $60.5 billion.
In India, the list is topped by Mukesh Ambani. The chairman of Reliance Industries, which has interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom, retail, and financial services, has a $102.1 billion fortune.
How Fortunes Have Changed
Just as in 2023, Mark Zuckerberg saw the most significant growth in his fortune among the top 10 richest individuals. The Facebook co-founder’s net worth surged by over $45 billion by February 2024 compared to November 2023, after Meta’s latest results far exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, sending its shares up.
Zuckerberg’s net worth growth of 39% moved him from 7th to 4th, overtaking Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Larry Ellison.
Meanwhile, Larry Ellison, Oracle’s chief technology officer and former CEO, saw his net worth retreat by $3 billion after the company reported disappointing revenue in 2023.
Wealth
Charted: What Frustrates Americans About the Tax System
A survey during peak tax filing season reveals two big complaints that Americans have with the federal tax system.
What Frustrates Americans About the Tax System
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on Apple or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
In this visualization, we show Pew Research’s findings on what bothers Americans the most about the tax system.
This data was collected after surveying more than 5,000 American adults between the period of March 27-April 2, 2023.
The survey was weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population. Visit Pew Research’s methodology page for more details.
Americans Want More Taxes for Some
Six in every 10 Americans feel that both corporations and the wealthy don’t pay their fair share in federal taxes.
Their sentiments are not entirely unfounded.
| Very frustrated | Somewhat frustrated | Not much/ at all frustrated |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 🏦 Corporations don't pay a fair share | 61% | 22% | 15% |
| 💼 Wealthy people don't pay a fair share | 60% | 22% | 17% |
| 🤔 Complexity of the tax system | 53% | 32% | 13% |
| 💸 Amount of tax paid | 38% | 33% | 29% |
| 🧑🤝🧑 Poor people don't pay a fair share | 13% | 21% | 64% |
Note: No answer responses are not shown, thus percentages may not sum to 100.
A 2021 ProPublica investigation found some of the wealthiest Americans—also the wealthiest people in the world—did not pay a single penny in federal income taxes in some years.
A significant part of why this is possible is how taxes are collected depending on the source. Since much of the top 1% grow their wealth in equity and property, they are not subject to taxes until they make an actual transaction.
As this Brookings Institution article explains: most Americans make money through their wages, and wages are subject to heavier taxation than capital income. Thus, the tax share of America’s highest-income households is often lower than America’s middle-income households.
Finally, Pew Research noted that their findings were essentially unchanged since 2021.
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