According to the money experts at Forbes there are 2,668 billionaires in the world.
These are the mega-rich tycoons whose vast wealth means they are able to influence the world in a multitude of ways - from the economy, to politics, our media and much more.
Many members of this influential group are the owners of major technology giants or other companies that we rely on regularly in our daily lives.
Using real-time net worth data collected in Forbes’ Billionaire list, here are the ten richest people in the world - and their sources of wealth.
1. Elon Musk
Elon Musk is the founder of SpaceX, CEO and product architect of Tesla and owner of Twitter (now X). Shortly after assuming his new role with Twitter last year, he fell from grace as the world’s richest man, but now in 2023 he’s back on top with his net worth at $244.1 billion. Photo: Belinda Jiao
2. Bernard Arnault & family
Bernard Arnault is a French business magnate and the CEO of Louis Vuitton (LVMH), he oversees the LVMH empire which includes 75 brands such as Sephora. His net worth is currently $189.8 billion. Photo: via WikiCommons
3. Jeff Bezos
Jeffrey Bezos is the founder, executive chairman and former president and CEO of Amazon; the e-commerce giant he founded in 1994 out of his garage in Seattle. His net worth sits at $170.8 billion. Photo: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
4. Larry Ellison
Lawrence Ellison is an American business magnate and the co-founder, executive chairman, chief technology officer and former CEO of the Oracle Corporation. His net worth is $131.6 billion. Photo: via WikiCommons