The ten wealthiest people on Earth, ranked by their latest publicly disclosed net worth — a list that has been reshuffled repeatedly by AI booms, retail empires, and luxury-goods dynasties.
Quick answer: 1. Elon Musk, 2. Bernard Arnault & family, 3. Jeff Bezos, 4. Mark Zuckerberg, 5. Larry Ellison, 6. Larry Page, 7. Sergey Brin, 8. Steve Ballmer, 9. Jim Walton & family, 10. Alice Walton & family.
The world's richest people are a constantly shifting group whose fortunes rise and fall with stock markets, commodity prices, and the companies they founded. This list ranks the ten wealthiest individuals on the planet by their net worth as tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the most frequently updated real-time wealth ranking. As of July 2026, the top of the list is dominated by figures whose wealth is tied to technology (Tesla, Amazon, Oracle, Meta, Google, Microsoft), with Bernard Arnault's luxury-goods conglomerate LVMH and the retail fortune of the Walmart heirs providing balance. The fortunes involved are large enough that a single trading day can move someone up or down several spots.
Tesla CEO, SpaceX founder, and owner of X (formerly Twitter). His net worth fluctuates heavily with Tesla's stock price, but his SpaceX and xAI stakes provide a massive second pillar that keeps him near the top regardless of Tesla's swings.
Chairman of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world's largest luxury-goods company. His fortune is tied to LVMH's portfolio of 75+ brands including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Tiffany, and Sephora, which have proven resilient across economic cycles.
Founder and executive chairman of Amazon and owner of The Washington Post and Blue Origin. His net worth surged during Amazon's cloud-computing and e-commerce dominance and remains one of the largest fortunes tied to a single company.
CEO and controlling shareholder of Meta Platforms (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp). Meta's heavy investment in AI and the metaverse has driven dramatic stock appreciation, vaulting Zuckerberg from the middle of the top 10 into the top 5 in recent years.
Co-founder, chairman, and chief technology officer of Oracle Corporation. Ellison's fortune is largely in Oracle stock, and the company's cloud-infrastructure pivot has sustained his place among the tech elite for decades.
Google co-founder and Alphabet board member. Unlike many of his peers who remain active CEOs, Page has stepped back from daily operations but retains a significant shareholding that keeps his net worth among the highest in tech.
Google co-founder and Alphabet board member. Brin's fortune mirrors Page's — both hold comparable Alphabet stakes — and he has similarly stepped away from operational roles while remaining one of the world's wealthiest people.
Former Microsoft CEO and owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. Ballmer's wealth comes from his long tenure at Microsoft and his massive shareholding, which appreciated significantly during the Satya Nadella era. The Clippers' franchise value has also grown substantially.
Son of Walmart founder Sam Walton and chairman of Arvest Bank. The Walton family collectively holds roughly half of Walmart's shares, making them the wealthiest family in the world. Jim's personal fortune represents his portion of that inheritance.
Daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton and founder of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Her fortune, like her brother Jim's, is derived from Walmart shares inherited from the family, one of the largest fortunes in the world built entirely from retail.
| # | Name | primarySource | country | age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elon Musk | Tesla, SpaceX | United States | 55 |
| 2 | Bernard Arnault & family | LVMH | France | 77 |
| 3 | Jeff Bezos | Amazon | United States | 62 |
| 4 | Mark Zuckerberg | Meta Platforms | United States | 42 |
| 5 | Larry Ellison | Oracle | United States | 81 |
| 6 | Larry Page | Alphabet (Google) | United States | 53 |
| 7 | Sergey Brin | Alphabet (Google) | United States | 52 |
| 8 | Steve Ballmer | Microsoft | United States | 70 |
| 9 | Jim Walton & family | Walmart | United States | 78 |
| 10 | Alice Walton & family | Walmart | United States | 76 |
Individuals are ranked in descending order by net worth (USD), drawn from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of mid-July 2026. The Bloomberg index is the benchmark because it updates daily using share prices, economic data, and financial filings. Only individuals whose fortunes are tracked by Bloomberg and whose primary source of wealth is disclosed are included. Net worth figures are floating-value snapshots and will differ from the Forbes World's Billionaires list, which is an annual snapshot. Ranks reflect the ordering at the time of compilation and may shift with market movements.
As of mid-July 2026, the richest person in the world is Elon Musk, with an estimated net worth of about $256 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His fortune is primarily tied to Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index calculates net worth using the latest available share prices, economic data, and financial filings. For public companies, fortunes are calculated from the individual's disclosed or estimated shareholding multiplied by the current stock price. Private-company valuations are based on comparable public companies, recent funding rounds, or analyst estimates.
Bloomberg updates its billionaire index daily based on real-time market movements, while Forbes publishes its World's Billionaires list as an annual snapshot. Because stock prices change constantly, a person's rank can differ between the two, and the Bloomberg list is typically more current.
No. Most billionaire wealth is tied up in company stock and other illiquid assets. While billionaires can sell shares over time, a large block sale would typically move the stock price downward, so these figures represent ownership value rather than accessible cash.
Eight of the top 10 are American. Bernard Arnault (France) and his family are the sole non-American entry, along with the Walton family's American wealth. The list has become increasingly U.S.-dominated due to the concentration of large technology companies in American markets.