10 Most Successful Businessmen In The World

As Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk continue to trade back and forth for the title of “Wealthiest Person Alive”, we thought it would be interesting to compile a list of the 10 most successful businessmen in the world. We used Forbes real time data (live as of 4/1/2021) to make the list and excluded heads of state with unconfirmed/estimated net worth’s (ex: Vladimir Putin with an estimated net worth of $80-200B).

Coming in last (if there is such a thing when ranking multi-billionaires), Amancio Ortega is a Spanish entrepreneur with a net worth of $79.0 billion. He cofounded Inditex, a fashion company best known for its international clothing chain Zara. Inditex has 8 brands with over 7500 stores worldwide, making it one of the most successful fashion companies in the world. He typically brings in over $400 million a year in dividends, which he reportedly invests into real estate around the globe.

Sergey Brin, cofounder of Google, has a net worth of $96 billion. He founded the company in 1998 after meeting Larry Page at Stanford while both were studying for advanced computer science degrees. Google went public in 2004, quickly launching both Brin and Page into billionaire status. In 2015, Brin and Page formed Alphabet, the parent company of Google and other holdings. Brin served as president until December of 2019 and is now a controlling shareholder and board member.

Larry Page, the other half of Google, comes in with a slightly higher net worth of $99.1 billion. He’s a few billion closer to the $100B club than Brin and originally served as the CEO of Google. He stepped down as CEO in 2001 when Eric Schmidt took over, but reclaimed the role from 2011-2015. In 2015, he became CEO of the new parent company Alphabet and held the position until December of 2019. He’s still a controlling shareholder and board member of Alphabet, but is reportedly focused on other projects such as his space exploration company Planetary Resources and “flying car” startups Kitty Hawk and Opener.

Warren Buffet is known as one of the most successful investors of all time, raking in a fortune of $102.9 billion over his lifetime. He runs Berkshire Hathaway, a firm that owns over 60 companies from Geico to Duracell. Buffet has promised to donate over 99% of his wealth as a part of his participation in the Giving Pledge, an initiative he launched with Bill Gates in 2010. He lives in Omaha, NE in his modest home he bought for $38,000 in 1958.

Larry Ellison is cofounder, chairman, and CTO of the technology giant Oracle. He owns 35% of the company, bringing his net worth to $104.6 billion. He gave up the role of CEO in 2017 after nearly 40 years at the helm. In 2012, Ellison purchased most of the Hawaiian island Lanai for ~$300 million, building a hydroponic farm and luxury spa. He also serves as a board member of Tesla after purchasing 3 million shares in 2018.

Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook, the social network that quickly took over the internet in the mid 2000’s. He owns about 15% of the stock, making him worth $111.6 billion. He founded the company in 2004 while attending Harvard, dropping out after the website started to take off. Zuckerberg took Facebook public in 2012, making him an instant-billionaire. In December 2015, he and his wife Priscilla Chan pledged to give away 99% of their stake in the company.

Bill Gates cofounded Microsoft and is known for the philanthropic efforts of his charitable foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The charity has targeted a variety of issues and diseases around the world, and in May 2020 it pledged $300 million to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Gates owns just over 1% of Microsoft stock to date and is invested in a variety of other stocks and assets, giving him a net worth of $132.0 billion. He stepped down as a board member of Microsoft in 2020 after serving in leadership since founding with Paul Allen in 1975. He has donated over $35 billion during his lifetime, and has pledged to give away 99% of his wealth alongside Warren Buffet.

Elon Musk has been working to revolutionize transportation, both in space and on Earth. Musk made his original fortune after founding and selling PayPal, an online payment processing service. He is now the CEO of Tesla, an electric car company in which he has a 21% ownership stake. He also owns SpaceX, a space exploration company actively working towards putting humans on Mars. He is involved in a variety of other companies in addition to his main ventures, bringing his total net worth to $179.9 billion.

Bernard Arnault is Chairman and CEO of fashion conglomerate LVMH and has a massive $181.7 billion fortune. LVMH’s holdings include well known brands Louis Vuitton, Sephora, Christian Dior, Tiffany & Co, as well as others. Arnault made his money by buying Christian Dior in 1985 for $15 million, borrowing money from his father’s construction wealth to make the purchase and growing the fashion business into the giant it is today. Four of his 5 children work within the LVMH empire, making it likely that one of them will take over the business when he decides to step down.

Jeff Bezos is CEO of Amazon, a company he founded out of his garage in 1994 and built into the trillion-dollar corporation it is today. Bezos has amassed a fortune of $197.8 billion, making him the wealthiest individual in the world. Amazon employs over 1 million people and does $350+ billion a year in revenue. 2020 was a record year for the company, with revenues up over $100 billion and net profit up 84% for the year. He also owns The Washington Post and Blue Origin, a company developing rockets and technology for space exploration. Bezos recently announced he will step down as CEO and become Executive Chairman of Amazon in late 2021.

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