10 Richest People on the Planet

1. Jeff Bezos (Total net worth $124B)

Jeff Bezos has become synonymous with his company, Amazon, the online book retailer turned global e-commerce juggernaut he founded in Seattle in 1994. Mr. Bezos still runs Amazon, ranked the world's fourth-largest information technology company by revenue. In addition to retail and tech, Amazon has also ventured into the streaming game, with a number of original shows in development.
When Amazon's stock price surges up, Bezos edges out Bill Gates and moves into the pole position on Bloomberg's Index. When Amazon's stock eases up, Bezos can slip into the second position. But Amazon's recent successes may soon put Bezos out of reach.

2. Bill Gates (Total net worth $91.6B)

It might come as a surprise that Bill Gates, who has dominated "world's richest" lists for well over a decade and usually tops the index at number one, is currently is second place. But note that he's neck-and-neck with Jeff Bezos, so depending on the day and the stock market, he still toggles between #1 and #2.

As co-founder of Microsoft, Mr. Gates still holds a 2.4 percent stake in the company, along with a portfolio of diversified assets through a number of publicly traded companies across multiple business sectors, including Canada's biggest railroad operator. Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and The Giving Pledge, Mr. Gates has pledged a large portion of his fortune to help solve some of the world's most pressing public health problems.

3. Warren Buffett (Total net worth $86.3B)

Warren "the Oracle of Omaha" Buffett's origin story is as American as the proverbial apple pie. Known as one of the most successful and prolific investors of all time, Mr. Buffett famously began his professional career as a paperboy and rode an enviable work ethic all the way to the top of the finance world, culminating with his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway. Fun fact: Berkshire Hathaway was originally a textile manufacturer, which eventually came to be the umbrella for 60+ companies under management.

4. Mark Zuckerberg (Total net worth $73.6B)

Like most of the famous tech entrepreneurs on the list, Mark Zuckerberg needs no introduction. Like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg famously left Harvard early to work on the social network that would come to change the world and influence everything from politics and media to interpersonal communications. As co-founder and current Chairman and CEO of Facebook, Mr. Zuckerberg is the youngest member of the list.

5. Amancio Ortega (Total net worth $72.2B)

The tech sector may account for the largest slice of the pie, but the third richest billionaire in the world and number one in Europe is the head of retail giant Inditex Ventures, most famous for the Zara fast-fashion clothing chain. A quintessential "rags-to-riches" success story, Amancio Ortega rose from a humble working class background in Spain to run a multinational retail empire, where he continues to work to this day at the age of 80.

6. Carlos Slim (Total net worth $67.5B)

Best known for his stake in Latin American telecom company America Movil, Carlos Slim also has holdings in a number of international companies across various sectors in Mexico, as well as recognizable American companies like The New York Times and Philip Morris.

7. Bernard Arnault (Total net worth $65.1B)

The other European on the list also made his fortune in the retail sector. As chairman of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Bernard Arnault controls the world's biggest luxury goods house, which in addition to the beloved Louis Vuitton brand also includes high profile brands like Tag Heuer and Dom Perignon champagne.

8. Larry Ellison (Total net worth $55.3B)

Larry Ellison made his name (and fortune) as the founder of legendary database company Oracle. While his roughly 25 percent stake in Oracle may account for a large portion of his wealth, Mr. Ellison also holds a diversified portfolio with investments across a number of industries, namely real estate and professional sports (including a sailing team and the tennis tournament at Indian Wells in California).

9. Larry Page (Total net worth $55.3B

With his partner Sergey Brin (no. 10), Larry Page claimed his place in history and helped to change the world as the co-founder of Google. As CEO of Google's holding company (Alphabet), Larry Page controls the world's largest search engine operator.

10. Sergey Brin (Total net worth $53.3B)

As co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin is a member of the elite group of tech titans that got their start in a San Francisco area garage. President of Alphabet, Mr. Brin has also had a hand in Google's innovative offshoot Google X, where the company's many geniuses are hard at work on various "moon shots," working to find solutions to some of the world's most pressing problems. In addition to his role in inventions like Google Glass, Sergey Brin went a little off-brand in 2007 to executive produce the movie "Broken Arrow" with his co-founder Larry Page.