The role of billionaires in shaping politics, the global economy and philanthropy is massive. As of 2026, Forbes reports that there are around 3,428 billionaires worldwide, with Tesla and SpaceX's CEO, Elon Musk, leading the way. With their immense wealth, frequently tied up in the companies they founded, they have significant control and influence. Leveraging their wealth, they can defer or even eliminate taxes on unrealized capital gains and make use of an array of tax deductions. Their net worth fluctuates with the market valuation of the companies they own.
Elon Musk has topped the global list since 2021 with his diverse ventures that significantly include Tesla and SpaceX. Musk not only changed the automotive sector with electric vehicles but also made contributions to the advancement of space technology. Moreover, he owns a significant stake in X.com, now PayPal, and made an unsuccessful bid to take Twitter private in 2022.
Larry Page co-founded Google with Sergey Brin in 1998, and it currently serves more than 92% of global search requests. Furthermore, Larry Ellison, born in New York City, dropped out of the University of Chicago and later founded Software Development Laboratories, which later turned into Oracle Systems Corporation. Oracle is now one of the world's largest software companies.
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994, and the company is expected to surpass Walmart as the world's largest retailer by 2024. The company's diversification strategy has led to expansions such as acquiring Whole Foods and entering the pharmacy business.
The rest of the most elite billionaires are equally momentous, with Steve Ballmer, who was Microsoft's 30th employee and now owns 4% of the company, and Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of the world's largest luxury goods company, LVMH.
Alice Walton, the world's richest woman as of 2026, has a net worth just north of $139 billion from her holdings in Walmart.
The key to joining the billionaires' club seems to revolve around technological innovation and luxury retail, or more conventionally, focusing on value investing. Although some billionaires were born into wealth, most of the fortunes listed here started as innovative ideas, passion, and creativity that were utilized to create the world's largest companies.