| The 50
richest in the world |
| |
2001 wealth |
2000 wealth |
| 1 |
Robson Walton¹ |
America |
Retailing (Wal-Mart) |
£45.3bn |
£52.8bn |
| 2 |
Bill Gates |
America |
Software (Microsoft) |
£37.5bn |
£53.1bn |
| 3 |
Larry Ellison |
America |
Computers (Oracle) |
£29bn |
£8.1bn |
| 4 |
King Fahd¹ |
Saudi Arabia |
Oil |
£20bn |
£17.5bn |
| 5 |
Warren Buffett |
America |
Investments |
£17.3bn |
£19.3bn |
| 6 |
Paul Allen |
America |
Software (Microsoft) |
£17bn |
£25bn |
| 7 |
Sheikh of Abu Dhabi |
Abu Dhabi |
Oil/investments |
£15.3bn |
£12.5bn |
| 8 |
Forrest Mars Jr¹ |
America |
Confectionery |
£14bn |
£10.3bn |
| 9= |
Karl & Theo Albrecht |
Germany |
Supermarkets |
£13.3bn |
£8.5bn |
| 9= |
Prince Alwaleed |
Saudi Arabia |
Investments |
£13.3bn |
£9.3bn |
| 9= |
Barbara Cox Anthony & Anne Cox
Chambers |
America |
Media |
£13.3bn |
£12.1bn |
| 12 |
Emir of Kuwait |
Kuwait |
Oil/investments |
£12bn |
£10.6bn |
| 13= |
Sultan of Brunei |
Brunei |
Oil |
£10.6bn |
£18.7bn |
| 13= |
Kenneth Thomson |
Canada |
Media/oil |
£10.6bn |
£7.4bn |
| 15 |
Steve Ballmer |
America |
Software (Microsoft) |
£10.5bn |
£14.3bn |
| 16 |
Liliane Bettencourt |
France |
Cosmetics |
£10.1bn |
£8.6bn |
| 17 |
The Bass Family |
America |
Oil |
£9.7bn |
£8bn |
| 18 |
Pierre du Pont¹ |
America |
Chemicals |
£9.3bn |
£8.1bn |
| 19= |
Philip Anschutz |
America |
Oil/railroads |
£8.6bn |
£6.8bn |
| 19= |
John Kluge |
America |
Media/phones |
£8.6bn |
£6.8bn |
| 21= |
Silvio Berlusconi |
Italy |
Media |
£8.5bn |
£5.1bn |
| 21= |
Johanna Quandt¹ |
Germany |
BMW cars |
£8.5bn |
£6.1bn |
| 23 |
Bernard Arnault |
France |
Luxury goods |
£8.4bn |
£3.7bn |
| 24 |
Sheikh Makhtoum |
UAE |
Oil/finance |
£8bn |
£7.5bn |
| 25 |
Michael Dell |
America |
Computers
(Dell) |
£7.8bn |
£12.5bn |
| 26= |
Lukas Hoffman¹ |
Switzerland |
Pharmaceuticals |
£7.6bn |
£10.6bn |
| 26= |
Leo Kirch |
Germany |
Media |
£7.6bn |
£3.1bn |
| 28 |
Li Ka-shing |
Hong Kong |
Property |
£7.5bn |
£7.9bn |
| 29 |
Abigail & Edward Johnson |
America |
Investments |
£7.4bn |
£6.9bn |
| 30= |
Gérard Mulliez¹ |
France |
Retailing |
£7.3bn |
£6.1bn |
| 30= |
Robert & Thomas Pritzker |
America |
Investments |
£7.3bn |
£6.8bn |
| 32 |
Ted & Norman Waitt |
America |
Computers |
£7.1bn |
£4.8bn |
| 33 |
Gordon Moore |
America |
Microchips |
£7bn |
£9.3bn |
| 34= |
The Mellon Family |
America |
Banking |
£6.6bn |
£6.2bn |
| 34= |
Samuel & Donald Newhouse |
America |
Publishing |
£6.6bn |
£5.6bn |
| 34= |
Sumner Redstone |
America |
Media |
£6.6bn |
£5.8bn |
| 37 |
The Haniel Family |
Germany |
Pharmaceuticals |
£6.3bn |
£7.7bn |
| 38 |
Yasuo Takei |
Japan |
Finance |
£6.2bn |
£4.8bn |
| 39 |
Ernesto Bertarelli |
Switzerland |
Pharmaceuticals |
£6.1bn |
£2.4bn |
| 40 |
The Kwok Brothers |
Hong Kong |
Property |
£6bn |
£6bn |
| 41 |
Donald Fisher¹ |
America |
Retailing |
£5.9bn |
£5.1bn |
| 42= |
Lee Shau Kee |
Hong Kong |
Property |
£5.7bn |
£6.9bn |
| 42= |
The Seydoux and Schlumberger
Families |
France |
Media/oil/
textiles |
£5.7bn |
£4bn |
| 44 |
The Rockefeller Family |
America |
Oil |
£5.6bn |
£5bn |
| 45= |
Walter Haefner |
Switzerland |
Car sales/software |
£5.5bn |
£4.5bn |
| 45= |
Ted Turner |
America |
Media |
£5.5bn |
£4.3bn |
| 47= |
Suliman Olayan¹ |
Saudi Arabia |
Investments |
£5.3bn |
£4.4bn |
| 47= |
Stephan & Thomas Schmidheiny |
Switzerland |
Cement |
£5.3bn |
£4.8bn |
| 49 |
François Pinault |
France |
Retailing |
£5.2bn |
£4bn |
| 50 |
Stefan Persson |
Sweden |
Retailing |
£5.1bn |
£4.3bn |
| Source: Forbes 400,
October 2000; Forbes Global, July 2000. Figures have
been updated where possible to reflect changes since
then. ¹ denotes family wealth |
