The 2018 Global Wealth Report from Credit Suisse revealed that total global wealth has now reached $317 trillion (£255tn). However, this wealth is far from equally distributed. In fact, the study found that the poorest half of the world's population own less than 1% of that total. With this in mind, here's a look at the billionaires who together have almost the same wealth as 50% of the planet. Net worth figures have been taken from Forbes Billionaires list 2019.
Heiress Susanne Klatten owns 19.2% of BMW, as well as being the owner of pharmaceutical company Altana AG, founded by her grandfather. Despite enjoying a personal fortune of $21 billion (£16.9bn), Klatten told German publication Manager Magazin that being a billionaire has its downsides: "Many believe that we are permanently sitting around on a yacht in the Mediterranean. The role as a guardian of wealth also has personal sides that aren’t so nice."
One of Russia's richest people, Vladimir Lisin has a net worth of $21.3 billion (£17.1bn). The chairman of metals manufacturer NLMK avoids the limelight and keeps his personal life a mystery. However, he's clearly got extravagant tastes: in 2005 he bought a 16th Century castle in Scotland, complete with a 3,000-acre estate.
After working as a codebreaker during the Vietnam War, James Simons went on to found Renaissance Technologies in 1982. The hedge fund firm currently manages more than $110 billion (£88.4bn), and enabled Simons to amass personal wealth totalling $21.5 billion (£17.3bn). He retired from the firm in 2010. One of the more generous billionaires on our list, he has donated around $2.7 billion (£2.2bn) to charity to date.
Masayoshi Son is the founder and CEO of investment firm SoftBank. The company's investment arm, the Vision Fund, is the biggest tech fund in history and has made investments in Uber, WeWork, Yahoo Japan, Slack and Brightstar. The Japanese billionaire isn't afraid of splashing the cash in his personal life too, having bought a Silicon Valley mansion for $117 million (£94m) and purchasing Japan's Hawks baseball team for $188 million (£151m) in 2005.
The richest man in Japan, Tadashi Yanai founded and runs the Fast Retailing fashion group, which owns Uniqlo. With a 44% stake in the company his personal fortune currently sits at $22.2 billion (£17.8bn). The billionaire is aiming to overtake Inditex in order to become the world's biggest retailer. Yanai likes to spend his money: he lives in a $50 million (£40.2m) house near Tokyo and also owns two golf resorts in Hawaii.
The Tesla founder is set on using his billions to colonise other planets. In 2019 Musk drew controversy after spending $90 million (£72.3m) to launch a car into space, with critics suggesting the money could have been spent better closer to home. It wasn't the first time the entrepreneur, worth $22.3 billion (£17.9bn), had experienced negative press. In 2017 The Guardian reported that ambulances had been called over 100 times for exhausted and injured Tesla employees, sparking public outcry about working conditions.
Giovanni Ferrero heads up the family's Ferrero confectionery empire. He's been on a bit of a spending spree lately, having acquired UK chocolatier Thorntons for $140 million (£112.5m) in 2015, the Ferrara Candy Company for $1.3 billion (£1bn) in 2017, and Nestle's American confectionery business for $2.8 billion (£2.3bn) in 2018. In April 2019 it was announced that the Ferrero Group would also purchase multiple well-known brands from the Kellogg Company for $1.3 billion (£1bn).
Wang Jianlin is chairman to Dalian Wanda Group, China's largest real estate developer which has a massive commercial property portfolio, including 260 plazas across China. Following a large-scale buying spree, the billionaire has been scaling back in recent years. In 2017 he sold his China hotel and tourism empire for $9 billion (£7.2bn). Wang has a home in London's Kensington Palace Gardens, which he bought for $98.3 million (£79m) in 2015.
Dieter Schwarz owes his $22.6 billion (£18.2bn) fortune to his father Josef, who founded Schwarz Gruppe, which owns supermarket chain Lidl. Despite heading an empire with revenues over $100 billion (£80.4bn), the German billionaire remains notoriously secretive. According to documentary Die Lidl Story, Schwarz "is a mystery, lives out of sight, avoids all publicity. Extremely little is known about him, and very few people in his close circle dare talk to the press".
Azim Premji dropped out of Stanford University in 1966 in order to head the family business following the death of his father. After Premji shifted the cooking oil enterprise into the software industry, the company, renamed Wipro, became extremely lucrative. In 2017, Premji was ranked as the ninth most powerful person in India by India Today magazine. However, he's said that being wealthy "did not thrill" him, and has pledged to donate $21 billion (£16.9bn) to his foundation.
Jorge Paulo Lemann made his fortune through investment banking and then as a shareholder of brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev. He is a cofounder of investment group 3G Capital, which joined forces with Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway in 2013 in order to acquire the H. J. Heinz Company for $28 billion (£22.5bn). Little is known about press-shy Lemann outside of his native Brazil, where Bloomberg notes he is hailed as a "business-class hero".
John Mars inherited his $23.9 billion (£19.2bn) fortune from the family's confectionery business when his father died in 1999. Mars Inc. was founded in 1911 by John's grandfather Frank. John and his sister Jacqueline both own a third of the business, although it's now run by their children. In 2015, John was awarded an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II.
Another member of the Mars dynasty, Jacqueline Mars also has a net worth of $23.9 billion (£19.2bn). Her philanthropy includes sitting on the boards for the Smithsonian Museum and the National Archives. Despite the family's massive wealth, they've been accused of avoiding their taxes: according to research by Forbes and Bloomberg, they've lost almost none of their wealth to estate taxes over the years.
Leonid Mikhelson built and chairs natural gas company Novatek. He is the richest person in Russia, with a net worth of $24 billion (£19.3bn). His massive wealth means he has extravagant tastes – he currently owns megayacht The Pacific, reportedly worth $150 million (£120.6m), and also invests heavily in modern Russian art.
Joseph Safra is the world's richest banker, with a net worth of $25.2bn (£20.3bn). Safra's lavish lifestyle includes an impressive property portfolio, having purchased more than a dozen properties in the US during 2013. He also acquired the iconic Gherkin building in London in 2014, which set him back £859 million (£690.5m).
François Pinault built and chairs the Kering Group. Founded in 1963, it began life as a building supplies company and now owns fashion houses including Gucci and Alexander McQueen. Pinault is an avid art collector, having bought 3,000 pieces including artwork by Picasso and Jeff Koons, which he plans to house in a museum he is building. The billionaire's most notable philanthropic gesture has been donating $113 million (£90.8m) to the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris after the 2019 fire.
Lee Shau-kee came from humble beginnings and has gone on to amass a personal fortune of $30.1 billion (£24.2bn). He founded Henderson Land Development in 1976, and also co-owns property development firm Sun Hung Kai. He has said of his changing priorities: "When I was young, business came first, then wealth, then health and finally family. Now it's health first, then family, then my business and lastly wealth." At 91 years of age, the health-first approach must be doing him some good.
Li Ka-shing is a well-respected Chinese businessman, having been one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Asia. Li retired in 2018 but still acts as Senior Advisor to CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings, two conglomerates with multiple investments. In 1996, his son was kidnapped by gangster Cheung Tze-keung. Li reportedly paid HK$1.38 billion for his release, and it was rumoured that he later cut a deal with Chinese police that lead to Cheung's execution.
David Thomson, or the 3rd Baron Thomson of Fleet, is the richest person in Canada. His wealth comes from the publishing empire built by his grandfather Roy, which includes Thomson Reuters. Thomson has given very few interviews, although his penchant for art is well-noted. In 1984 he spent $8.9 million to purchase J. M. W. Turner's Seascape: Folkestone.
Phil Knight owes much of his wealth to sportswear giant Nike, which he founded in 1964. A noted philanthropist, he has donated over $2.7 billion (£2.2bn) to charitable organisations. However, allegations of Nike using sweatshops have plagued the company since the 1970s. Although the company has cleaned up its image lately, it has been criticised for failing to pay a living wage and not being transparent about its social and environmental policies.
Michael Dell is the CEO of Dell Technologies, although most of his wealth comes from his investments in commercial property. The billionaire certainly enjoys a luxury lifestyle, spending $40 million (£32.2m) on a Boston apartment, $73 million (£58.7m) on a resort in Hawaii and $100 million (£80.4m) on a New York City penthouse. He has also owned multiple expensive cars and private planes, including a Boeing Dreamliner 787.
Sheldon Adelson is the CEO of casino chain Las Vegas Sands. The mogul has donated to many Republican causes, being the largest individual donor to the 2016 Trump campaign. In 2015, Adelson, who owns a fleet of private planes, came under fire when Las Vegas Sands was accused of bribing Chinese officials with the aim of expanding the company. The company paid a $7 million (£5.6m) penalty in 2017 as a result.
Beate Heister and Karl Albrecht Jr. became heirs to the Aldi empire in 2014 following the death of their father Karl Albrecht Sr. The siblings are notoriously secretive and as a result very little is known about their personal lives. Beate currently serves on Aldi's board, along with her husband and son. Karl retired from Aldi Süd following a cancer diagnosis.
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Hui Ka Yan is chairman of real estate development empire the Evergrande Group. The company has attracted criticism in recent years due to its reliance on credit in order to fund expansion, with its current debts sitting at over $100 billion (£80.4bn). Hui is a huge football fan and has spent millions developing the "largest football school in the world", although so far it's shown little success.
As co-founder of the hugely successful e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, Jack Ma has $37.3 billion (£30bn) to his name. However, the billionaire insisted in a 2017 Bloomberg interview that he doesn't "have time to spend money", and has also said he was happiest living on $12 a month as a teacher in his hometown. The outspoken businessman has been known to sport bizarre costumes and perform onstage at company events, and when the 55-year-old tearfully resigned as chairman of Alibaba in early September he donned a black leather jacket, guitar and wig, bowing out in rockstar style.
Ma Huateng, who cofounded internet company Tencent in 1998, is currently China's richest person. Despite being behind messaging app WeChat with over 1 billion users, Ma avoids the limelight. However, his extravagant spending habits haven't evaded public attention, including the purchase of a $61 million (£49m) home in Hong Kong and an art collection worth $150 million (£120.6m).
Businessman and investor Ballmer became a billionaire thanks to the stocks he received as CEO of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. Now retired from the company, he spent $2 billion (£1.6bn) on acquiring the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers. He has also begun to focus more on philanthropy in recent years, spending more than $2 billion (£1.6bn) on causes to help alleviate poverty across the US.
As the eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton, Rob Walton is worth $44.3 billion (£35.6bn). The billionaire has a passion for vintage sports cars and has spent tens of millions of dollars on different models, including a $15 million (£12.1m) Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe that he ran off the road. Walton has drawn criticism for his alleged lack of personal contribution to the Walton Family Foundation as of 2014.
Another member of the Walmart dynasty, Alice Walton has little do to with the family business, instead choosing to focus on art curation. With a collection worth a reported $500 million (£401.9m), she opened the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas to house it in 2011. In 2014, Walton spent spent over $44 million (£35.4m) on a painting by Georgia O'Keeffe, which can now be found at the Arkansas museum.
Jim Walton is the youngest Walton sibling. Along with the rest of the family, he has been a long-time funder of various conservative causes. This year, Jim and his siblings were put under pressure to increase hourly wages at Walmart stores following a meeting with Bernie Sanders. The Walmart heirs also received criticism from the Walmart 1 Percent project as they have personally contributed just 1.2% of the $2 billion (£1.6bn) assets held by the Walton Family Foundation.
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers is the richest woman in the world, thanks to her inherited fortune as granddaughter of L'Oréal founder Eugène Schueller. The 64-year-old has shown little interest in the family empire however, and keeps a low profile. She is a published author and is also the president of the family's philanthropic foundation, which focuses on funding innovation in the arts and sciences.
As the co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin has a fortune of $49.8 billion (£40.8bn). Brin heads up Google's parent company Alphabet, and also ran Google X, which created the failed Google glasses project. After it emerged earlier this year that Google had shifted $23 billion (£18.4bn) to a Bermuda tax haven in 2017, the company hasn't exactly held a favourable position in the public eye.
Mukesh Ambani inherited Reliance Industries from his father, Dhirubhai Ambani. The oil and gas company now has revenues of $90 billion (£72.3bn), meaning Ambani is the richest man in Asia. Ambani's home in Mumbai, India is valued at $2 billion (£1.6bn), making it the world's most expensive private residence. The purchase of the elaborate mansion has attracted criticism, given that more than half of Mumbai's population live in slums and inequality in the city is rife.
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Charles Koch has headed up Koch Industries since 1967. As with his now-deceased brother David, Charles' philanthropy has drawn some negative press over the years. Their nonprofit Americans for Prosperity has spent over $1 billion (£804m) supporting candidates who believe in a free market, and has helped fund organisations that deny climate change and oppose gun laws. Writing for The Guardian in September 2018, a group of Columbia- and Harvard-based researchers revealed that the organisation "is intertwined with, and rivals in size, the Republican party itself".
Google co-founder Larry Page enjoys a net worth of $50.8 billion (£41.5bn), and he's definitely no stranger to extravagant purchases. In 2011 he paid $45 million (£36m) for superyacht Senses, which comes complete with its own helipad. In 2014, Page told a TED audience that when he dies, rather than leaving his billions to charity he would prefer to hand it over to SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
Michael Bloomberg cofounded financial media company Bloomberg L.P. in 1981. A known philanthropist, he has given a reported $6.4 billion (£5.1bn) to charity, supporting cases that include climate change and gun control. However, he has also seen his fair share of controversy, including comparing the Living Wage Bill to Communism in 2012. In 2019 it was reported that Bloomberg plans to spend at least $500 million (£402m) to prevent Donald Trump securing a second term.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg still owns around 15% of the company's stock, giving him a net worth of $62.3 billion (£50bn). Zuckerberg famously lives relatively simply, without extravagant spending sprees on expensive cars, clothes or travel. In 2015 he and wife Priscilla Chan pledged to donate 99% of their wealth to charity over their lifetimes.
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Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison is known for his lavish spending sprees, including yachts, private planes and multiple homes. In 2012 he bought 98% of Lanai island in Hawaii for $300 million (£241m). He has drawn some criticism for reportedly paying himself tens of millions of dollars worth of tax deductible stock options since 2008. Ellison also paid $100 million (£80.4m) in order to settle a lawsuit for insider trading, following the sale of Oracle stock worth almost $1 billion (£804m) in 2001.
As the co-founder of Inditex, the conglomerate which owns Zara, Amancio Ortega is the richest retailer in the world. As well as buying property in multiple countries, the billionaire is also the owner of a $32.9 million (£26.4m) super yacht. In 2016, Inditex was accused of tax avoidance between 2011 and 2014 by the Greens-European Free Alliance group, who presented its claims to the European Union. But the company rejected the report's findings, saying they were "based on mistaken premises that led to erroneous conclusions".
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Carlos Slim Helú is the head of telecom company América Móvil,, making him the richest person in Latin America. He also has investments in construction, real estate and mining and owns 17% of the New York Times. In 2007 Slim states that he doesn't like "going around like Santa Claus" when discussing charity, and has more recently said that he believes "foundations do not solve poverty".
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors of all time. In 2010 he set up the Giving Pledge alongside Bill Gates, to encourage the super-rich to donate at least half their wealth to charity. He has since pledged 71% of his net worth to charity. However, in 2011 the New York Post noted that Berkshire Hathaway "openly admits that it owes back taxes since as long ago as 2002."
Microsoft Founder Bill Gates is known as one of the most generous billionaires in history. He set up the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the pair have donated more than $36 billion (£28.9bn) in Microsoft stock to it. He now has just a 1.3% stake in Microsoft. The foundation focuses on improving access to healthcare globally, including joining forces with Rotary International to eliminate polio.
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Jeff Bezos started Amazon in his garage in 1994, and has gone on to become the richest person on the planet. He divorced wife MacKenzie in July this year, and gave her a quarter of his Amazon shares in the settlement – worth around $38 billion (£30.5bn). During a recent interview with Business Insider, Bezos stated that he finds it hard to think of ways to "deploy this much financial resource", but has decided to allocate $1 billion (£804m) a year on space travel.