The World's Billionaires 2014 edition was 28th annual ranking of
The World's Billionaires by ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' magazine. The list estimated the net worth of the world's richest people, excluding royalty and dictators, as of February 12, 2014. It was released online on March 3, 2014.
Annual list
Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
, founder of
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
, added $9 billion to his fortune since 2013 and topped the 2014 billionaire list. He has topped the list 15 of the previous 20 years, but was last number one in 2009. Mexican tycoon
Carlos Slim came in second place after being number one the previous four years.
Zara founder
Amancio Ortega
Amancio Ortega Gaona (; born 28 March 1936) is a Spanish billionaire businessman. He is the founder and former chairman of Inditex fashion group, best known for its chain of Zara and Bershka clothing and accessories shops. As of November 202 ...
placed third for the second consecutive year. American investor
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...
was in the top five for the 20th consecutive year, placing fourth.
Oracle
An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination.
Description
The word '' ...
founder
Larry Ellison rounded out the top five. America's
Christy Walton was the highest ranking female, placing ninth overall.
of Nigeria became the first African ever to crack the top 25, with an estimated net worth of $25 billion. 24-year-old
Perenna Kei, daughter of Chinese real estate developer Ji Haipeng, was the youngest person on the list. At age 99,
David Rockefeller was the oldest.
Among the largest gainers from the previous year's list was
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
founder
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American business magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), o ...
. A rapid rise in the price of Facebook stock saw his net worth soar from $13.3 billion in 2013 to $28.5 billion in 2014.
WhatsApp
WhatsApp (also called WhatsApp Messenger) is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). It allows us ...
co-founder
Jan Koum saw his net worth rise from less than a billion to $6.8 billion. He debuted at #202 overall, while partner
Brian Acton
Brian Acton (born 1972/1973) is an American computer programmer and Internet entrepreneur. Acton is the executive chairman of the Signal Technology Foundation, which he co-founded with Moxie Marlinspike in 2018. , Acton also serves as interim C ...
debuted at #551 with $3 billion.
A total of 1,645 people made the 2014 billionaire list, represented combined wealth of $6.4 trillion.
Of those, a record 268 were newcomers, surpassing 2008's 226 newcomers.
The list included 42 female newcomers.
One hundred people listed in 2013 failed to make the list.
The number of women on the list rose to a record 172 in 2014, up from 138 the previous year.
However, only 12 of them were completely self-made without the help of parents or spouses.
Overall, 66% of the list was self-made, 13% achieved their wealth through inheritance alone, and 21% through a mixture of the two.
The combined wealth of the top 20 rose from $714.5 billion to $838.6 billion.
The United States had 492 billionaires on the list, the most of any country.
The country also had the most newcomers with 50, and women with 54.
China had the second most billionaires with 152, including 37 new names. Russia was third with 111.
Algeria, Lithuania, Tanzania, and Uganda were all represented on the list for the first time.
Sixteen of the female billionaires came from Germany, the second most of any country.
Turkey saw the most people drop off the list, 19, due to high inflation in the country.
Top 10
Top 100[The World's Billionaires. Forbes.com. March 3, 2014]
See also
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The World's Billionaires 2013
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The World's Billionaires 2015
The World's Billionaires 2015 edition was the 29th annual ranking of The World's Billionaires by ''Forbes'' magazine. The list estimated the net worth of the world's richest people. The new list was released online on March 2, 2015. As of 2015, Bi ...
References
External links
Inside The 2014 Forbes Billionaires List: Facts And Figures forbes.com
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{{DEFAULTSORT:World's Billionaires 2014
Forbes lists
Lists of people by magazine appearance
2014 in economic history