They are the richest people in the world - a German is also there

2021-02-20T23:40:15.410Z

We introduce you to the 25 richest people in 2021 - and explain how they came to their great wealth. We introduce you to the 25 richest people in 2021 - and explain how they came to their great wealth. In the following ranking we present the 25 richest people in the world in 2021. The information on assets is based solely on estimates from financial portals and may vary, especially since global markets are subject to great fluctuations on a daily basis: 25th place: Dieter Schwarz (Germany) +

We introduce you to the 25 richest people in 2021 - and explain how they came to their great wealth.

In the following ranking we present the 25 richest people in the world in 2021.

The information on assets is based solely on estimates from financial portals and may vary, especially since global markets are subject to great fluctuations on a daily basis:

25th place: Dieter Schwarz (Germany)

Dieter Schwarz is the richest man in Germany at the beginning of 2021.

With an estimated fortune of 41.5 billion euros, the entrepreneur, born in 1939, ranks 25th among the richest people in the world.

By the way, photos of him are hard to come by - Schwarz lives very withdrawn.

Dieter Schwarz is the boss of one of the world's largest retail chains with Lidl and Kaufland

The billionaire, who is known to be public shy, took over Lidl & Schwarz KG from his father Josef Schwarz, company founder from Heilbronn.

In the 1960s, the son, who places great value on privacy, was jointly responsible as a partner for the enormous growth of the empire.

Rank 24: Philipp Knight (USA)

This name should only be known to a few people in Germany.

On the other hand, almost everyone knows his work: Philipp Knight turned the small sporting goods manufacturer Nike into one of the largest and best-known corporations today.

Phil Knight turned a small sporting goods retailer into the mega-empire Nike

The company was founded in the 1960s, today the US empire is a global player and is fighting with Adidas for supremacy in the field of sports sponsorship.

In 2016, the multi-billionaire Knight retired from management after more than 50 years.

His fortune: around 44 billion euros.

23rd place: Michael Bloomberg (USA)

Michael Bloomberg is a native New Yorker, financial tycoon and former mayor of his hometown.

The Democrat, who was born in 1942, failed early with his planned presidential candidacy for the 2020 US election.

Michael Bloomberg: Data as an essential cornerstone for success in the financial world

Michael Rubens Bloomberg turned a million dollar severance payment at an investment bank into a billion dollar fortune.

With his company Bloomberg LP, the American organizes real-time data from the financial world. Bloomberg also has a media empire including a news agency and TV station.

Assets: over 45 billion euros.

22nd place: Carlos Slim Helu (Mexico)

His father once came as a refugee from Lebanon and sought his fortune in Mexico.

Starting with a small shop, the family was able to accumulate more and more wealth through constant investments, especially in real estate.

The son Carlos Slim Helu, born in 1940, also appeared as an investor after the death of his father.

Carlos Slim Helu: Great wealth thanks to the privatization of a communications giant

Slim Helu then increased his fortune with stakes in various businesses, before he struck in the privatization of the state telecommunications company - rumored to be for a price that was too low.

His company America Movil has a monopoly and has been criticized for its excessive usage costs, which create resentment in comparison to the low income of the Mexican population.

The wealth of the allegedly richest Latin American is estimated at over 47 billion euros.

21st place: MacKenzie Scott (USA)

MacKenzie Scott was married to Jeff Bezos until 2019, and together the couple founded Amazon, one of today's biggest profit makers, in the 1990s.

MacKenzie Scott: Amazon co-founder lets others share in financial success

Born in 1970 and weighing over 48 billion euros, the Californian is considered particularly generous when it comes to charity.

The author and entrepreneur thus enjoys a role model function in society.

In 2020 she said: "There is no doubt that a person's personal wealth is the result of a collective effort and social structures that provide opportunities for some people and obstacles to countless other things."

20th place: Jack Ma (China)

Jack Ma founded the Alibaba company shortly before the turn of the millennium.

The former English teacher turned the small Chinese company into a rich empire and was later featured in a casting show for entrepreneurs.

Jack Ma: Long-time head of e-commerce giant Alibaba clashed with the financial elite

Ma Yun, his Chinese name, comes from a humble background.

Jack Ma is considered an internet pioneer and started out with a craft portal.

The Alibaba Group has long since developed into a giant in the field of e-commerce.

After criticizing China's financial elite, the entrepreneur disappeared from the scene, but has since reappeared.

Estimated wealth: around 51 billion euros.

19th place: Colin Zheng Huang (China)

His compatriot in 19th place has a similar career to Ma's.

Colin Zheng Huang is also Chinese and founder and CEO of an e-commerce provider that is rather unknown in this country: Pinduoduo.

Colin Zheng Huang: Internet shopping with Pinduoduo as a recipe for success - IPO brings billions

Huang, born in 1980, is the founder of the Chinese online shopping company, which now plays in a league with Alibaba and is its major competitor in the e-commerce sector.

The young billionaire previously gained experience at Microsoft and Google in the USA, which he later gilded with an IPO of his platform.

Estimated wealth: 55 billion euros.

18th place: Samuel Robson Walton (USA)

Samuel Robson Walton is the eldest son of the founder of what is now the world's largest grocery chain, Wal-Mart.

The American, born in 1944, took over the legacy from father Sam Walton and managed the high-turnover company until 2015.

Samuel Robson Walton: Heir from trading giant directed company fortunes and indulges in car passion

Born into one of the most famous entrepreneurial families in the USA, “Rob” Walton's path was mapped out.

After the company's founder's death, he took over the chairmanship of the retail giant (until 2015).

The approximately 56 billion euro magnate has a great weakness for collecting exclusive cars.

17th and 16th place: Jim Walton and Alice Walton (both USA)

The siblings Jim and Alice Walton are just as rich as their brother Samuel Robson.

Jim, born in 1948, is listed with a fortune of around 56 billion euros, while his younger sister Alice (1949) is a few million euros higher.

Like her brothers, Alice is a shareholder in Walmart, but is largely reluctant to engage in entrepreneurial activities.

15th place: Ma Huateng (China)

The Chinese who have made the most fortune from the Internet is Ma Huateng.

He is the head of the Tencent group, whose businesses are in the field of intelligence, social networking and digital entertainment.

Estimated assets: around 61 billion euros.

Ma Huateng: Successful messenger service with all-encompassing digital processing

The computer scientist began as an employee of a telecommunications service and then founded the company Tencent, which initially developed technologies for text-based instant messaging.

Today, the WeChat platform is the largest instant messenger in the world, where users can communicate and carry out other digital life activities.

14th place: Amancio Ortega (Spain)

At the age of 14 he came into contact with the clothing industry for the first time in a part-time job, and the Spaniard has now amassed a large fortune as a textile entrepreneur.

He is the founder of the well-known fashion chain Zara - under the umbrella of his Inditex empire.

It is estimated that Amancio Ortega, born in 1936 and shy of publicity, is worth 61 billion euros.

Amancio Ortega: Got rich with fashion retail - and now Europe's largest real estate owner

After Ortega made a lot of money with his fashion empire all over Europe, he devoted himself to the real estate business on a large scale and now owns buildings worth well over ten billion euros, as reported by the Bloomberg news agency (see number 23).

Accordingly, the richest Spaniard owns real estate in numerous metropolises around the world and has benefited enormously from the inflation rates there in the metropolitan areas.

13th place: Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers (France)

Industrial heir, author and advocate of the Judeo-Christian faith: Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers, born in France in 1953, is the sole heir to the Bettencourts legacy.

Your grandfather is the founder of the world-famous cosmetics company L'Oreal.

Françoise Bettencourt Meyers: Grandfather founded the world-famous cosmetics company L'Oreal

After the death of her mother Liliane Bettencourt - once the richest woman in the world - Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers sits on the board of directors of L'Oreal.

She is the sole heiress of the founder's daughter and has a fortune of around 62 billion euros.

She lives with her husband and two children in seclusion near the French capital Paris.

Rank 12: Mukesh Ambani (India)

Mukesh Ambani is an Indian entrepreneur and CEO of the petrochemical group Reliance Industries.

The consortium also includes a telecommunications company, Jio Platforms, which recently made a huge boost.

Mukesh Ambani: Great wealth with the mineral oil and telecommunications trade

Ambani’s fortune recently grew because tech giant Facebook secured shares in the digital platform.

The online marketplace JioMart, which is supposed to help people to get in touch with companies, plays a major role.

The trained engineer has assets of over 62 billion euros.

11th place: Steve Ballmer (USA)

Steve Ballmer owes his almost 67 billion euro wealth to Bill Gates and Microsoft, among others.

The two met while studying at Harvard.

The rest is history: Gates hired him for his company, Ballmer became Microsoft's first manager.

From 2000 to 2014 he finally led the software giant as managing director.

Steve Balmer: From Microsoft CEO to NBA club owner

Ballmer caused a stir shortly after leaving Microsoft.

In 2014, the 64-year-old bought the Los Angeles Clippers, a basketball team in the NBA.

The purchase price: a record 1.65 billion euros!

Only the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team had sold even higher a few years earlier.

In polls, the sports maniac is consistently voted one of the best club owners in North America.

10th place: Sergey Brin (USA)

Two students from the elite Stanford University founded the company Google in California in 1998.

Sergey Brin and his colleague Larry Page were supposed to completely revolutionize the Internet.

Brin comes from Moscow, but is now a US citizen.

His fortune is estimated at 72.25 billion euros.

Sergey Brin: Billionaire thanks to Google

Sergey Brin is no stranger to acting either.

The 47-year-old has an appearance in the film “Prakti.com” with the main actors Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn.

Much of the flick, which was designed as a marketing activity by Google, was even shot at Google's California headquarters.

9th place: Larry Ellison (USA)

Larry Ellison can call his own almost 74 billion euros.

Even though the self-made billionaire didn't even graduate from Chicago University.

Instead, he created databases for the CIA.

And later co-founded the IT company Oracle.

He still holds 35.4% of the shares in this today.

Larry Ellison: Elon Musk's buddy holds the strings at Oracle

The native New Yorker also donates large amounts of his fortune time and again.

In 2016, he gave the University of Southern California over 160 million euros for the cancer treatment center there.

But Ellison can afford that too.

He is also on the board of directors of Tesla and is said to have bought shares worth over a billion dollars.

That made his buddy Elon Musk happy.

8th place: Larry Page (USA)

Larry Page is the second co-founder of Google.

Together with Sergey Brin (10th place), he made the company a giant.

Today, Page is worth almost 75 billion euros.

Together with Brin, he was also responsible for developing the Google search algorithm.

Larry Page: When he changed the world together with colleague Sergey Brin in 1996

Larry Page is from Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from the University of Michigan.

He later received a Masters Degree in Computer Science from Stanford University.

It was there that he met his colleague Sergey Brin.

After Google was founded, Page was CEO of the Internet giant until 2001.

7th place: Warren Buffett (USA)

Warren Buffett has amassed over 90 billion euros in assets in his long life.

The 90-year-old is considered one of the most successful investors ever.

He is said to have bought his first share at the age of eleven.

His name is inextricably linked with his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway.

The company invests in a wide variety of areas, including large companies such as Coca-Cola and Gilette.

Warren Buffett: Still one of the smartest businessmen at 90

Years ago, the stock market guru once said: “I plan to work until I hit 100.” Nonetheless, Warren Buffet has already made a great promise: He will donate over 99 percent of his wealth at some point.

To date he has given more than 33 billion euros to charity.

Most of it went to Bill Gates' Foundation and his children's foundation.

6th place: Zhong Shanshan (China)

Zhong Shanshan currently heads the company "Nongfu Spring", the leading supplier of mineral water in China.

Before that he worked as a construction worker, news reporter and then as a drinks dealer.

His fortune is estimated at 77 billion euros.

Zhong Shanshan: The corona crisis made him even richer

Zhong Shanshan is the richest Chinese in the world and even makes it into the top ten in the world.

He has dedicated himself to the subject of health and unexpectedly came across a lot of money in 2020.

In April, the biotech company Beijing Wantai Biological, which also produces corona tests, went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

This alone increased his wealth by a few billion euros.

5th place: Mark Zuckerberg (USA)

A world without Facebook?

Hard to imagine anymore.

Mark Zuckerberg founded the communications company in 2004 with three Harvard fellow students.

With a fortune of 81.3 billion, he is the fifth richest person in the world and the second youngest self-made billionaire of all time.

He succeeded in this in 2009, only Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz was a few days younger when he reached the billion mark.

Mark Zuckerberg: Second youngest self-made billionaire of all time

The CEO of Facebook owns 28 percent of the company.

He earns a symbolic US dollar a year.

The 36-year-old announced in a public letter to his first-born daughter that he would donate 99 percent of his shares during his lifetime.

4th place: Bill Gates (USA)

The first in our top 25 to break the 100 billion mark is none other than Bill Gates.

With a fortune of just over 102 billion euros, the Microsoft founder is in fourth place.

In 1975 he founded the hardware and software giant with Paul Allen, and in June 2008 he said goodbye to "his" company.

Bill Gates: He's got a really big hit with Microsoft

Bill Gates has now given up the majority of his Microsoft shares.

He only holds just over one percent of the company he founded.

But with a variety of other investments you don't have to worry about the American, who was born in 1955.

3rd place: Bernard Arnault (France)

Bernard Arnault.

A name that may not be familiar to everyone.

You should know him now, because he is currently (as of February 10, 2021) the third richest person in the world.

The French know their way around luxury.

His company LVMH includes Louis Vuitton, Dior, Hublot, Bulgari and Moët & Chandon.

Spirits, fashion and accessories or watches.

Arnault makes money for the big luxury brands.

His fortune is estimated at almost 130 billion euros.

Bernard Arnault: the man of luxury brands

Arnault's father made one big money in the construction industry.

This enabled the son to get into the Dior fashion company with the necessary change.

The smart Frenchman is said to have paid 12.5 million euros for it.

In terms of his current earnings, no more than peanuts.

2nd place: Elon Musk (USA)

At the beginning of January he was still the richest person in the world.

According to Bloomberg, Tesla boss Elon Musk, whose fortune is estimated at around 152 billion euros, was at the top of our ranking.

In February 2021 he had to let another one pass by.

Well, he'll get over it.

Elon Musk: Tesla boss “only” the second person in the world

The bustling electrical pioneer needn't worry, the bank account is still full.

Most recently, he attracted attention when he announced that he would sell all of his material possessions.

He doesn't want to own a house anymore, Musk said on a podcast.

He let it be known on Twitter: “I don't need the money.

I dedicate myself to Mars and Earth. "

1st place: Jeff Bezos (USA)

Now he's number one again.

Jeff Bezos and his 158.5 billion euros assets are currently (as of February 10, 2021) according to the Forbes real-time list.

Since the end of October 2017, Bezos has been the richest person in the world almost without a break (see second place).

At the beginning of February 2021, Bezos caused a real bang: In the third quarter of the year, the leadership role at Amazon will be handed over to Andy Jassy.

Jeff Bezos: Even in Corona times, business is going on at Amazon

Bezos will not have any money problems in the future either.

Despite Corona (or

because of

Corona), Amazon's business is booming.

The company's success story began in 1994. On a drive from New York to Seattle, he worked out the entire business plan for Amazon.

The rest is history.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-02-20