The latest Forbes Billionaires List for 2025 reveals a staggering concentration of wealth among the world’s richest individuals, with technology entrepreneurs continuing to dominate the upper echelons. As of June 14, 2025, the global billionaire count stands at 3,028, collectively holding a record-breaking $16.1 trillion in wealth, surpassing the GDP of most nations.
Here’s a look at the top 10 richest people in the world, their net worths, and the industries fueling their fortunes, based on Forbes’ real-time rankings.
Leading the pack is Elon Musk, the South African-born CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, with an estimated net worth of $408.2 billion. Mr. Musk’s wealth surged by $147 billion over the past year, driven by SpaceX’s meteoric $350 billion valuation and a $6 billion funding round for xAI, which recently merged with X (formerly Twitter) at a $45 billion valuation. His ability to juggle multiple ventures while stepping back from his role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has bolstered Tesla’s stock, contributing to his commanding lead.
In a notable shift, Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, has claimed the second spot with a fortune of $256.1 billion, overtaking Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg ($239.3 billion) and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos ($227.8 billion). Mr. Ellison’s wealth spiked by $26 billion in a single day, fueled by a 27% growth in Oracle’s cloud services, particularly its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, which reported a 52% year-over-year increase. This is the first time since 2017 that Jeff Bezos has fallen out of the top two, a position he held consistently since then.
Mr. Zuckerberg, now in third place, saw his wealth climb to $239.3 billion, driven by an 18% surge in Meta’s shares in May 2025. Mr. Bezos, with $227.8 billion, slipped to fourth, despite a $19 billion boost from Amazon’s 11% stock increase. The tech-heavy top four indicates the dominance of the sector, with eight of the top 10 billionaires deriving their wealth from technology.
Rounding out the top five is Warren Buffett, the legendary investor, with $153.1 billion, followed by Google co-founder Larry Page at $146.2 billion and LVMH’s Bernard Arnault at $141.5 billion, the latter representing the only non-American in the top seven.
Sergey Brin ($139.8 billion), Amancio Ortega ($138.2 billion), and Steve Ballmer ($136.7 billion) complete the top 10, with Ortega’s fast-fashion empire Inditex and Ballmer’s Microsoft stake driving their fortunes.
The list reflects a broader trend: the billionaire population grew by 7% in 2025, with technology, particularly AI and cloud computing, propelling unprecedented wealth creation.
However, the absence of women in the top 10 (Alice Walton, the richest woman, ranks 17th at $108 billion) highlights a persistent gender gap. As stock markets fluctuate, Forbes’ real-time tracking remains dynamic, capturing the ever-shifting landscape of global wealth.