Top 10 Richest People in the World (January 2026)

The year 2026 has seen a historic surge in wealth, primarily driven by the “AI Supercycle” and the expansion of private space industries. For the first time in history, the top spot has crossed the $700 billion threshold. Here is the definitive ranking of the world’s wealthiest individuals and their primary business focuses.

Rank	Name	Primary Source	Net Worth (Est.)	Key Role & Business Focus
1	Elon Musk	Tesla, SpaceX, xAI	$726.0 B	CEO of Tesla and SpaceX; Leading AI development via xAI and Neuralink.
2	Larry Page	Alphabet (Google)	$269.0 B	Co-founder of Google; Focused on “Moonshot” AI projects and Alphabet strategy.
3	Jeff Bezos	Amazon, Blue Origin	$257.0 B	Executive Chair of Amazon; Advancing private space exploration with Blue Origin.
4	Sergey Brin	Alphabet (Google)	$248.0 B	Co-founder of Google; Deeply involved in the development of next-gen Gemini AI models.
5	Larry Ellison	Oracle	$245.0 B	Co-founder & CTO of Oracle; Pioneering AI-integrated cloud database solutions.
6	Mark Zuckerberg	Meta (Facebook)	$224.0 B	CEO of Meta; Driving the integration of Open-Source AI (Llama) and the Metaverse.
7	Bernard Arnault	LVMH	$194.0 B	Chairman of LVMH; Overseeing 75 luxury brands including Louis Vuitton and Dior.
8	Jensen Huang	NVIDIA	$160.0 B	CEO of NVIDIA; Dominating the global AI chip and accelerated computing market.
9	Warren Buffett	Berkshire Hathaway	$147.0 B	Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway; Legendary value investor and conglomerate leader.
10	Amancio Ortega	Inditex (Zara)	$146.0 B	Founder of Zara; Revolutionizing global retail and fast-fashion supply chains.

2026 Wealth Trends & Analysis

The Rise of the “Centibillionaire+”: Elon Musk has reached an unprecedented level of wealth, nearly triple that of the runner-up. This surge is credited to a successful IPO of SpaceX’s Starlink and the exponential valuation of his AI firm, xAI.
AI Dominance: 8 out of the top 10 billionaires hail from the technology sector. Jensen Huang of NVIDIA continues his climb as his company remains the “backbone” of the global AI infrastructure.
Sector Shifts: While tech moguls dominate, Amancio Ortega (Zara) has made a strong return to the Top 10, benefiting from a post-inflation recovery in global consumer spending and retail automation.
Legacy of Tech: The co-founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, have seen their fortunes double over the past few years as Alphabet successfully pivoted its core search business into a “Generative AI first” ecosystem.