by Daniel Coughlin
Warren Edward Buffett (/ˈbʌfɪt/ BUF-it; born August 30, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist who currently serves as the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. As a result of his investment success, Buffett is one of the best-known investors in the world. According to Forbes, as of 17 February 2025, Buffett’s estimated net worth stood at US$149.6 billion, making him the seventh richest individual in the world.
2000s: Warren Buffett
The Microsoft share price plummeted after the dot-com crash of 2000, knocking billions off Gates’ fortune.
Still, he remained on top until 2008 when Warren Buffett, CEO of investment company Berkshire Hathaway, temporarily surpassed him.
That year, the legendary investor’s net worth peaked at $62 billion, the equivalent of $90.8 billion today, making him richer than any other person on the planet during the 2000s.
Jeffrey Preston Bezos (/ˈbeɪzoʊs/ BAY-zohss;[2] né Jorgensen; born January 12, 1964) is an American businessman best known as the founder, executive chairman, and former president and CEO of Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce and cloud computing company. According to Forbes, as of March 12, 2025, Bezos’ estimated net worth stood at US$209.5 billion, making him the second richest individual in the world. He was the wealthiest person from 2017 to 2021, according to Forbes and the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
2010s: Jeff Bezos
In 2009, Berkshire Hathaway reported its worst ever financial results and Buffett’s net worth plunged.
Gates bagged the number one spot again but was relegated to second place in 2010 by Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim, who remained the world’s richest person until 2014.
Carlos Slim Helú (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkaɾlos esˈlin eˈlu; – esˈlim -]; born 28 January 1940) is a Mexican business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked as the richest person in the world by Forbes business magazine. He derived his fortune from his extensive holdings in a considerable number of Mexican companies through his conglomerate, Grupo Carso. As of December 2024, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranked him as the 18th-richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$85 billion or about 4% of Mexico’s GDP, making him the richest person in Latin America.
Gates had another stint at the top from 2015 to 2017.
But in 2018’s Forbes 400 list, Amazon head honcho Jeff Bezos took over as top dog, with a net worth of $160 billion, the equivalent of $200 billion today.
Miles Williams Mathis: Jeff Bezos looks like another CIA Front – Do YOU have the HOLY GHOST?
2020s: Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk?
At the start of the new decade, Jeff Bezos once again topped Forbes’ Billionaires list of 2019 with a net worth of $131 billion ($162bn today), a figure that had decreased in part due to his divorce settlement with his now ex-wife Mackenzie Scott.
MacKenzie Scott (née Tuttle, formerly Bezos; born April 7, 1970) is an American novelist, philanthropist, and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. As of December 2024, she has a net worth of US$42.1 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index; owning a 4% stake in Amazon. As such, Scott is the third-wealthiest woman in the United States and the 38th-wealthiest individual in the world. Scott was named one of Time’s 100 most influential people in 2020 and one of the world’s 100 most powerful women by Forbes in 2021 and 2023.
But in recent years, the top spot has been increasingly occupied by Elon Musk, who currently boasts a staggering fortune of $263 billion (£203bn).
Elon Reeve Musk (/ˈiːlɒn/ EE-lon; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman known for his key roles in Tesla, SpaceX, PayPal, OpenAI, Twitter (which he rebranded as X) and America PAC. Since 2025, he has been a senior advisor to United States president Donald Trump and the de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk is the wealthiest person in the world; as of March 2025, Forbes estimates his net worth to be US$345 billion. Born to a wealthy family in Pretoria, South Africa, Musk emigrated in 1989 to Canada, whose citizenship he had inherited through his mother. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in the U.S. before moving to California to pursue business ventures. In 1995, Musk co-founded the software company Zip2. Following its sale in 1999, he co-founded X.com, an online payment company that later merged to form PayPal, which was acquired by eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. That year, Musk also became a U.S. citizen. In 2002, Musk founded SpaceX and became its CEO and chief engineer. The company has since led innovations in reusable rockets and commercial spaceflight. In 2004, Musk joined Tesla, Inc. as an early investor, and became its CEO and product architect in 2008; it has become a market leader in electric vehicles. In 2015, he co-founded OpenAI to advance artificial intelligence research, but left its board in 2018. In 2016, Musk co-founded Neuralink, a company focused on brain–computer interfaces, and in 2017 launched the Boring Company, which aims to develop tunnel transportation. Musk was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 2021. In 2022, he acquired Twitter, implementing significant changes and rebranding it as X in 2023. In January 2025, he was appointed head of Trump’s newly created DOGE. Musk’s political activities and views have made him a polarizing figure. He has been criticized for making unscientific and misleading statements, including COVID-19 misinformation and promoting conspiracy theories. His acquisition of Twitter (now X) was controversial due to a subsequent increase in hate speech and the spread of misinformation on the service. He has engaged in political activities in several countries, including as a vocal and financial supporter of Trump. Musk was the largest donor in the 2024 U.S. presidential election and is a supporter of global far-right figures, causes, and political parties.
Miles Williams Mathis: I Don’t Believe in Elon Musk – Do YOU have the HOLY GHOST?
Miles Williams Mathis: SpaceX is Fake – Do YOU have the HOLY GHOST?
SCIENCE: TECHNOLOGY: Who is Elon Musk? – Do YOU have the HOLY GHOST?
Tech titans continue to reign supreme in 2024, with seven of the 10 spots on the Forbes real-time billionaires list occupied by the likes of:
- Jeff Bezos
- Mark Zuckerberg
- Larry Ellison
It seems inevitable that one of them will take the crown for richest person of the 2020s, but has a new contender yet to emerge?
Who’s winning the race to be the world’s first trillionaire? | lovemoney.com
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RELIGION: BIBLE: Libra – Black Horse – Do YOU have the HOLY GHOST?