Since 1987, Fobres magazine has been tracking the fortunes of billionaires and recently published the update to July 2026.
The main novelty is that, for the first time in history, a person exceeded one trillion dollars (one trillion, according to American nomenclature) in net worth.
According to the cut made by the publication as of July 1, at midnight, nine of the ten members of the list reduced their assets during the last month, due to a massive sale of technology stocks that hit the Nasdaq index hard.
The top 10 of the greatest fortunes in the world
- Elon Musk – US$1,053 billion. The businessman, at the head of Tesla and SpaceX, became the first trillionaire in history, after SpaceX debuted on the Nasdaq stock market. His shareholding in the aerospace company, added to the one he owns in Tesla, boosted his fortune by nearly USD 218 billion in just 30 days.
- Larry Page – US$291 billion. The Google co-founder maintained second place, despite a drop of nearly US$18 billion, associated with the fall in shares of Alphabet, the company’s parent company.
- Sergey Brin – US$269 billion. The Google co-founder also retained third place, although his assets were reduced by around USD 16 billion for the same reason that affected Page.
- Jeff Bezos – US$249 billion. The founder of Amazon retained fourth position, despite a decrease of about $28 billion, linked to the decline in the company’s shares.
- Michael Dell – US$235 billion. The technology entrepreneur moved up one place on the list, with a moderate drop of US$9 billion, influenced by the mixed behavior of Dell Technologies and Broadcom.
- Mark Zuckerberg – US$194 billion. The founder of Meta also rose one position, despite a reduction of US$24 billion in his assets due to the fall in the company’s shares.
- Larry Ellison – US$192 billion. The Oracle co-founder suffered the biggest setback of the month: he lost some $84 billion after the company’s shares plummeted, dropping him several places after briefly being the second-richest person in the world weeks earlier.
- Jensen Huang – US$173 billion. The founder of the semiconductor and artificial intelligence company remained in eighth place, with a slight drop of US$9 billion.
- Bernard Arnault – US$147.9 billion. The French businessman, head of the luxury conglomerate LVMH, was the only member of the list, apart from Musk, whose fortune did not change. He remains the only non-American member of the group.
- Warren Buffett – US$147.8 billion. The investor returned to top 10 after remaining off the list for three months, driven by a 5% rally in shares of Berkshire Hathaway, the company he led until his retirement as CEO at the end of last year.
Movements and departures from the list
The most significant change from the previous month was the departure of Steve Ballmer, former executive director of Microsoft, who was in tenth place in June, with a fortune of USD 141 billion. A 17% drop in the technology company’s shares pushed it back to 15th place, with an estimated net worth of $121 billion.
Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, is not part of the top 10 since October 2024, after Forbes adjusted its assets after obtaining new financial information. He currently occupies 19th place on the general list, with a fortune estimated at USD 106 billion.
Together, the ten largest fortunes in the world total USD 2,951 trillion, an increase of USD 37 billion compared to the previous month, driven almost entirely by Musk’s wealth increase.
Who is the richest woman in the world
outside the top 10which in July was made up exclusively of men, the richest woman on the planet is Alice Walton, daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton. Forbes estimated its assets at USD 121 billion, which places it in 16th place on the general list. His fortune comes mainly from his shareholding in the retail chain, inherited from his father.
In March 2026, the magazine counted 3,428 people with fortunes exceeding a billion dollars on their annual list. Due to the daily fluctuation of stock markets, the assets of billionaires can vary from one day to the next.