Forbes reveals record-breaking billionaire list with a new global wealth champion

Forbes magazine announced a new list of billionaires, featuring as many as 2,781 positions, 141 more than in the previous year.

The magazine noted that this year's Forbes list is longer than ever, surpassing the record year of 2021. Moreover, billionaires are wealthier than ever before. The total value of their assets reaches £11.4 trillion—£1.6 trillion more than a year earlier. The 20 richest people in the world have added as much as £560 billion to their fortunes.

The wealthiest are Americans, occupying 813 places on the list. Following them are China, 473 places (including Hong Kong), and India, which has 200 billionaires. This marks the first time that so many residents of India have appeared on Forbes' list.

There are no newcomers at the top of the list. The head of the French LVMH holds the number one spot (LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton) company, specializing in luxury goods - Bernard Arnault (£187 billion). The second position is held by Elon Musk, who was dethroned due to poorer Tesla results (£156 billion), and the former number one in the wealthiest club. The eccentric tycoon also owns about 74 per cent of the X portal, valued at approximately 70 per cent less than the Tesla founder bought it under Twitter. Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder, is third, and Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg is fourth.

Forbes lists several other celebrities: Fox television founder Rupert Murdoch, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, rapper Jay-Z, celebrity Kim Kardashian, and—for the first time—pop star Taylor Swift. The portal emphasized that she is the only music star "whose wealth comes exclusively from her performances and concert tours."

The wealthiest woman on the list is L'Oreal’s heiress, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, who, with a fortune worth £79.6 billion, is ranked 15th.