THE CHANGING FORTUNES OF THE WORLD’S RICHEST



After briefly becoming the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/hayleycuccinello/2020/08/31/elon-musk-100-billion-net-worth/#7d8e258880ed">fifth centibillionaire in the world</a> on Monday, August 31, Tesla CEO Elon Musk ended the week down $9.9 billion as tech companies — and their founders’ fortunes — took a hit.



While tech companies have largely been driving the stock market’s surge during the pandemic, heavyweights like Facebook and Amazon took a spill on Thursday and Friday during what some observers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/bd5804ef-94d0-45b4-9c2b-8fb7996ec5f6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">are calling a correction</a>. The S&amp;P 500 was down 2.3% for the week, while the Dow Jones Industrial Index fell 1.8%. Tesla stock started to falter on Wednesday,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/02/teslas-largest-outside-shareholder-reduces-holding-citing-portfolio-restrictions.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">after news broke that</a>&nbsp;its largest outside shareholder, Scottish investment firm Ballie Gifford, reduced its stake in the company. The stock ended the week down 5.5%.&nbsp;



Even with the decline, Musk is four times wealthier than he was a year ago, with a net worth of $87.9 billion. He is currently the fifth richest person in the world, $5.5 billion ahead of Warren Buffett.



The richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, hit a milestone last week when he became the first person tracked by Forbes with a fortune that exceeded $200 billion. With Amazon shares worth 3% less than a week ago at the market close on Friday, Bezos’ fortune dropped  $5.8 billion to $193.5 billion. His ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott (net worth: $62.4 billion), is $2 billion poorer this week.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="594" height="425" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/gettyimages-1148401100-594x594-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-46514" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/gettyimages-1148401100-594x594-1.jpg 594w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/gettyimages-1148401100-594x594-1-300x215.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px" /><figcaption>Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 6, 2019. (Photo by MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune fell $4 billion as Facebook shares dropped 3.7% in the past week. He’s been more vocal than ever before about political misinformation on the social media platform and announced steps to mitigate the problem. On Wednesday, he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, announced a&nbsp;<a href="https://gizmodo.com/zuckerberg-drops-300-million-to-support-u-s-elections-1844921516" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$300 million donation</a>&nbsp;to support voting infrastructure, such as protective equipment for poll workers and polling place rentals. On Thursday, he said that Facebook would&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2020/09/03/facebook-will-block-new-political-ads-in-the-week-leading-up-to-election-day/#30873f0b7950">block new political ads</a>&nbsp;during the week before Election Day, and flag posts in which a candidate tries to claim a premature victory.&nbsp;



Quicken Loans cofounder Dan Gilbert had a chaotic week as shares of the online mortgage lender’s parent company, Rocket Companies, soared midweek ahead of the company’s first earnings report since it went public in August. Although <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.thestreet.com/investing/rocket-rkt-earnings-mortgage-initial-public-offering" target="_blank">it reported strong profits</a>, the stock corrected itself and ended the week down more than 13%. As of Friday, September 4, Gilbert is worth $51 billion — $7.3 billion less than last week, but nearly eight times richer than he was a year ago.



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HERE ARE THE BILLIONAIRES WHOSE FORTUNES FELL THE MOST THIS WEEK.



The net worth change is from close of markets Friday, August 28, to Friday, September 4.



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">1 | ELON MUSK</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$87.9 BILLION, DOWN $9.9 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;UNITED STATES



SOURCE OF WEALTH |&nbsp;TESLA



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">2 | DAN GILBERT</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$51 BILLION, DOWN $7.3 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;UNITED STATES



SOURCE OF WEALTH | QUICKEN LOANS



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">3 | JEFF BEZOS</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$193.5 BILLION, DOWN&nbsp;$5.8 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;UNITED STATES﻿



SOURCE OF WEALTH | AMAZON



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">4 |  STEVE BALLMER</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$72.9 BILLION, DOWN $4.1 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;UNITED STATES



SOURCE OF WEALTH | MICROSOFT



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">5 | MARK ZUCKERBERG</h4>



NET WORTH | &nbsp;$103.8 BILLION, DOWN $4 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;UNITED STATES



SOURCE OF WEALTH | FACEBOOK



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">6 | LARRY ELLISON</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$74.2 BILLION, DOWN $2.7 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;UNITED STATES



SOURCE OF WEALTH | ORACLE



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">7 | AMANCIO ORTEGA</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$65.3 BILLION, DOWN $2.5 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;SPAIN



SOURCE OF WEALTH | ZARA



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">8 | MA HUATENG</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$57.5 BILLION, DOWN $2.3 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;CHINA



SOURCE OF WEALTH | TENCENT



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">9 | LARRY PAGE</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$70.6 BILLION, DOWN $2.2 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;UNITED STATES



SOURCE OF WEALTH | GOOGLE



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">10 | SERGEY BRIN</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$68.7 BILLION, DOWN $2.1 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;UNITED STATES



SOURCE OF WEALTH | GOOGLE



-Ariel Shapiro, Forbes Staff

Key Speakers At The Satellite 2020 Conference

Elon Musk Down Nearly $10 Billion In One Week As Tech Stocks Plunge

Amancio Ortega, billionaire cofounder of Spanish retailer Inditex, best known for its Zara brand, became the world’s wealthiest person <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/billionaires/2017/08/31/spanish-retailer-just-became-richest-person-world/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on Wednesday</a>. Less than a day later, he was overtaken by Bill Gates.
Wednesday’s ascent marked the fourth time he had reigned as world’s richest. In each case, he has lost his spot to Gates within 48 hours.
Ortega, 81, was worth $82.4 billion as of 10:30 am Eastern Time on Thursday, according to Forbes’ <a href="https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/#version:realtime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">real-time</a> rankings of the world’s billionaires. That represented a $2.6 billion decline over his net worth a day earlier, thanks to a more than 3% fall in Inditex’ share price on Spain&#8217;s BME stock exchange.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/billionaires/2017/07/31/besides-jeff-bezos-6-people-whove-also-worlds-richest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Besides Jeff Bezos: 6 People Who&#8217;ve Also Been The World&#8217;s Richest</a>
He is now the third-richest person in the world, trailing Gates ($85.1 billion) and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ($83.4 billion). Bezos&#8217; net worth jumped $2 billion in the 24 hours through 10:30 am Eastern Time on Thursday; Gates&#8217; swelled about $500 million. Both Gates and Bezos have held the top spot on Forbes’ billionaires list at some point this summer.
Ortega’s first stint atop the Forbes real-time list came in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2015/10/23/amancio-ortega-briefly-passes-bill-gates-to-become-worlds-richest-man/#7e0b839f5e4b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">October 2015</a>, after Inditex’ stock rallied to an all-time high. He next took the lead in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2016/09/08/amancio-ortega-richest-bill-gates-world-spain-inditex-microsoft-zara/#351ee552389d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">September 2016</a>, but he lost his spot two days later. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/2017/08/29/spains-amancio-ortega-briefly-overtakes-gates-as-no-1-richest-falls-back-to-no-2/#548464bc67be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">On Tuesday</a> of this week, he held the title for a few hours. Wednesday’s rally was the fourth, and latest, instance he has ranked as first.
More than 80% of Ortega&#8217;s fortune is tied up in Inditex shares, making his net worth particularly susceptible to stock market fluctuations. Jeff Bezos also holds the vast majority of his fortune in a public company, Amazon, which has resulted in major swings to his net worth as well, and to the Forbes billionaire rankings.
The son of a railway worker, Ortega cofounded Inditex—parent company to fashion chain Zara—with his late ex-wife, Rosalia Mera. They steadily grew the business into a global operation that now boasts a market capitalization north of $100 billion. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/noahkirsch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Noah Kirsch</a>, FORBES STAFF

This Spanish Billionaire Keeps Losing His Spot As World’s Richest Person

Move aside, Bill Gates.
Amancio Ortega, cofounder of Spanish retailing giant Inditex, is now the richest person on the planet, with a $200 million edge over previous leader Bill Gates.
Ortega has held the top position three other times, but he has always relinquished the lead within a day. Most recently, he surpassed Gates <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/2017/08/29/spains-amancio-ortega-briefly-overtakes-gates-as-no-1-richest-falls-back-to-no-2/#2d46323067be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on Tuesday</a>, after shares of Inditex—the parent company to fashion chain Zara—rose just over 1%. But by the end of the afternoon he was $100 million behind the Microsoft cofounder.
Then, on Wednesday, Ortega regained the top spot. As of 12:05 pm Eastern Time, he was richer than Gates by a modest margin of $200 million.
Ortega, 81, is now worth an estimated $85 billion, according to Forbes’ <a href="https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/#version:realtime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">real-time</a> rankings of the world’s billionaires. His net worth is up $1.2 billion in the last month, but his ascent has also been aided by declines to the fortunes of Gates and Jeff Bezos, who have each held the title of world’s richest at some point this summer.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/billionaires/2017/07/28/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-reign-worlds-richest-lasted-just-hours/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Reign As World’s Richest Lasted Just A Few Hours</a>
Bezos’ net worth has dropped by more than $4 billion in the last month as Amazon shares have fallen from a record high. Gates’ fortune declined earlier this month after a filing with the SEC revealed that he donated $4.6 billion worth of Microsoft stock to his foundation <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/noahkirsch/2017/08/15/philanthropy-king-bill-gates-gives-away-4-6-billion-unveils-new-campaign-to-combat-malaria/#6cac3f7730d3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in June</a>. That gift was first reported by <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-14/gates-makes-largest-donation-since-2000-with-4-6-billion-pledge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bloomberg</a>.
Ortega became the richest person in the world for the first time in October 2015, but he lost his spot to Gates in less than 24 hours. He regained the lead in September 2016, but was quickly overtaken by Gates once again.
A former store clerk, Ortega founded Inditex with his late ex-wife, Rosalia Mera, in 1975. They grew the business into an international powerhouse that now has a market capitalization of more than $100 billion.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/billionaires/2017/07/31/besides-jeff-bezos-6-people-whove-also-worlds-richest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Besides Jeff Bezos: 6 People Who&#8217;ve Also Been The World&#8217;s Richest</a>
A resident of Spain, Ortega no longer has a day-to-day role at the company. He has recently focused on diversifying his fortune with a host of global investments, and he has poured huge sums into international real estate. He typically collects over $400 million in dividends from Inditex every year. Much of that cash is spent on property investments in New York, Madrid, London and elsewhere.
Despite that diversification, Ortega still holds more than 80% of his wealth in Inditex shares. As the stock has ticked up over the years, his net worth has followed suit. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/noahkirsch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Noah Kirsch</a>, FORBES STAFF

This Spanish Retailer Just Became The Richest Person In The World

For the 30 years FORBES has been tracking global wealth, only five people have ranked on our annual compendium of wealth as the richest person on the planet. In between those annual lists, at least two people have briefly become the world&#8217;s richest, the most recent of whom was Jeff Bezos, who overtook Bill Gates as No. 1 on July 27 as Amazon stock surged.
Gates has held the title for 18 of the past 23 years. So who were the other richest people in the world in the three decades FORBES has been tracking wealth?
<a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/billionaires/2017/07/28/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-reign-worlds-richest-lasted-just-hours/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Reign As World’s Richest Lasted Just A Few Hours</a>
Amazon founder and CEO Bezos<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/2017/07/27/jeff-bezos-overtakes-bill-gates-to-become-worlds-richest-man/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> overtook Bill Gates</a> to become the richest person in the world on Thursday morning July 27, with a fortune topping $90 billion for the first time ever.When markets opened Thursday, Bezos had a net worth of $90.6 billion, putting him $500 million ahead of Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates.
Gates was previously surpassed on <a href="https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/#version:realtime" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Forbes’ real-time rankings</a> for just two days nearly a year ago by Spanish clothing retail tycoon <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/amancio-ortega/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Amancio Ortega</a>. Forbes started tracking billionaires around the globe in 1987.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/richlist/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">African Billionaires</a>
Bezos became the seventh person to hold the title of the world’s richest person and the third American to top the global ranks besides Gates and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett.
The founder of Spanish clothing retailer Inditex (known in the U.S. for its Zara stores), topped Gates as the richest on Forbes&#8217; real-time rankings for a few hours in Oct. 2015 and for two days in Sept. 2016 but just as quickly fell out of the top rank. Ortega, the world&#8217;s wealthiest retailer, typically earns more than $400 million in dividends a year.
When shares of Ortega’s business Inditex ticked up 2.5% in 2016, his fortune <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2016/09/08/amancio-ortega-richest-bill-gates-world-spain-inditex-microsoft-zara/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">was boosted by $1.7 billion</a>, then fell 2.8% two days later.
The son of a railway worker from La Coruña, Spain, Ortega is as reclusive as he is rich. He started his career as a store clerk in his hometown before opening his own business. Beginning with less than $100, he and his then-wife Rosalia Mera began making lingerie, pajamas and nightgowns in their living room.
In 2010, a billionaire from a country other than the U.S. or Japan topped the list for the first time: telecom tycoon <a href="https://www.forbes.com/2010/03/09/worlds-richest-people-slim-gates-buffett-billionaires-2010-intro.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Carlos Slim Helu</a>. Riding the surging stock price of his telecom firm America Movil, the Mexican tycoon beat out Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to become the world&#8217;s richest. He held onto the top spot for four years.
<a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Warren Buffett</a> rose to the top in 2008. Gates&#8217; fortune had tumbled after Microsoft&#8217;s failed attempt to merge with Yahoo. That was also the year Gates stepped down as Microsoft chairman to focus on the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation. He reclaimed the top ranking in 2009 with a much smaller fortune of $40 billion.
An American first took the top spot on Forbes annual World&#8217;s Billionaires list in 1995. That was the year Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates climbed to number one with a net worth of $12.5 billion. He was one of just 365 billionaires that year and has held the title of world&#8217;s richest for 18 of the past 23 years.
<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2016/03/05/the-four-people-besides-bill-gates-whove-been-the-worlds-richest-person-in-the-past-30-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gates&#8217; rise</a>, though meteoric, was not instant. He cofounded Microsoft in 1975 but didn’t top our list for another two decades. In 1995, Microsoft stock was rising as tech firm valuations skyrocketed. Gates&#8217; net worth was $12.9 billion, and it continued to grow astronomically over the next four years.
At its height, in 1999 near the peak of the Internet-fueled boom, Gates’ fortune reached $90 billion. Today, he remains a board member of Microsoft, the software firm he founded with Paul Allen.
In 1991, Taikichiro Mori became the world’s richest person with a $15 billion fortune. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2016/03/05/the-four-people-besides-bill-gates-whove-been-the-worlds-richest-person-in-the-past-30-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">An economics professor</a>, he quit the university in 1959 and went into business, constructing office buildings in Tokyo’s Minato ward. He had 65 office buildings with 7.7 million square feet of floor space when Forbes first named his fortune the world’s largest.
The richest person on FORBES&#8217; very first World Billionaires List in 1987 was Japanese billionaire Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, who had a $20 billion net worth at the time. Tsutsumi was one of 140 billionaires around the world on that first ranking of the world&#8217;s 10-figure fortunes, worth a combined $295 billion.
Tsutsumi&#8217;s wealth came from real estate and retail through his Seibu Group at the height of the Japanese real estate bubble. After being beaten out by Mori in 1991, Tsutsumi was back on top two years later with a $9 billion fortune and was also the richest person the next year for the last time.
A decade later, Tsutsumi had a fall from grace: His Seibu Group was delisted in 2004 due to years of reporting errors. He was arrested the next year, fined $42,000 and received a four-year suspended prison sentence. Tsutsumi fell off of the Billionaires List entirely in 2007. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kate Vinton</a>, FORBES STAFF

Tag: Amancio Ortega

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