Who is the richest person in the world? Even if pinning down the personal fortunes of the planet’s wealthiest people is no simple task, for years the specialist magazine Forbes has taken on this titanic effort. Its constantly updated ranking of the world’s richest people is built on estimates of personal net worth, and the latest edition brings both familiar names and some notable reshuffling compared with previous reports.
According to Forbes, the top of the ranking of the world’s richest men is once again held by Elon Musk, whose fortune has nonetheless shrunk to $690 billion in August 2026, shedding the title of first-ever trillionaire in history that he had claimed on June 12. Behind him, Larry Page holds firm with $292 billion, while Jeff Bezos climbs to third place, overtaking Sergey Brin in a ranking that is increasingly dynamic and shaped by the swings of global financial markets.
Here is a detailed look at the ranking of the ten richest men in the world (updated to August 2026) according to Forbes. To build the list, the analysis takes into account share prices and current exchange rates, supplemented by official documents, financial and court records, and information on tangible assets such as real estate, artworks, yachts, and private jets.
July 2026: Musk loses the trillion and burns through a record $363 billion
After SpaceX’s historic stock-market debut in June, which had crowned Musk the first trillionaire in history, July proved merciless for the founder’s fortune. The slide in shares of his rocket maker cost him roughly $363 billion in a single month: the largest monthly loss ever recorded by a single individual, greater than the entire fortune of any of the other nine men in the top 10. The combined wealth of the planet’s ten richest people thus falls to about $2.6 trillion, down roughly $368 billion from the previous month.
The month’s big winner is Jeff Bezos, who gained about $29 billion thanks to a 14% rise in Amazon shares and returns to third place, for the first time since March, leapfrogging Sergey Brin (himself up about $1 billion, but forced to give up a spot). Besides Bezos, the month’s biggest gainers were Brin, Larry Page, and Jensen Huang.
The big loser after Musk is Larry Ellison, who shed about $24 billion in a single month, the largest absolute decline after that of the SpaceX founder, on the back of an 11% drop in Oracle shares, sliding from seventh to eighth place and swapping positions with Jensen Huang. The second-largest decline in the top 10 belongs to Michael Dell, down about $6 billion. The makeup of the ten richest did not change: no new entries and no departures compared with the previous month. As for women, American Alice Walton remains the richest woman in the world, with an estimated fortune of $119 billion.
1) Elon Musk (South Africa–US) — $690 billion
The richest person in the world is once again Elon Musk, but his fortune drops to $690 billion, down roughly $363 billion from the previous month: the heaviest monthly loss ever recorded by a single individual, larger than the entire net worth of each of the nine men who trail him in the ranking. With this collapse, Musk gives up his trillionaire status and slips below the $700 billion mark for the first time since December.
His wealth remains driven above all by SpaceX, which has absorbed xAI and is now worth about $1.5 trillion in market capitalization. Yet the space company’s stock is also the main culprit behind the plunge: after surging as much as 67% above its listing price in June, it gave back 37% in July, wiping out about $320 billion of Musk’s fortune. Forbes estimates that the founder holds roughly 38% of the company, a stake now valued at $552 billion: by far his most valuable asset. On top of that sits his roughly 11% holding in Tesla, worth about $123 billion, or $43 billion less than the previous month, after the company reported second-quarter results below expectations on July 22 and the stock lost 26% over the month.
The market debut remains a historic milestone nonetheless: on June 12, 2026, SpaceX made its Nasdaq debut, closing its first session with a market capitalization of about $2.2 trillion and making Musk the first trillionaire in history. It was a fleeting record, however, swept away within a few weeks by the return to earth of his rocket maker’s shares.
Last November, Tesla shareholders approved a record pay package tied to so-called «Mars shot» targets, which could grant him stock options with a theoretical value of up to $1 trillion. On the legal front, the lawsuit Musk filed against OpenAI, seeking compensation for his contributions to the organization when it was still a nonprofit, was dismissed on procedural grounds in May, though Musk is expected to appeal.
2) Larry Page (US) — $292 billion
Larry Page holds firm for yet another month as the second-richest person in the world, with a fortune of $292 billion, up about $1 billion from the previous month: he is one of the few members of the top 10 to have closed July in positive territory.
Co-founder of Google alongside Sergey Brin in 1998, he is today one of the controlling shareholders of Alphabet and a board member. After serving as CEO in two separate stints (until 2001 and then from 2011 to 2015), he gradually took on a more understated but still central role in the group’s strategy.
Page is only the third individual in history to have crossed the $300 billion threshold, along with Musk and Ellison, a milestone reached in April before June’s downturn pushed his fortune back below that line. In parallel, Page is working on the startup Dynatomics, focused on advanced manufacturing through AI, confirming his key role in global technological innovation.
3) Jeff Bezos (US) — $278 billion
Jeff Bezos rises to third place with an estimated fortune of $278 billion, up about $29 billion from the previous month: he is the month’s big winner, propelled by a 14% jump in Amazon shares. With this leap he overtakes Sergey Brin and returns to the third step of the podium for the first time since March.
Founder of Amazon in 1994, he led the group until 2021 and today remains executive chairman. Over the years he has sold more than $49 billion in Amazon shares and now owns about 8% of the company.
In a lengthy interview given in May, Bezos revealed the details of his new entrepreneurial venture: AI Project Prometheus, a startup focused on engineering and advanced manufacturing through artificial intelligence, which in June closed a funding round at a $41 billion valuation. Bezos is its co-CEO: his first operational role since 2021. In parallel, he continues to invest in Blue Origin and, through Bezos Expeditions, in startups such as Airbnb. Recently he has also been at the center of controversy over the restructuring of the Washington Post.
4) Sergey Brin (US) — $269 billion
Sergey Brin slips to fourth place, with a fortune of $269 billion, up about $1 billion from the previous month: despite the gain, the Google co-founder loses a spot, overtaken by Jeff Bezos.
Co-founder of Google alongside Larry Page, he has in recent years returned to an active role in Alphabet’s strategy, particularly in the development of artificial intelligence. He has been described as a «core contributor» to the Gemini models, marking his operational comeback after a period of semi-retirement.
Brin remains a board member and controlling shareholder of the group. At the end of 2025 he donated $1.1 billion in Alphabet shares to his Catalyst4 foundation, active in medical and climate research. He is also reported to have acquired residences in Malibu and on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, and to be supporting a California nonprofit working on housing affordability, at a time when California is weighing the introduction of a wealth tax on the ultra-rich.
5) Michael Dell (US) — $229 billion
Michael Dell holds fifth place with a fortune of $229 billion, down about $6 billion from the previous month: after Ellison, he is the second-biggest loser of the month within the top 10.
Founder of Dell Technologies, he started out selling computers from his dorm room at the University of Texas at age 19, taking in $80,000 by the end of his first year, before building one of the largest technology groups in the world. The historic turning point came with the $60 billion merger with EMC in 2016.
This past May had been exceptional for Dell: the stock gained more than 100% over the entire month, driven by May 28 results that shattered expectations with a 757% year-over-year increase in AI server revenue and a 33% jump in a single session, the best in the stock’s history. Dell took his company public, then took it private and listed it again in 2018, in one of the sector’s most complex financial operations. The sale of VMware to Broadcom for $69 billion further strengthened his fortune.
6) Mark Zuckerberg (US) — $191 billion
Mark Zuckerberg holds sixth place with a fortune of $191 billion, down about $2 billion from the previous month.
Founder of Facebook in 2004, he now leads Meta, the world’s largest social network, which controls platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp. Zuckerberg remains CEO and holds about 13% of the group.
Heavy capital spending on AI and staff cuts have weighed on the company’s shares relative to the broader market. Meta nonetheless continues to bet on the metaverse, AI, and new technologies, including a partnership with Prada on smart glasses. Together with his wife Priscilla Chan, Zuckerberg is highly active in philanthropy, with projects focused on health and scientific research.
7) Jensen Huang (US) — $174 billion
Founder and CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang rises to seventh place with a fortune of $174 billion, up about $1 billion over the past month: a move that lets him swap positions with Larry Ellison.
Since 1993 he has led Nvidia, transforming it from a gaming-focused company into a global leader in chips for artificial intelligence. Its GPUs are now essential for data centers and AI applications, making Nvidia one of the most influential companies in the world.
Huang owns about 3% of the company, which was among the first to reach record valuations of as much as $5 trillion. Born in Taiwan, he spent part of his childhood in Thailand before moving to the United States, where he built one of the most significant entrepreneurial stories of recent decades.
8) Larry Ellison (US) — $168 billion
The big loser of July after Musk is Larry Ellison, who slides to eighth place with a fortune of $168 billion: a loss of about $24 billion in a single month, the largest absolute decline among the planet’s ultra-rich after that of the SpaceX founder. The 11% drop in Oracle shares cost him a spot, with the swap in placement going to Jensen Huang.
Founder of Oracle, he continues to draw most of his wealth from his stake in the company, of which he owns about 40%. The stock had staged an extraordinary run this past spring, driven by demand for AI infrastructure and by a deal signed on May 1 with the U.S. Department of War (the renamed Department of Defense) to deploy its artificial-intelligence tools on classified networks used for defense, intelligence, and government purposes, before giving back all those gains and much more in the following months.
Ellison is also at the center of an industrial operation of historic scope: Paramount’s bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for $111 billion, a deal that directly involves Ellison and his son David, could redraw the entire global media landscape, bringing CBS and CNN, HBO Max and Paramount+, Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures under a single roof. In July, however, the two agreed to freeze the operation until June 2027, or in any case until the resolution of a legal dispute launched on antitrust grounds. In recent months Ellison has moved his residence to Manalapan, Florida, about a 20-minute drive from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.
9) Bernard Arnault (France) — $146 billion
Bernard Arnault, the richest man in Europe, holds ninth place with a fortune of $146 billion, down about $2 billion from the previous month: he remains the only non-American member of the top 10.
CEO and chairman of LVMH, Arnault has built the world’s largest luxury group, with more than 75 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Moët & Chandon, Sephora, and Tiffany & Co.
All five of Arnault’s children work within the LVMH empire: Delphine runs Dior, Antoine and Frédéric sit on the board (the latter also heads the family holding company), Alexandre is deputy CEO of the wines and spirits division, and Jean is director of watches at Louis Vuitton.
10) Warren Buffett (US) — $145 billion
Warren Buffett holds tenth place with a fortune of $145 billion, down about $3 billion from the previous month: it is his wealth that effectively sets the threshold for entry into the top 10.
Known as the «Oracle of Omaha», Buffett is one of the most successful investors in history. The son of a U.S. congressman, he bought his first shares at age 11 and filed his first tax return at 13. At the end of December 2025 he stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company that controls dozens of businesses including the insurer Geico, battery maker Duracell, and the restaurant chain Dairy Queen, while keeping the role of chairman.
Together with Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, Buffett launched the Giving Pledge in 2010, through which billionaires commit to donating at least half of their fortunes to charity. Buffett himself has pledged to give away 99% of his wealth: to date he has already donated about $68 billion, mostly to the Gates Foundation, to his children’s foundations, and to the one started by his first wife. On July 14 he also donated nearly $6 billion in Berkshire shares to four foundations named after his three children and his first wife. According to the Wall Street Journal, Buffett will not, however, make his customary semiannual donation of Berkshire shares to the Gates Foundation until a review of the nonprofit’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein is completed.
The world’s richest: the data drawn from the Forbes ranking
As of August 2026, the list of billionaires tracked by Forbes counts 3,428 individuals, confirming record levels. The United States remains home to the largest number of the ultra-rich: 9 of the 10 richest people on the planet are American citizens, with the sole exception of France’s Bernard Arnault.
Unlike in June, the composition of the top 10 did not change in July: no entries and no exits, just an internal reshuffle of positions. Bill Gates remains outside, having dropped off the list of the 10 richest men back in 2024 after a downward revision of his fortune. To enter the top 10 it is now enough, so to speak, to have a fortune of at least $145 billion.
The women on the list number more than 400 (13% of the total), most of them heiresses. Alice Walton leads the women’s ranking ahead of Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, with an estimated fortune of $119 billion.
More and more billionaires on the planet: here’s why
2025 and 2026 confirm a historic trend: never before have there been so many billionaires.
The combined wealth of these ultra-rich individuals reaches $16.1 trillion, up $2 trillion in a year, a figure that exceeds the GDP of nearly every nation except the United States and China.
The growth is driven by several key factors: the expansion of artificial intelligence, the development of deep-tech startups, the consolidation of technology markets, major merger deals, and the elevated valuations of giants such as Nvidia, Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet.
Despite this, wealth remains heavily concentrated: the majority of billionaires come from the tech world, and the number of so-called «centibillionaires» continues to rise, reinforcing the economic weight of an ever-narrower elite.
Editor’s note
This article was originally published in Italian on money.it by Emanuele Di Baldo on August 03, 2026 as «I 10 uomini più ricchi del mondo, la classifica aggiornata (agosto 2026)». It has been translated and adapted for an international audience by the Money.it International desk.
