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Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, the first- and third-richest people in the world, are good friends. Photo: Ethan Bloch, Flickr
It's good to have goals. If you're aiming to be among the top 10 richest people in the world, you might be interested in learning who you might have to displace. It can be instructive to review a list of the top 10 richest people in the world for other reasons, too, such as learning how they achieved their wealth and just how wealthy they are.
Forbes magazine is a big help here, as it regularly lists the richest people in the world. The magazine goes beyond the top 10, too, keeping tabs on all billionaires and prominently listing the top 500. Let's see what Forbes' data shows us.
The top 10 richest people in the worldFirst off, here are the top 10:
RankNameNet WorthSource of Wealth
1 Bill Gates $79.2 billion Microsoft
2 Carlos Slim Helu & family $77.1 billion telecommunications
3 Warren Buffett $72.7 billion Berkshire Hathaway
4 Amancio Ortega $64.5 billion Zara
5 Larry Ellison $54.3 billion Oracle
6 Charles Koch $42.9 billion diversified
6 David Koch $42.9 billion diversified
8 Christy Walton & family $41.7 billion Wal-Mart
9 Jim Walton $40.6 billion Wal-Mart
10 Liliane Bettencourt & family $40.1 billion L'Oreal
Source: Forbes
Here are some interesting things about these folks and their fellow billionaires:
  • Anyone thinking that the U.S. has the vast majority of the world's richest people will find gobs of non-Americans on the list. Mexico's Carlos Slim Helu, for example, is ranked No. 2, while Spain's Amancio Ortega is in 4th place, with Liliane Bettencourt of France in 10th. Forbes' 2015 list of more than 1,800 billionaires includes 71additions to the list from China.
Images
Many Americans haven't heard of Mexico's Carlos Slim Helu, but he's the world's second-richest man. Photo: ITU Pictures, Flickr
  • There are a record number of billionaires under age 40 on the big Forbes list, at 46. Still, that's not a lot, reflecting the fact that it's not easy to become a billionaire quickly. Some noteworthy names on the list include Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos, which develops faster, inexpensive blood tests, among other things, along with founders of companies such as Airbnb, Snapchat, and Uber.
  • As you might expect, not all of the billionaires are self-made ones. Many, such as Walton family members, inherited their wealth. Others, such as the famous right-wing supporters Charles and David Koch, inherited great wealth and then increased that wealth significantly. Almost 1,200 on the overall list are self-made, with about 230 having inherited their wealth. (Some 400 are like the Kochs.)
  • Many of these billionaires have signed on to the Giving Pledge campaign created by Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett, promising to give away at least half of their fortune. Some of the pledgers include Netflix founder Reed Hastings and Patty Quillin, Dan Gilbert of Quicken Loans, and Spanx founder Sara Blakely.
  • The people tied for last place on the list of 500 are still rather wealthy, with a net worth of about $3.5 billion. Steven Spielberg, with a net worth of about $3.6 billion, is near them, in 481st place.
It's unlikely that any of us will become one of the top 10 richest people in the world, but that doesn't mean we need to give up our dreams of financial security. By saving aggressively and investing effectively (perhaps just via a simple, inexpensive broad-market index fund) for a long time, many of us can at least become millionaires. That will take us most or all of the way toward a comfortable retirement.
There's something big happening this Friday
I don't know about you, but I always pay attention when one of the best growth investors in the world gives me a stock tip. Motley Fool co-founder David Gardner (whose growth-stock newsletter was the best performing in the world as reported by The Wall Street Journal)* and his brother, Motley Fool CEO Tom Gardner, are going to reveal their next stock recommendations this Friday. Together, they've tripled the stock market's return over 12+ years. And while timing isn't everything, the history of Tom and David's stock picks shows that it pays to get in early on their ideas.
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*"Look Who's on Top Now" appeared in The Wall Street Journal which references Hulbert's rankings of the best performing stock picking newsletters over a 5-year period from 2008-2013.
Longtime Fool specialist Selena Maranjian, whom you can follow on Twitter, owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway, Microsoft, and Netflix. The Motley Fool recommends Berkshire Hathaway and Netflix. The Motley Fool owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway, Netflix, and Oracle. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Forget the iPhone 6. Next Apple Sensation Leaked

Forget the iPhone and the Apple Watch. Another revolutionary Apple technology is booming. According to Gartner Research, the market for this technology will soon be worth a whopping $721 billion!
But you won't hear about this game-changer in front page headlines. Peeking under the hood reveals a more intriguing story about a little-known company that has cornered the market for the technology hidden in Apple's devices. Simply click here to learn its name.



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