Money makes the world go ‘round, and in 2024, there's more money around the world than ever before. There are now a record 2,781 people on Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list, worth a record $14.2 trillion in all. They hail from 78 countries, up from 77 in 2023.

The U.S. remains the country with the most billionaire citizens, with 813 who are collectively worth $5.7 trillion, both records. America’s billionaire class is $1.2 trillion richer than last year, thanks in part to the 97 people who joined or rejoined the ranks this year, with notable newcomers including Taylor Swift, NBA Legend Magic Johnson and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Fourteen of the top 20 richest people in the world are U.S. citizens, including eight of the top ten. The richest person in the world, however, is once again France’s Bernard Arnault, CEO of luxury goods giant LVMH, who is worth an estimated $233 billion.

China has the second most billionaires, with 406 worth $1.3 trillion; however, that’s down from 576 people last year who were worth a total of $2 trillion. (67 Hong Kongers add another $330 billion.) A major property slump is mostly to blame, along with a stock market rout that wiped out billions for China’s ultrarich over the past three years.

The Forbes World’s Billionaires list is a snapshot of wealth using stock prices and exchange rates from March 8, 2024. Some people become richer or poorer within days of publication. We list individuals rather than multigenerational families who share fortunes, though we include wealth belonging to a billionaire’s spouse and children in certain cases, namely if that person is the founder of the fortune. For Russian billionaires, fortunes were calculated using ownership structures from February 2022, prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and before many made transfers of assets to managers, friends and others in an effort to protect their holdings from sanctions. We value a variety of assets, including private companies, real estate, art and more. We don’t pretend to know each billionaire’s private balance sheet (though some provide it). When documentation isn’t supplied or available, we discount fortunes. For daily updates of net worths, go to forbes.com/realtimebillionaires.

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