Bad News: This post will probably make you feel poor.
GOOD NEWS: If you make $100,000 a year and save every penny, you will be a billionaire in 10,000 years! Just exercise, pop some vitamins and don’t die.
Forbes released its most recent list containing the richest people on the planet and the board has been shuffled immensely from the previous years, due in large part to volatile stock markets, sinking oil prices, and a stronger dollar.
Forbes found 1,810 billionaires, down from a record 1,826 last year–resulting in an aggregate net worth of $6.48 trillion, $570 billion less than last year. Poor things.
The richest man in the world for the third year running is, of course, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, marking the 17th time in 22 years Gates has topped the list.
At just 31 years old, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg had the best year of all billionaires–adding $11.2 billion to his fortune and moved up to No. 6 from 16.
How you feel about that, Mark?
K, I don’t know what that means.
Anyhoo, here’s the list, courtesy of Daily Mail:
Here are some mind-boggling stats about Top 5 richest people on Earth:
Bill Gates could donate $15 to everyone on Earth and still be left with $5 million in pocket money.
Amancio Ortega bought Spain’s tallest skyscraper, the Torre Picasso in Madrid. It stands 515 feet tall and cost a model $535 million.
By the time Warren Buffet was 16-years-old, he amassed $53,000 from delivering newspapers, selling golf balls and stamps, and starting a pinball machine business.
Carlos Slim Helu essentially bailed out the New York Times, loaning the publisher $250 million and saving it from financial ruin.
At the age of three, Jeff Bezos disassembled his crib with a screwdriver because he wanted to sleep on a bed.
Matt Keohan ate a cheese sandwich for dinner last night because he didn’t get paid until today. He’ll feel rich for a total of 72 hours before trading in cans to up his net worth.
[h/t Forbes , Daily Mail]