The Richest Person in 40 Countries

While America has a disproportionately large share of billionaires — a list dominated by tech heavyweights including Elon Musk, who recently became the first person in the world with a net worth of more than $300 billion — it by no means has a monopoly on the ultra-wealthy. We scoured Forbes to find the richest person in 40 countries, including plenty of ridiculously rich people you’ve probably never heard of. For comparison’s sake, we also included data from global investment bank Credit Suisse on the average citizen’s wealth in each of those nations (Spoiler alert: The disparities range from shocking to even more shocking) but unless otherwise noted, information was drawn from the Nov. 5 Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List, which updates constantly when markets are open. If you like a horse race, follow along and watch these fortunes ebb and flow. 

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Age: 50

Net worth: $320.9 billion

Average wealth per adult in the United States: $505,421

New to this spot atop the heap: South African-born Musk, the founder of Tesla and cofounder of what became PayPal. Musk, who's also head of aerospace technology company SpaceX, recently leap-frogged Amazon's Jeff Bezos to become the richest person in the world. He's also the first person ever with a net worth of more than $300 billion. 

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Age: 72

Net worth: $197 billion

Average wealth per adult in France: $299,355

If you have a taste for luxury, chances are you’re a fan of Arnault’s brands, which include Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, Sephora, and Dom Perignon. His first major acquisition was Christian Dior, which he bought in 1985 using millions his father earned in construction.

Related: Upscale Brands That Almost Never Go on Sale 

Age: 64

Net worth: $95.6 billion

Average wealth per adult in India: $14,252 

Ambani is head of Reliance Industries, a multinational corporation that has a wide range of businesses, including energy, retail, telecommunications, and more. The company, originally a textile maker, was founded by Ambani’s yarn-trader father in the ’60s. 

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Age: 85

Net worth: $84.2 billion

Average wealth per adult in Spain: $227,122

Ortega co-founded Inditex, parent company of Zara and several other fashion brands, in the ’70s. He also owns stakes in telecom and natural gas companies.  

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Age: 81

Net worth: $77.4 billion

Average wealth per adult in Mexico: $42,689

Slim is chairman of ​​América Móvil, one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies and the largest cellular provider in Latin America. He also owns chunks of other businesses from construction to real estate, and even a large chunk of The New York Times.

Age: 66

Net worth: $67.1 billion

Average wealth per adult in China: $67,771

Zhong’s massive fortune comes mainly from two sources: He’s chairman of the massive Nongfu Spring bottled water company, and he heads Beijing Wantai, a biopharmaceuticals company.

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Age: 52

Net worth: $56.9 billion

Average wealth per adult in Hong Kong: $503,335

Electric vehicles are commanding a growing chunk of the automotive market, and many are powered by batteries made by Zeng’s company, Contemporary Amperex Technology.

Age: 64

Net worth: $52.8 billion

Average wealth per adult in Canada: $332,323

Thomson is a media magnate who chairs Thomson Reuters, which his grandfather founded. He also owns part of telecommunications giant Bell Canada.

Age: 69 and 73

Net worth: $44.4 billion

Average wealth per adult in Germany: $268,861

Heiser and Albrecht are heirs to the Aldi fortune. Their father, Karl Albrecht Sr., built Aldi into the global discount grocery giant with his brother, Theo Sr., who also bought Trader Joe’s in the early ’70s.

Related: How Stores Like Aldi Stay So Cheap

Age: 72

Net worth: $35.4 billion

Average wealth per adult in Japan: $256,596

Yanai is chairman, president, and CEO of Fast Retailing, the parent company of familiar fashion brands including Uniqlo, Theory, and Helmut Lang. 

Age: 86

Net worth: $35.2 billion

Average wealth per adult in Italy: $239,244

Del Vecchio founded eyewear giant Luxottica in 1961. Today, the company also owns Sunglass Hut, Ray-Ban, and Oakley, and manufactures glasses for luxury brands Bulgari and Chanel.

Age: 56

Net worth: $31.5 billion

Average wealth per adult in Russia: $27,162

Mordashov, formerly CEO of steel giant Severstal, rose to that position after he was born to mill workers. He also has a stake in travel company TUI Group and power-equipment maker Power Machines.

Age: 77

Net worth: $25.4 billion

Average wealth per adult in Austria: $290,348

Mateschitz co-founded Red Bull in 1987, and the former marketing executive helped grow it into the corporate giant it is today by associating it with all things thrilling and extreme.

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Age: 41

Net worth: $26.8 billion

Average wealth per adult in Australia: $483,755

Cannon-Brookes cofounded collaboration software firm Atlassian shortly after he graduated college. Today, the company's clients include NASA, Tesla, and SpaceX.

Age: 70

Net worth: $22.7 billion

Average wealth per adult in Singapore: $332,995

Li is founder and chairman of Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics, which makes a huge range of medical devices, including ventilators, ultrasound machines, vital-signs monitors, and defibrillators. 

Age: 80

Net worth: $21.7 billion

Average wealth per adult in Indonesia: $17,693

Along with his brother, Michael, Hartono owns part of Bank Central Asia as well as electronics company Polytron and gaming-products company Razer.

Age: 73

Net worth: $19.6 billion

Average wealth per adult in Sweden: $336,166

Fast fashion is the source of Persson’s fortune: He owns more than one-third of global apparel brand H&M, though he stepped down as chair in 2020. His father, Erling, founded H&M in 1947.

Age: 78

Net worth: $19.4 billion

Average wealth per adult in Chile: $53,591

Fontbona and her children inherited the fortune of her late husband, Andrónico Luksic, founder of Luksic Group. The company owns portions of several prominent mining, financial, industrial, and beverage companies. 

Age: 39 

Net worth: $18.8 billion

Average wealth per adult in Brazil: $18,272

The youngest billionaire on this list by far, Saverin made his fortune thanks to a little website you may have heard of: Facebook, which he co-founded with Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. He retains a small stake in the company and is now a venture capitalist. 

Related: The Greatest American Inventions of the Past 50 Years

Age: 67

Net worth: $17.8 billion

Average wealth per adult in the Netherlands: $377,092

The name gives it away here — Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken inherited a major stake in the massive beer company when her father, Freddy Heineken, died in 2002. Her great-grandfather, Gerard Adriaan Heineken, founded the company in 1864 in Amsterdam.

Age: 92

Net worth: $15.8 billion

Average wealth per adult in Ireland: $266,153

This construction magnate heads India’s Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which is run by his oldest son. He also has a major stake in Tata Sons, the holding company for Tata Group, parent of more than 30 companies.

Age: 68

Net worth: $15.2 billion

Average wealth per adult in the United Kingdom: $290,754

Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group is a global chemical company that owns three dozen businesses in oil, gas, chemicals, and consumer goods. The former chemical engineer mortgaged his home to buy a chemicals business in the ’90s that grew into today’s conglomerate. 

Age: 64

Net worth: $13.6 billion

Average wealth per adult in Nigeria: $6,451

The richest person in Africa, Dangote is founder and chairman of Dangote Cement, which operates in 10 African nations. He is also building a massive oil refinery and has stakes in sugar and salt manufacturing. 

Age: 82

Net worth: $12.1 billion 

Average wealth per adult in Thailand: $25,292

Senior chairman of Charoen Pokphand Group, Dhanin Chearavanont turned over the reins to his animal feed and livestock company to two of his sons in 2017. In 2020, the company bought Tesco’s 2,000 stores in Thailand and Malaysia. 

Age: 49

Net worth: $11.9 billion

Average wealth per adult in Denmark: $376,069

Povlsen owns Bestseller, an apparel company with several brands and thousands of stores worldwide. He also owns a stake in ASOS, another major fashion retailer, and part of payments company Klarna. Anyone can face tragedy though: He lost three of his children in the 2019 Easter terror attacks in Sri Lanka.

Age: 55

Net worth: $11.9 billion

Average wealth per adult in South Korea: $211,369

For South Koreans, chatting, shopping, and gaming is as simple as opening the Kakao app on their phone. Kim, Kakao’s founder and chairman, recently signed The Giving Pledge, promising to donate most of his fortune to charity or philanthropy.

Age: 71

Net worth: $11.9 billion

Average wealth per adult in Israel: $228,268

Ofer’s late father, Sammy Ofer, left Eyal much of his massive shipping business. The younger Ofer now chairs Ofer Global, which invests in real estate, shipping, banking, and other industries. 

Age: 98

Net worth: $11.3 billion

Average wealth per adult in Malaysia: $29,287

If you’ve ever stayed at a Shangri-La hotel or resort, you have Robert Kuok to thank. Kuok founded the international chain in the early ’70s and now owns Kuok Group, which has stakes not just in hospitality, but food, agriculture, real estate, and more.

Age: 76

Net worth: $11.2 billion

Average wealth per adult in Cyprus: $142,304

Tankers, deep-water rigs, and other trappings of the oil trade have made Fredriksen a tidy sum. He’s also a major player in fish farming, and owns part of Norwegian seafood company Mowi.

Ages: 81

Net worth: $11.2 billion

Average wealth per adult in Switzerland: $673,962

The Apontes owe their fortune to MSC, the world’s second-largest shipping line. Gianluigi Aponte, a former captain, was CEO until 2014. The company includes logistics, port operations, and a cruise line. 

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Age: 75

Net worth: $10 billion

Average wealth per adult in Belgium: $351,327

Wittouck invested returns from his family’s sugar company, Tiense Suiker, with a private equity firm that has made him even richer. The firm, Invus, has partnered with big names including Keebler, Weight Watchers, and Blue Buffalo. 

Age: 60

Net worth: $8.9 billion

Average wealth per adult in Egypt: $19,468

Sawiris heads OCI, a massive nitrogen fertilizer company, and has a sizable stake in Adidas, where he is on the supervisory board. He also has a stake in the parent company of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers. 

Age: 66

Net worth: $8.8 billion

Average wealth per adult in New Zealand: $348,198

This high-school dropout has done well for himself, indeed. His private investment company, Rank Group, has grown companies including Reynolds Consumer Products, famously known for aluminum foil and Hefty trash bags. 

Age: 76

Net worth: $7.9 billion

Average wealth per adult in South Africa: $20,308

Oppenheimer, formerly chair of the most notable name in diamond mining, DeBeers, sold his 40% stake in the family company in 2012. He went on to found a charter-flight company, Fireblade Aviation.

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Age: 71

Net worth: $7.5 billion

Average wealth per adult in the Philippines: $15,290

Villar is chairman of Vista Mall, a major mall operator in the Philippines, as well as the nation’s largest homebuilder, Vista Land. He also has a home-improvement store chain, AllHome. 

Age: 53

Net worth: $7.4 billion

Average wealth per adult in Vietnam: $14,075

Pham Nhat Vuong got his start selling instant noodles, but pivoted to investing with Vingroup, a conglomerate that invests in autos, real estate, technology, and other sectors. 

Age: 68

Net worth: $7.3 billion

Average wealth per adult in Greece: $104,603

Safra, a native of Greece, inherited her wealth from husband Joseph Safra, a banker who was Brazil’s richest person until his death in December. She has a philanthropic foundation, and her four children share a portion of their father’s fortune. 

Age: 55

Net worth: $7.3 billion

Average wealth per adult in Ukraine: $13,104

This son of a coal miner, Akhmetov is invested in mining and steel as well as thermal and wind power. The controversial figure also has stakes beyond industrial and energy holdings, including in finance, real estate, retail, and telecommunications companies.

Age: 49

Net worth: $6.2 billion

Average wealth per adult in Romania: $50,009

Dines is cofounder and CEO of UiPath, which helps companies streamline parts of their businesses with virtual automation. Clients include big names such as Toyota, Deloitte, and LexisNexis.

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Age: 64

Net worth: $6 billion

Average wealth per adult in Finland: $167,711

Herlin chairs Kone, which makes elevators and escalator systems for buildings around the world. He also owns part of Swedish media firm Sanoma.