Arnault became the first French person to top the list. In 2023, Musk was in turn surpassed by French businessman Bernard Arnault, after topping the list for just a year. In 2022, after topping the list for four years, Bezos was surpassed by Elon Musk. In 2018, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was ranked at the top for the first time and became the first centibillionaire included in the ranking, surpassing Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who had topped the list 18 of the previous 24 years. This ranking is an index of the wealthiest documented individuals, excluding any ranking of those with wealth that is not able to be completely ascertained. Royalty and dictators whose wealth comes from their positions are excluded from these lists.

The total net worth of each individual on the list is estimated and is cited in United States dollars, based on their documented assets and accounting for debt and other factors. The list was first published in March 1987. The World's Billionaires is an annual ranking of people who are considered to have a net worth of $1 billion or more, by the American business magazine Forbes. US$12.2 trillion (from US$ 12.7 trillion)

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