California considers temporary tax on the state’s wealthy
The California Billionaire Tax Act proposes a one-time tax on the state’s wealthiest residents to increase revenue for services such as health care.
South African-born businessman and technology mogul Elon Musk is once again the world’s richest person, according to Forbes magazine’s latest list of the world’s richest people.
Forbes released its annual ranking of the world’s richest people on March 10th, and the total number reached a record high of 3,428 people, an increase of 400 people from last year. The total wealth of billionaires this year reached a record $20.1 trillion, which is $4 trillion more than their total income last year.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk remains at the top this year, with an estimated $497 billion increase in wealth from 2025, nearly doubling his wealth to a record $839 billion. The 54-year-old is more than three times richer than Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who are listed by Forbes as the second and third richest people in the world, respectively.
The top 50 on this year’s rich list are as follows:
Forbes magazine’s top billionaires in the world in 2026
According to the magazine, Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s richest people in 2026 is based on stock prices and exchange rates as of March 1.
The top 50 are:
| rank | name | net worth | year | country | sauce |
| 1 | Elon Musk | $839 billion | 54 | US | Tesla, SpaceX |
| 2 | larry page | $257 billion | 52 | US | |
| 3 | Sergey Brin | $237 billion | 52 | US | |
| 4 | jeff bezos | $224 billion | 62 | US | Amazon |
| 5 | mark zuckerberg | $222 billion | 41 | US | |
| 6 | larry ellison | $190 billion | 81 | US | oracle |
| 7 | Bernard Arnault and family | $171 billion | 77 | France | LVMH |
| 8 | jensen fan | $154 billion | 63 | US | semiconductor |
| 9 | warren buffett | $149 billion | 95 | US | Berkshire Hathaway |
| 10 | Amancio Ortega | $148 billion | 89 | Spain | Zara |
| 11 | rob walton and family | $146 billion | 81 | US | walmart |
| 12 | jim walton and family | $143 billion | 77 | US | walmart |
| 13 | Michael Dell | $141 billion | 61 | US | Dell Technologies |
| 14 | alice walton | $13.4 billion | 76 | US | walmart |
| 15 | steve balmer | $12.6 billion | 69 | US | microsoft |
| 16 | Carlos Slim Herr and family | $125 billion | 86 | Mexico | telecommunications |
| 17 | Zhao Changpeng | $110 billion | 49 | Canada | cryptocurrency exchange |
| 18 | michael bloomberg | $109 billion | 84 | US | bloomberg LP |
| 19 | bill gates | $108 billion | 70 | US | microsoft |
| 20 | Françoise Betancourt Meyers and family | $100 billion | 72 | France | loreal |
| twenty one | Mukesh Ambani | $99.7 billion | 68 | India | Diversification |
| twenty two | Giancarlo Devasini | $89.3 billion | 61 | Italy | cryptocurrency |
| twenty three | thomas peterphy | $82.9 billion | 81 | US | discount intermediary |
| twenty four | Julia Koch and family | $81.2 billion | 63 | US | Koch Co., Ltd. |
| twenty five | Charles Koch and family | $73.8 billion | 90 | US | Koch Co., Ltd. |
| 26 | Zhang Yimin | $69.3 billion | 41 | China | TikTok |
| 27 | Zhong Shanshan | $68.1 billion | 71 | China | Beverages, medicines |
| 28 | Jeff Yass | $67.4 billion | 67 | US | trade, investment |
| 29 | dieter schwarz | $67.2 billion | 86 | Germany | retail |
| 30 | Germán Larrea Mota Velasco and family | $67.1 billion | 72 | Mexico | mining |
| 31 | Gautam Adani | $63.8 billion | 63 | India | infrastructure, daily necessities |
| 32 | Tadashi Yanai and family | $61.8 billion | 77 | Japan | fashion retail |
| 33 | Ma Huateng | $53.8 billion | 54 | China | online games |
| 34 | robin zen | $53.2 billion | 57 | Hong Kong | battery |
| 35 | Iris Fontbona and family | $52.6 billion | 83 | Chile | mining |
| 36 | Masayoshi Son | $51.5 billion | 68 | Japan | communication, investment |
| 37 | ken griffin | $49.8 billion | 57 | US | hedge fund |
| 38 | Jacqueline Mars | $49.1 billion | 86 | US | candy, pet food |
| 38 | john mars | $49.1 billion | 90 | US | candy, pet food |
| 40 | Lucas Walton | $48.9 billion | 39 | US | walmart |
| 41 | Giovanni Ferrero | $48.8 billion | 61 | Italy | nutella, chocolate |
| 42 | Li Ka Shing | $47 billion | 97 | Hong Kong | Diversification |
| 43 | Mark Mateschitz | $45.8 billion | 33 | Austria | red bull |
| 44 | Gianluigi Aponte | $44.5 billion | 85 | Switzerland | delivery |
| 44 | Raffaella Aponte Diamant | $44.5 billion | 80 | Switzerland | delivery |
| 46 | Andrea Pignataro | $42.6 billion | 55 | Italy | financial software |
| 47 | Klaus Michael Kuehne | $41.9 billion | 88 | Germany | delivery |
| 48 | Thomas Frist Jr. and family | $41.1 billion | 87 | US | hospital |
| 49 | Alan Wertheimer | $39.4 billion | 77 | France | chanel |
| 49 | Gerald Wertheimer | $39.4 billion | 75 | France | chanel |
To view the complete list, please visit https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/.
Kate Perez covers national trends and breaking news for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kperez@usatodayco.com or X @katecperez_.
