Every year Forbes releases a ‘rich list’ to remind you just how disproportionately wealth is distributed in the world.
Now, let’s celebrate and cherish those who made the cut, shall we?
This year, there are 2,153 billionaires in the world. That’s 55 less than last year, but a couple thousand more than we need. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos tops the list with a net worth of $131 billion USD. This is followed by Bill Gates’ very casual $96.5 billion USD sum, with Warren Buffet’s $82.5 billion rounding out the top three.
You’ll be happy to know (or probably not, actually) that 45 Canadians are among the global billionaires club. Here they are:
27 – David Thomson & family
147 – Joseph Tsai
174 – Galen Weston & family
209 – James Irving
272 – Jim Pattison
298 – David Cheriton
343 – Emanuele (Lino) Saputo & family
413 – Garrett Camp
424 – Mark Scheinberg
568 – Alain Bouchard
597 – Chip Wilson
667 – Arthur Irving
715 – Huang Chulong
715 – Daryl Katz
745 – Bob Gaglardi
775 – Peter Gilgan
838 – Mitchell Goldhar
877 – Lawrence Stroll
962 – Jean Coutu
962 – Robert Miller
1008 – Charles Bronfman
1008 – Carlo Fidani
1227 – Serge Godin
1281 – Jacques D’Amours
1281 – Michael Lee-Chin
1349 – Marcel Adams & family
1349 – Hal Jackman
1349 – Pierre Karl Peladeau
1425 – Stephen Jarislowsky
1425 – Tobi Lutke
1425 – Gerald Schwartz
1511 – N. Murray Edwards
1605 – Brand Louie
1605 – Stephen Smith
1605 – Peter Szulczewski
1717 – Bruce Flatt
1717 – Dani Reiss
1818 – Terence Matthews
1818 – K. Rai Sahi
1941 – Jack Cockwell
1941 – Mark Leonard & family
2057 – Ronnen Harary
2057 – Guy Laliberte
2057 – Anton Rabie
2057 – Prem Watsa
And here’s where they live:
David Thomson, valued at $32.5 billion USD, was recognized as Canada’s richest person last year as well. You’ll know him (or not) as the chairman of Thomson Reuters. The Thomson family, meanwhile, holds a stake in Bell and owns the Globe and Mail.
Now, some fun facts:
- – Kylie Jenner is the youngest ever self-made billionaire at just 21 years old
– The United States is home to the most billionaires in the world (607)
– Donald Trump is allegedly a billionaire
– There are more women among billionaire ranks than ever before (243) - – Canada is home to the 5th-most “ultra-wealthy” individuals in the world