Who is really the richest (money wise) person in the world?

I know most will say Jeff Bezos with a recently much reduced 116 billion. Yet personal monitory wealth is very much deceptive.

A smaller minority will say its the Rothchild family with its 2 trillion dollar wealth. And they also could be correct, because of who holds various proxies, head of estates and even guardianships.

Yet even that is misleading because who controls what in the corporate world.

Below I am giving some estimate worths. They are only approximates. Yet some of this could give a better picture of just who controls what and possibly who really is the richest.

Note of warning some of this may be surprising if not disturbing.

World wide three richest families:
https://www.trendrr.net/3894/top-10-richest-families-in-world-usa-famous-net-worth-income/

1. Rothchild family 2 trillion Germany
2. The House of Saud – Saudi Arabia: $1.4 trillion
3. The Walton Family – United States: $152 billion

Now to give some corporate world wide comparisons because family ties are truly based on their businesses.

Corporations by assets:

https://www.insidermonkey.com/blog/10-largest-companies-in-the-world-by-assets-589803/?singlepage=1

1. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China $3.47 trillion,
2. Fannie Mae $3.28 trillion.
3. China Construction Bank $3.01 trillion
4. Agricultural Bank of China $2.82 trillion
5. Bank of China $2.61 trillion
6. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial $2.59 trillion.
7. Japan Post Holdings $2.522 trillion.
8. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) $2.51 trillion.
9. HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE:HSBC) London-based $2.37 trillion.
10. Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) $2.196 trillion.

By net worth:

1. Apple (AAPL) Market Cap: 943.57B
2. Microsoft (MSFT) Market Cap: 928.57B
3. Amazon.com (AMZN) Market Cap: 919.65B
4. Alphabet (GOOG.O) Market Cap: 859.25B
5. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) Market Cap: 521.35B
6. Facebook (FB) Market Cap: 511.35B
7. Alibaba Group (BABA) Market Cap (China): 481.91B
8. TenCent (TME) Market Cap (China)8: 480.78B
9. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Market Cap: 369.1B
10. JP Morgan Chase (JPM) Market Cap: 363.75B

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Northwest · M

Who is really the richest (money wise) person in the world?

Your list does not have a single person on it. They're all families and banks/countries.

Bezos may be the richest person, on paper, but if he attempts to sell all his Amazon assets, the stock price will plummet big time. Same goes for Zuckerman, Ellison, and all those whose entire fortune is based on a single stock.

Gates is in a better position, as he no longer owns much Microsoft stock, he diversified over the years, into hundreds of blocks, so is he sells it all, his net worth will be about the same, but of course that's tied to the general market.

The real money, is in the hands of individuals whose assets are in real estate. That can be traded for cash at any time, even during market down turns. The only caveat, now, is that commercial real estate may be looking at a rough period, due to the uncertainty of need for an actual office, as people/companies get comfortable with remote work.

DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

@Northwest like any of those three families would not diversify as much as possible just to avoid any notoriety.

No, someone in each of those three families controls it.

Northwest · M

@DeWayfarer I don't think you read my comment.

DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

@Northwest don't believe you are reading mine. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Who controls their wealth?

No one knows.

Northwest · M

@DeWayfarer Well, pretty much everyone knows.

One smart thing they initially did, is set up a family owned company. The company issued shares. This arrangement has held up for more than 400 years. With each birth, the stock splits into a new branch, and then branches extend out of that. If the heir decides to leave cash out, and leave the company, the founding agreement stipulates that the "company" has a right of refusal to buy them out. If they decide to remain, they get dividends.

The parent company, is a holding company, I believe in the Netherlands or France, with a very large staff of financial advisers, analysts, accountants, etc. Over 450 years or so, the number of shareholders is in the thousands, and their overall power has diminished, but they remain very wealthy.

The same goes for the Waltons, although the Waltons real wealth is in WalMart stock, though I don't believe the Waltons have the same tight family arrangement.

DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

@Northwest now who really runs the company? That's the real person who controls their wealth. No need to have all that wealth if you control it.

Northwest · M

@DeWayfarer It's a job the board votes someone in to do, just like any other company.

DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

@Northwest still the controlling person. Bet it's a life long position. Though who is to say! 🤷🏻‍♂️