World's Billionaires 30th Anniversary: Looking Back On Three Decades Of Billionaires

Our inaugural edition counted only 140 billionaire individuals and families from just 24 countries. At the time, Japan was home to both the world's richest man, real estate tycoon Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, and more billionaires than any other country besides the U.S. This year? We have a record 2,043 billionaires from 71 countries and territories. The U.S. still holds the most, but now China comes in second, and Bill Gates has held the title of World's Richest Man for 18 of the last 23 years.