Top 10

The richest people in the world, by tracked estimate.

Elon Musk leads at $1,001.8B, ahead of Larry Page. Every figure is rebuilt from cited filings and the latest completed market close, checked every eight hours.

These are estimates of documented holdings, not bank balances.

Valued as of , the latest completed market close inside these estimates. Sources last checked . The two dates differ on purpose: a weekend check can confirm a Friday valuation without inventing weekend movement.

Top ten tracked fortunes ranked by central estimate, valued as of September 4, 2026
RankPersonIndustryCountryEstimated net worthOne-day changeSeven-day changeEstimate dateSource coverage
1Elon MuskTechnologyUnited States1,001.8 billion US dollarsestimated decrease of 24.8 billion US dollars over one dayNo comparable prior snapshot exists for the seven days changeStrong coverage. Most material holdings have recent, direct public evidence.
2Larry PageTechnologyUnited States262.5 billion US dollarsestimated decrease of 3.0 billion US dollars over one dayNo comparable prior snapshot exists for the seven days changeStrong coverage. Most material holdings have recent, direct public evidence.
3Sergey BrinTechnologyUnited States241.6 billion US dollarsestimated decrease of 2.8 billion US dollars over one dayNo comparable prior snapshot exists for the seven days changeStrong coverage. Most material holdings have recent, direct public evidence.
4Jeff BezosTechnologyUnited States227.4 billion US dollarsestimated decrease of 343.1 million US dollars over one dayNo comparable prior snapshot exists for the seven days changeStrong coverage. Most material holdings have recent, direct public evidence.
5Michael DellTechnologyUnited States210.7 billion US dollarsestimated increase of 2.2 billion US dollars over one dayNo comparable prior snapshot exists for the seven days changePartial coverage. Major holdings are documented, but one or more material values require broader assumptions.
6Mark ZuckerbergTechnologyUnited States210.5 billion US dollarsestimated increase of 2.1 billion US dollars over one dayNo comparable prior snapshot exists for the seven days changeStrong coverage. Most material holdings have recent, direct public evidence.
7Jensen HuangTechnologyUnited States187.1 billion US dollarsestimated increase of 1.6 billion US dollars over one dayNo comparable prior snapshot exists for the seven days changeStrong coverage. Most material holdings have recent, direct public evidence.
8Larry EllisonTechnologyUnited States183.9 billion US dollarsestimated increase of 5.5 billion US dollars over one dayNo comparable prior snapshot exists for the seven days changeStrong coverage. Most material holdings have recent, direct public evidence.
9Steve BallmerTechnologyUnited States166.5 billion US dollarsestimated decrease of 3.5 billion US dollars over one dayNo comparable prior snapshot exists for the seven days changeStrong coverage. Most material holdings have recent, direct public evidence.
10Warren BuffettFinanceUnited States143.0 billion US dollarsestimated decrease of 691.4 million US dollars over one dayNo comparable prior snapshot exists for the seven days changeStrong coverage. Most material holdings have recent, direct public evidence.

Ranking uses unrounded central estimates. Shared ranks marked with = are exact internal ties. The full list of 32 tracked people is on the global ranking.

What this list actually measures

No register of private wealth exists anywhere in the world, so no list of the richest people is a census. What can be documented is ownership. When someone controls a large stake in a listed company, that stake appears in regulatory filings and the market prices it every trading day. This ranking covers the 32 people whose fortunes are documented that way, which is why it leans toward founders of listed technology and finance companies rather than heirs, landowners, or people whose assets sit inside private structures.

All 32 tracked people currently carry a central estimate above one billion dollars. The top ten spans Technology and Finance, and Elon Musk sits about $739.2B above second place. Concentration like that is normal at the top of a wealth ranking: the gap between first and tenth is usually wider than the gap between tenth and hundredth.

How each number is built

  1. Count the shares. Every share count comes from a named filing with an accession number and an effective date, most often a Form 3, 4, or 5, or a proxy statement.
  2. Price them. Holdings are valued at the latest completed market close, in integer cents, and converted to US dollars at the European Central Bank reference rate for that date.
  3. Subtract what is documented. Liabilities are deducted only when they are disclosed. Undocumented debt is treated as uncertainty, never as zero.
  4. Publish a range and a label. Each person gets a supported low and high alongside the central estimate, plus a coverage label describing how much of the fortune the evidence actually reaches.

The complete rules, including how share classes, options, pledged stock, and private valuations are treated, are in the methodology.

Why the numbers move

On most days the only thing that changes is price. A founder holding a single large stock position sees their estimate move with that one company, which makes these figures far more volatile than a diversified portfolio would be. Ownership changes less often, and only when a new filing has been reviewed. Nothing here updates a share count automatically.

This is an estimate of assets minus documented liabilities. It is not a cash balance, and many holdings may be restricted, pledged, illiquid, or difficult to value.

Common questions

Who is the richest person on this list right now?

Elon Musk leads the tracked ranking with a central estimate of $1,001.8B as of September 4, 2026. That is a modeled figure built from documented shareholdings valued at the latest completed market close, not a bank balance.

How often do these numbers change?

Sources are checked every eight hours. Each estimate uses the most recent completed market close available at the check, so a figure can change on any trading day and stays flat over a weekend rather than inventing movement.

Why do different sites publish different net worth numbers?

Publishers disagree about which assets count, how private companies are valued, whether pledged or unvested shares are included, and which filing is current. Net Worth Leader counts only holdings it can tie to a cited filing, and shows a supported range and a coverage label instead of a single confident figure.

Is this a complete list of the world's richest people?

No. It ranks the 32 people Net Worth Leader currently tracks, whose wealth is held predominantly in publicly documented listed stock. Fortunes held through private companies, land, or opaque structures stay out until the evidence supports an estimate.

Could any of these people sell for the amount shown?

Almost certainly not. These fortunes are concentrated in founder stakes that cannot be sold quickly or in full without moving the price, triggering taxes, or breaching lockups and pledge agreements. The estimate is what the holdings are marked at, not what they would fetch.