Rich & Powerful
The world’s richest and most powerful people all took different paths to build their wealth. Browse Investopedia’s expert-written library to learn how the world’s wealthiest made their fortunes.
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There are currently no individuals worth $1 trillion, but the world’s ultra-wealthy are closer to that milestone than they’ve ever been. In 1916, John D. Rockefeller became the world’s first billionaire thanks to his stake in Standard Oil. Microsoft founder Bill Gates became the first centibillionaire in 1999 right before the dot-com bubble burst. And Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s net worth reached $100 billion in 2017 and $200 billion in 2021. As of March 2022, the world’s six richest people had a combined net worth of just over $1 trillion.
Learn More: Who Will Be the World’s First Trillionaire? -
The 2013 film “The Wolf of Wall Street” is adapted from a memoir of the same name by Jordan Belfort. In 1989, Belfort founded Stratton Oakmont, an over-the-counter brokerage, where he and associates bought penny stocks, pressured clients to purchase those same stocks—driving up the price in the process—and then sold the brokerage’s shares at a profit. It is estimated that the brokerage’s clients lost as much as $200 million in the process. Stratton Oakmont was forced to close in 1996, and in 1999 Belfort was sentenced to four years in prison for money laundering and securities fraud.
Learn More: Who is Jordan Belfort, the Wolf of Wall Street? -
The Waltons are the world’s richest family, with an estimated net worth of nearly $250 billion. The Waltons’ fortune is derived from their ownership stake in Walmart, the world’s largest company by many measures. Alice, Jim, and Rob Walton—the surviving children of Sam Walton, who opened the first Walmart in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962—are each consistently in the top 20 of the world’s richest people. Combined, they own approximately 48% of Walmart, which reported 2021 sales of over $550 billion.
Learn More: Top 10 Wealthiest Families in the World -
Donald Trump’s real net worth has been a matter of near-constant speculation since he launched his bid for the presidency in 2015. Trump goes to great lengths to keep his finances private, which critics have taken as evidence that he’s much less wealthy than he claims. While his net worth is nowhere near the $10 billion he boasted of in 2015, the most recent estimates from Forbes put his net worth around $2.5 billion.
Learn More: What Is Donald Trump’s Actual Net Worth? -
Richard Branson’s Virgin Empire began with Student magazine, which he dropped out of high school to found in 1968. In the early 1970s he began selling mail-order records out of the magazine’s office, the profits from which he put toward founding Virgin Records in 1972. Branson’s playbook has been the same ever since: use past successes as a springboard to new opportunities. Since founding Virgin Records, Branson has tried his hand at books, video, air travel, telecommunications, and space travel.
Learn More: How Did Richard Branson Make His Fortune?
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Robber Baron
Robber baron is a term applied to a small group of 19th-century American industrialists and financiers who amassed incredible fortunes, usually through monopolistic business practices. Famous robber barons include John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and John Pierpont Morgan. Some argue that the robber barons and their titanic businesses were instrumental in America’s becoming the world’s largest economy in the 19th century.
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Icahn Lift
Icahn Lift refers to a company’s stock rising in response to activist investor Carl Icahn buying a stake in the company. Icahn is known for purchasing large stakes in undervalued or beleaguered companies and then pushing management to implement reforms he thinks will make the company more profitable. Icahn often advocates for leadership changes, cost cutting, and stock buybacks. This approach, otherwise known as corporate raiding, has tended to result in a higher share price, hence the Icahn Lift.
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Tycoon
A tycoon is a businessperson whose success has brought them substantial wealth and power. Historically, tycoons were associated with heavy industry like mining, manufacturing, and shipping, but modern tycoons tend to be tech entrepreneurs who lead their companies to become household names.
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The Oracle of Omaha
The Oracle of Omaha is a nickname for chair and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, who was born in Omaha, Nebraska, where he still lives today. Buffett’s incredible success during his 60-year career has made him one of the world’s most famous and influential investors. Though it is unlikely anyone believes Buffett is an actual prophet or clairvoyant, his trades—reported quarterly in 13F filings—and annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders are closely watched by many investors, retail and institutional alike.
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Monopolist
A monopolist is a person, group, or company that is the only provider of a particular good or service in a market. Monopolists can charge exorbitant prices without improving their product because consumers have no alternative.
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Camouflage Compensation
Camouflage compensation is pay or benefits given to high-level executives that is either obscured on financial reports or omitted entirely. Some methods for camouflaging executive pay are non-qualified deferred compensation plans, stock appreciation rights, and stock options.
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