Forbes’ billionaires list for the year 2022, which is the 36^th annual ranking edition of its kind, unveiled that the number of billionaires in the world fell by 3.16% (87) to 2,668, down from 2,755 in the 2021 list. Furthermore, the total net worth of mentioned billionaires dropped by 3.05% ($0.4 trillion) to $12.7 trillion as per the April 2022 list, down from $13.1 trillion last year. Forbes mentioned that the largest drops took place in Russia (34 less billionaires and a total drop in the Russian wealth from $584 billion in 2021 to $320 billion in 2022) following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, followed by China, where a government crackdown on tech companies led to 87 fewer Chinese billionaires and a total drop in the Chinese wealth from $2.5 trillion in 2021 to $1.96 trillion in 2022. Furthermore, Forbes noted that despite the drop in the number of billionaires in 2022, 40% of the world’s billionaires who remained on the list got richer. It is worth mentioning that wealth figures are estimated using stock prices and exchange rates as at March 11, 2022.

With respect to the rankings, Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, topped the list of the world’s richest individuals for the first time, with an estimated net worth of $219 billion. Mr. Musk’s fortune rose by $68 billion in the April 2022 Forbes’ list. Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon) came in 2^nd with a net worth of $171 billion, followed by Bernard Arnault & family (CEO of Louis Vuitton; $158 billion), Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft; $129 billion), and Warren Buffett (CEO of Berkshire Hathaway; $118 billion). As far as the Arab region is concerned, Mr. Nassef Sawiris (CEO of Orascom Construction) from Egypt led the list of the region’s billionaires, ranking 304^th worldwide with an estimated fortune of $7.7 billion, followed by Mr. Issad Rebrab & family (CEO of Cevital; Algeria; 536^th global position; estimated net worth of $5.1 billion) and Mr. Naguib Sawiris (Chairman of Orascom TMT Investments; Egypt; 883^rd global position; estimated net worth of $3.4 billion), only to name a few.

On a local basis, six renowned Lebanese figures made it to Forbes’ billionaires list for the year 2022 with a combined fortune of $12.6 billion. In details, Mr. Najib Mikati, current Prime Minister (Co-founder of M1 Group investment firm) emerged as the richest individual in Lebanon, with an estimated fortune of $3.2 billion, ranking 4^th regionally and 951^st globally, followed by Mr. Taha Mikati (Co-founder of M1 Group investment firm ; $3.2 billion; 5^th regional position, 951^st global position), Mr. Bahaa Hariri (Founder of Horizon Group; $2.1 billion; 12^th regional position; 1,445^th global position), Mr. Robert Mouawad (Chairman of Mouawad Jewelry; $1.5 billion; 16^th regional position; 1,929^th global position), Mr. Ayman Hariri (Co-founder and CEO of Vero; $1.4 billion; 17^th regional position; 2,076^th global position), and Mr. Fahed Hariri (Chairman of Oger subsidiary’s property portfolio; $1.2 billion; 19^th regional position; 2,324^th global position).