Louis Vuitton boss Bernard Arnault tops 2024 Forbes Billionaires List, Taylor Swift makes debut

Forbes’ 38th annual World’s Billionaires list was unveiled on Apr 2, with French luxury goods titan Bernard Arnault topping the ranking for the second year in a row. The net worth of the LVMH boss grew by an estimated 10 per cent to US$233 billion (S$314.8 billion), thanks to another record year at the conglomerate, Forbes reported.

Tesla’s Elon Musk took second place with a net worth of US$195 billion, while Amazon’s Jeff Bezos took third with a net worth of US$194 billion. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg placed fourth with a net worth of US$177 billion.

In Asia, India’s Mukesh Ambani is the region’s richest man, ranking ninth with a net worth of US$116 billion. Hong Kong’s Li Ka-shing ranked at 38th, with a net worth of US$37.3 billion.

This year’s list featured a record-breaking 2,781 billionaires. In addition, the world’s billionaires are now richer than ever – collectively, they are worth US$14.2 trillion, up by US$2 trillion from 2023 and US$1.1 trillion in 2021.

There were several newcomers, including pop star Taylor Swift (US $1.1 billion) who has toured and recorded her way to billionaire status. Shoe designer Christian Louboutin (US$1.2 billion) also made it to the list, along with Open AI’s Sam Altman (US$1 billion).

Notably, a total of 129 people from mainland China fell off the list, where weak consumer spending and a real estate bust wiped out US$200 billion in wealth, Forbes said.

Celebrities featured on the list include Kim Kardashian (US$1.7 billion), Rihanna (US$1.4 billion), Jay-Z (US$2.5 billion) and Oprah Winfrey (US$2.8 billion). Star Wars director George Lucas (US$5.5 billion) is the richest celebrity on the list.

To view the full list, visit www.forbes.com/billionaires.