The battle of who takes the title of the world’s richest man has twisted and turned this year.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos started 2019 in pole position, but an expensive divorce that saw him hand over billions has allowed former Microsoft maestro Bill Gates and luxury brand retailer Bernard Arnault to make some gains.
Bezos holds the lead approaching the year end with $110 billion in the bank despite losing more than $1 billion a month that adds up to 414.68 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Gates is a close second on $109 billion, having gained $18.8 billion so far this year, while Arnault is riding down Gates with a fortune of $101 billion.
The Frenchman, whose company includes jeweller Tiffany, luggage brand Louis Vuitton and champagne maker Moet Chandon has added $31.9 billion this year.
Wealthy who failed to make the cut
The top three billionaires are the only people amassing fortunes of $100 billion or more.
Trailing the leaders are Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google Alphabet entrepreneurs Larry Page and Sergey Brin to complete the technology contingent taking five of the top 10 places in the ranking.
Just missing the cut are Indian energy mogul Mukesh Ambani (11th), with a personal fortune of $60.5 billion and another American technology guru, Oracle database founder Larry Ellison (12th). Ellison has a wealth of $59.7 billion.
Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur Elon Musk is ranked at 34 with a personal fortune of $26.6 billion.
The Bloomberg Billionaire Index list 500 of the world’s wealthiest people. To make the list, a billionaire needs a net worth of $4.2 billion.
Who are the world’s top 10 richest billionaires?
| Rank | Billionaire | Business | Wealth (billions) | YTD change (billions) | Nationality |
| 1 | Jeff Bezos | Amazon | $110.00 | -$14.60 | USA |
| 2 | Bill Gates | Microsoft | $109.00 | +$18.80 | USA |
| 3 | Bernard Arnault | Luxury goods | $101.00 | +$31.90 | France |
| 4 | Warren Buffett | Investor | $86.10 | +$2.30 | USA |
| 5 | Mark Zuckerberg | $75.90 | +$23.90 | USA | |
| 6 | Amancio Ortega | Fashion | $67.30 | +$8.68 | Spain |
| 7 | Larry Page | $62.70 | +$11.50 | USA | |
| 8 | Charles Koch | Oil and chemicals | $61.00 | +$1.57 | USA |
| 9 | Julia Flesher Koch | Oil and chemicals | $61.00 | +$61.00 | USA |
| 10 | Sergey Brin | $60.90 | +$11.00 | USA |
Source: Bloomberg Billionaires Index
