Forbes - The Richest People In the World. Kylie Jenner is now a Billionaire

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Capitalism is taking some lumps—and not just in the headlines. For only the second year in a decade, both the number of billionaires and their total wealth shrank, proving that even the wealthiest are not immune to economic forces and weak stock markets. By our latest count there are 2,153 billionaires, 55 fewer than a year ago. Of those, a record 994, or 46%, are poorer (relatively speaking) than they were last year. In total, the ultra-rich are worth $8.7 trillion, down $400 billion from 2018. Altogether 11% of last year’s list members, or 247 people, dropped out of the ranks, the most since 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis.

Asia-Pacific was hardest hit, with 60 fewer 10-figure fortunes. That dip was led by China, which has 49 fewer billionaires than a year ago. Europe, the Middle East and Africa also lost ground. The Americas, driven by a resurgent Brazil, and the U.S. are the only two regions that have more billionaires than they did a year ago. There are now a record 609 in the U.S. That includes 14 of the world’s 20 richest. Jeff Bezos is again number 1 in the world, followed by Bill Gates at number 2.

Even with strong headwinds, resourceful and relentless entrepreneurs found new ways to get rich: 195 newcomers joined the ranks. The richest newcomer is Colin Huang, the founder of Chinese discount web retailer Pinduoduo, which went public in the U.S. in July. Other notable new entrants include Spotify’s Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon; Juul Labs' James Monsees and Adam Bowen, Kind Bar’s Daniel Lubetzky and cosmetics wunderkind Kylie Jenner, who is the world’s youngest billionaire at age 21.

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As goes Amazon, so goes the fortune of Jeff Bezos. Overall it was a positive year for the e-commerce heavyweight’s stock. That kept its founder and CEO atop Forbes’ 2019 list of the World’s Billionaires for the second year in a row, with an eye-popping $131 billion fortune. That’s $19 billion more than a year ago.

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1) Jeff Bezos - $131 B
2) Bill Gates - $96.5 B
3) Warren Buffett - $82.5 B
4) Bernard Arnault - $76 B
5) Carlos Slim Helu - $64 B
6) Amancio Ortega - $62.7 B
7) Larry Ellison - $62.5 B
8) Mark Zuckerberg - $62.3 B
9) Michael Bloomberg - $55.5 B
10) Larry Page - $50.8 B

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