The Top 10 Richest People In The World (February 2026)
The Top 10 Richest People In The World (February 2026)
https://www.forbes.com.au/news/billionaires/the-top-10-richest-people-in-the-world-february-2026/
Publish Date: 2026-02-01 18:35:00
Source Domain: www.forbes.com.au
Published on
February 2, 2026
Half of the top ten richest people on the planet moved up or down on Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires ranking in a wild first month of the year.
Musk is the richest person in the world (Image: Getty)
Key Facts
- Elon Musk is the richest person in the world, a title he’s held since May 2024.
- Larry Page overtook Larry Ellison to become the world’s second-wealthiest person in November.
- Bill Gates dropped out of the top 10 richest in October 2024 after Forbes obtained new information that led to a significant contraction in his fortune.
- 8/10 of the richest people in the world are Americans. The two non-U.S. citizens: France’s Bernard Arnault and Spain’s Amancio Ortega.
- All of the top ten richest people as of February 1 are men. Each of them is worth $147 billion or more, down from $152 billion last month.
There was a significant shakeup among the world’s top 10 richest people to start the year, with half of these billionaires switching spots on Forbes’Real-Time Billionaires ranking in January. But one thing didn’t change: Elon Musk is still the wealthiest person on the planet by far, worth an estimated $775 billion as of 12 a.m. Eastern on February 1. Musk added $48 billion to his fortune over the past month and is now nearly half-a-trillion dollars richer than his runner-up, Google cofounder Larry Page, who is worth an estimated $277 billion.
Musk is on the verge of becoming the first person ever worth $800 billion thanks to his artificial intelligence and social media company xAI Holdings, which raised $20 billion from private investors at a $250 billion valuation earlier this month. That boosted the value of Musk’s estimated 49% stake in xAI Holdings by $62 billion to $122 billion. Musk became the first person ever worth $500 billion in October, $600 billion on December 15, and $700…
