Billionaire (soon to be trillionaire?) Bill Gates speaks at a summit | JP Yim/Getty Images
It may sound crazy, but there’s a good chance that we’ll all live to
see the world’s first trillionaire.
The richest man in the world, billionaire Bill Gates, currently has a
relatively modest fortune of $85 billion. Still, given annual growth
rates, compounding interest, and advancing economies around the world,
he could eclipse the $1 trillion mark in the near future. True, he’s
only 8.5% of the way there — but Gates and several others are within
striking distance.
The
richest person of all time,
African monarch Mansa Musa, was worth roughly $400 billion in the early
1300s. Since then, we’ve seen several other billionaires stretch their
fortunes into the twelve figures. Names like Carnegie, Rockefeller, and
even Ford have amassed immense amounts of wealth throughout history. But
nobody has been able to become a trillionaire — or even come close.
That is likely to change between now and 2050, or perhaps even sooner. A
new report from Oxfam
reveals a realistic path for many of the world’s richest individuals to
reach the $1 trillion mark. As impressive as that is, it highlights an
issue that has been gaining a lot of attention over the past several
years: Drastic amounts of inequality.
“The 1,810 dollar billionaires on the 2016 Forbes list, 89% of whom
are men, own $6.5 trillion — as much wealth as the bottom 70% of
humanity,” Oxfam’s report states. For now, though, trillionaire status
is still out of reach for those at or near the top of
the Forbes list.
The quest for $1 trillion
Stack of Benjamins | iStock.com/halduns
To get to $1 trillion, a lot of things have to go right. A global
economic meltdown, for example, would probably set everyone back a few
steps. But if the chips land where expected, Oxfam’s report says we
could see the world’s first trillionaire within the next three decades.
“Once a fortune is accumulated or acquired, it develops a momentum of
its own. The super rich have the money to spend on the best investment
advice, and the wealth held by the super rich since 2009 has increased
by an average of 11% per year. This is a rate of accumulation far higher
than ordinary savers are able to obtain,” the report notes. “If
billionaires continue to secure these returns, we could see the world’s
first trillionaire in 25 years.”
So who has a shot at achieving this, you ask? There are only a
handful of people who have a realistic shot at becoming trillionaires.
In addition to annual growth rates, you have to look at whether the
current crop of billionaires will actually live to see their fortunes
grow past $1 trillion. Take, for example, Warren Buffett. The CEO of
Berkshire Hathaway is second on the Forbes billionaires list, but at 86
years old, he likely won’t survive another 25 years. That’s not to say
he won’t, but the odds are against him.
Taking all this into account, here are eight current billionaires who have a realistic shot at becoming trillionaires.
1. Bill Gates
Bill Gates: The world’s richest man | Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Bill Gates, as mentioned, is currently the richest person in the
world with a fortune of roughly $85 billion. Though he mostly focuses
his time and energy on charitable pursuits these days, he’s still adding
to those billions. “The fortune of Bill Gates has risen 50% or $25
billion since he left Microsoft in 2006, despite his commendable efforts
to give much of it away,” Oxfam’s report states. At 61 years old, Gates
has perhaps the best chance to become the world’s first trillionaire.
2. Jeff Bezos
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos | David Ryder/Getty Images
Gates’ cross-town rival and cohort Jeff Bezos is nipping at his
heels. Bezos, who founded Amazon, has amassed $71 billion so far — and
he’s only 51 years old. Given Amazon’s incredible growth, and the number
of moonshot projects the company is working on, Bezos also has a very
good chance of eclipsing the trillion-dollar mark.
3. Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg | David Ramos/Getty Images
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 32, has more than $54 billion to
his name. It doesn’t appear Facebook is going to become irrelevant any
time soon, and Zuckerberg likely has many other projects up his sleeve.
Being as young as he is, he has a very good chance of becoming a
trillionaire within the next few decades.
4. Larry Page
Google co-founder and CEO of Alphabet Larry Page | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Larry Page is one of the founders of Google, which has become an
absolute giant over the past decade and a half. He’s only 43, and
currently has around $40 billion. Like Zuckerberg, Page has time on his
side. With Google looking like it’s going to be integral going forward,
Page is likely going to be amassing a lot more money in the coming
years.
5. Sergey Brin
Google co-founder Sergey Brin stands in front of a self-driving car at the Google headquarters | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Sergey Brin, 43, is Larry Page’s partner in crime at Google. He also
has around $40 billion, and a lot of time to see that fortune grow.
6. Jack Ma
Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of the Alibaba Group, speaks during a panel | Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Jack Ma is becoming more of a household name in the States. The
52-year-old runs Alibaba Group from his home country of China. His
current net worth is $28 billion, but with many people forecasting that
Alibaba will continue to flourish, it’s expected that this number will
grow significantly in the coming years.
7. Ma Huateng
‘Pony’ Ma Huateng, chairman and chief executive officer of Tencent
Holdings Ltd., speaks at a news conference | Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
Ma Huateng is unknown to most Americans, but the 45-year-old
currently ranks at number 32 on the Forbes billionaire list. He’s built a
fortune of $24 billion so far, mostly through his business workings as
an internet entrepreneur. More specifically, he is the founder,
president, and CEO of Tencent Holdings Ltd.
8. Elon Musk
Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk | David McNew/AFP/Getty Images
Elon Musk isn’t nearly as rich as some of the others on this list,
with a relatively paltry fortune of $13 billion. But he’s only 45. And
he has some ideas that just may launch him to or near the top of the
list. Tesla, for example, doesn’t appear to be slowing down. He also has
SpaceX in his camp and is floating ideas like the Hyperloop. All of
these components might just make him one of the first trillionaires.
Culled from Money & Career Cheat Sheet
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