The Richest Man in the World Each Year From 1987 to 2021

Title: Chairman of Seibu Railway Group

Net worth: $20 billion

In 1987, if you asked, "who is the richest man in the whole world?" the answer may have surprised you — unless you lived in Japan. Yoshiaki Tsutsumi became a real estate baron thanks to extensive investments he made after inheriting control of the Seibu Corporation, which was founded by his late father, Yasujirō Tsutsumi.

This year also marked October 19, 1987 as Black Monday, where global stock markets crashed and the Dow Jones dropped 508 points — four and a half times the previous record.

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Title: Chairman of Seibu Railway Group

Net worth: $18.9 billion

It was widely expected that Tsutsumi's elder half-brother, Seiji Tsutsumi, would succeed Yasujirō upon his death, but instead, Seiji inherited the Seibu department stores, which he subsequently parlayed into the Credit Saison empire.

Title: Chairman of Seibu Railway Group

Net worth: $15 billion

In addition to Seibu Corporation, Yoshiaki also focused on developing and expanding the vast land holdings inherited from his father. At one point, his companies owned one sixth of all the land in Japan.

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Title: Chairman of Seibu Railway Group

Net worth: $16 billion

Another year, another billion made.

Title: Founder of Mori Building Company

Net worth: $18.5 billion

Mori quit his job as an economics professor and entered the real estate business. Smart man.

Title: Founder of Mori Building Company Net worth: $13 billion At the time, Mori's net worth was double that of Bill Gates and $3 billion more than Tsutsumi. Mori died of heart failure the following year. He was 88.

Title: Chairman of Seibu Railway Group

Net worth: $9 billion

Aside from his real estate investments, Tsutsumi also initiated new ventures into the sports market, building a stadium in the Tokyo area to house a professional baseball team, the Seibu Lions, and was instrumental in Nagano's successful bid to host the 1998 Winter Olympics.

Title: Chairman of Seibu Railway Group

Net worth: $8.5 billion

This year marked Tsutsumi's last year topping Forbes' list of billionaires and, in fact, he dropped off entirely after a series of scandals and his 2005 arrest.

Title: Principal founder and CEO of Microsoft

Net worth: $12.9 billion

And a new era, the tech era, begins.

Yikes! Bill Gates and other richies won't be leaving their kids with loads of money.

Title: Principal founder and CEO of Microsoft

Net worth: $18 billion

It was in 1975 that Gates and Paul Allen launched Microsoft, which would eventually become the world's largest PC software company.

Title: Principal founder and CEO of Microsoft

Net worth: $36.4 billion

Just like that, Gates doubled his money.

Title: Principal founder and CEO of Microsoft

Net worth: $51 billion

Gates continued to dominate.

Title: Principal founder and CEO of Microsoft

Net worth: $90 billion

On December 27, 1999, Gates hit an all-time high of $92.5 billion. Wowza. But it was also a sign of things to come as Jeff Bezos of Amazon joined the list of billionaires for the first time.

Title: Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft

Net worth: $60 billion

In January of this year, Gates stepped down as CEO, which also saw his net worth drop. He was still tops, though, so no need to cry for the guy.

Title: Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft

Net worth: $58.7 billion

Market downturn cut the wealth of half of the world's billionaires in 2001 — but Gates, for the most part, was left unscathed.

Title: Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft

Net worth: $52.8 billion

Gates may have been criticized for his business tactics, but he is still one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution, proving it year after year.

Title: Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft

Net worth: $40.7 billion

Times were a-changing. Not only did 2003 mark the debut of Red Bull founders and the makers of Gummi Bears on the list, but Oprah Winfrey also made the cut, making her the first black female to make the list of billionaires.

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Title: Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft

Net worth: $46.6 billion

And Gates saw an upturn. He was also joined by list newcomers Guy Laliberté, the creator of Cirque de Soleil and an author you may have heard of: J.K. Rowling.

Title: Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft

Net worth: $50 billion

Gates continued to dominate for the U.S., but other countries came ready to play. Billionaires from Kazakhstan, Poland, Ukraine and Iceland joined the list.

Title: Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft

Net worth: $52 billion

In June 2006, Gates announced that he would transition to part-time duties at Microsoft to focus on a more full-time basis at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which was established in 2000.

Title: Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft

Net worth: $56 billion

This was the year two-thirds of all billionaires got richer. This year was also when former wealthiest man in the world a few years over, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, fell out of the ranks.

Title: Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

Net worth: $62 billion

On June 27, 2008, Gates stepped down as Microsoft Chairman to devote himself to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. So it wasn't surprising when Buffett, one of the most successful investors in the world, swooped in.

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Title: Chairman and Chief Software Architect of Microsoft

Net worth: $40 billion

Buffett wasn't on top for long, having seen his fortune decline $25 billion after shares of Berkshire Hathaway fell nearly 50% in 12 months. That put Gates back in the number one position yet again.

Title: CEO of Telmex, América Móvil and Grupo Carso

Net worth: $53.5 billion

For the third time in three years, the world had a new richest man. Thanks to surging prices of his telecom holdings, the Mexican tycoon became the richest guy in the world, beating out Gates and Buffett.

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Title: CEO of Telmex, América Móvil and Grupo Carso

Net worth: $74 billion

Slim added $20.5 billion to his fortune, enough to retain the number one ranking.

Title: CEO of Telmex, América Móvil and Grupo Carso

Net worth: $69 billion

The gap between Slim and Gates was getting smaller as Slim's fortune fell $5 billion and Gates' rose $5 billion, but the telecommunications mogul still topped the list of billionaires.

Title: CEO of Telmex, América Móvil and Grupo Carso

Net worth: $73 billion

Slim edged out Gates yet again.

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Title: Technology advisor of Microsoft

Net worth: $76 billion

Gates was back in the top spot, even after he stepped down as Microsoft's chairman in February of this year and assumed a new post as Technology Advisor to support the newly appointed CEO Satya Nadella.

Title: Technology advisor of Microsoft

Net worth: $79.2 billion

This was the 16th time Gates topped the list of billionaires, but there were two notable newcomers: Michael Jordan, thanks to his well-timed investment in the Charlotte Hornets and the world's then-youngest billionaire, Evan Spiegel, co-founder and CEO of Snapchat.

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Title: Technology advisor of Microsoft

Net worth: $75 billion

Third year in a row, his 17th time at number one. No big deal.

Title: Technology advisor of Microsoft

Net worth: $86 billion

2017 marked a record year for the global rich list as this was the first time over 2,000 people made the cut. There were 195 newcomers, 56 people under the age of 40 and a record 227 women. But Gates still dominated.

Title: Chairman, CEO and president of Amazon

Net worth: $112 billion

Thanks to Amazon's rising stock price, it was a banner year for Bezos, resulting in the biggest one-year gain in wealth ($35 billion) since Forbes started tracking billionaires back in 1987. This year Bezos also became the richest man in the world ever.

Here are more of the richest people in the world this past year.

Title: Chairman, CEO and president of Amazon   Net worth: $115 billion   While Bezos managed to hold on to the title into the last day of 2019 (even with a $10 billion loss in one year, and a costly divorce settlement with ex-wife Mackenzie Bezos, worth $35 billion in Amazon shares), his predecessor, Bill Gates, wasn’t far behind with a $113 billion net worth. 

Title: Chairman, CEO and president of Amazon   Net worth: 187 billion   Forbes reported that Bezos added more money to his fortune than anyone else in America since Trump took office in 2017 ($46 billion to be exact), even as the two men don’t see eye-to-eye. Even during a time when most experienced job losses and financial hardship due to the pandemic, Bezos saw his net worth skyrocket, amid the boost in online shopping, at one point crossing the $200 billion mark in the summer of 2020). This rise locked him into first place for 2020, also making him the richest man in modern history. 

Title: CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc. Net worth: 185 billion  Musk’s supernova rise to the top of the world’s richest list this early into 2021 also marks one of the fastest ascents to the top of the richest list in history. Starting 2020 at a $27 billion net worth, Tesla’s surge in share price boosted this nine-fold. The timeline is as follows: In January 2020, Musk was barely on the top 50 richest list. By July he had overtaken Warren Buffet in seventh place, and in November, Musk passed Bill Gates to become second richest to Bezos’s first. To put this in perspective, Musk gained more wealth in the past 12 months than Bill Gates’ entire net worth of $132 billion. As that adage goes...the rich keep getting richer.