AMAZON FOUNDER JEFF Bezos has topped magazine Forbes’ rich list for the second year running with an estimated wealth of $131bn (€115bn).
Social media personality and entrepreneur Kylie Jenner has become the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, according to this year’s list, while Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth shrank by $8.7bn (€7.7bn) in the past year.
Bezos (55), who holds 16% of Amazon, has widened the money gap since last year between himself and Bill Gates, the philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft who sits in second place.
Gates (63) has seen his wealth grow to $96.5bn (€85bn), according to Forbes.
Legendary investor Warren Buffett (88) placed third this year on the rich list. His fortune slipped to $82.5bn (€73bn). The CEO of French luxury good company LVMH, Bernard Arnault, held on to fourth place.
Ahead of Zuckerberg are Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, Zara and Inditex founder Amancio Ortega of Spain, and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
This year’s list features a total of 2,153 billionaires with reclusive tycoon Pallonji Mistry the highest Irish entry at No. 79 having an estimated wealth of $15bn (€13bn).
Mistry, who controls the Shapoorji Pallonji construction and engineering group, is married to an Irish national and holds an Irish passport.
Lone Star Funds founder John Grayken comes in at No. 215, and second on the Irish list. Grayken, whose wealth sits at an estimated $6.9bn (€6.1bn), renounced his US citizenship in the 1990s for tax purposes and took Irish citizenship.
Businessman Denis O’Brien comes in at No. 504 on the rich list with an estimated wealth of $4bn (€3.5bn) while Stripe founders, John and Patrick Collison, sit joint at No. 1116 with an estimated $2.1bn (€1.8bn) fortune.
Other notable Irish entries on the list include Campbell’s Soup heir John Dorrance III, businessman Dermot Desmond, Egerton Capital co-founder John Armitage and Kingspan Group founder Eugene Murtagh.
Americans still dominate the list with 14 of the top 20 billionaires from the United States.
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