Forbes 2017 billionaires list

| March 21, 2017 in National News

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Forbes has released its annual list of the richest people on earth for 2017.

The top contenders were no surprise: Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Amazon‘s Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg. 

But it was also a record breaking year for the total number of billionaires.

This year, Forbes tallied a total of 2,043 billionaires. That’s 233 more than last year’s count, marking a 13% increase in total billionaires. That's the biggest jump Forbes has experienced in its 31 years of tracking billionaires globally. The total net worth of 2017′s billionaires increased by 18% from last year, netting at $7.67 trillion USD, also a record.

Other notables include that Mainland China produced the most new billionaires with 76 and America coming in at second with 25. The U.S. continues to have the most billionaires in the world, with a new record of 565.

Thirty-three Canadians made the list, among them being David Thomson with a fortune of $23 billion Canadian dollars, Canadian grocery empire don Galen Weston with a $9.3 billion empire and cofounder and chairman of Uber Technologies Inc. Garrett Camp with $6.2 billion.

Here’s a look at the top ten richest billionaires in the world.

1. Bill Gates, Microsoft, USA — $86 Billion USD
2. Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, USA — $75.6 Billion USD
3. Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com, USA — $72.8 Billion USD
4. Amancio Ortega, Zara, Spain — $71.3 Billion USD
5. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, USA — $56 Billion USD
6. Carlos Slim Helo, telecom, Mexico — $54.4 Billion USD
7. Larry Ellison, software, USA — $52.2 Billion USD
8. Charles Koch, diversified, USA — $48.3 Billion USD
9. David Koch, diversified, USA — $48.3 Billion USD
10. Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg LP, USA — $47.5 Billion USD

But remember happiness can't be measured in dollars and cents. 

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