The 30 richest people on earth

The wealthiest 30 people in the world control a staggering portion of the world economy: $1.23 trillion — more than the annual GDP of Spain, Mexico, or Turkey.

That's according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which recently relaunched and expanded online to include 500 billionaires across the globe. The ranking updates daily to provide up-to-the-minute data on the world's wealthiest men and women. You can read about the ranking's full methodology here.

Business Insider has culled the 30 richest from the ranking as of March 1, when the index relaunched in its expanded format.

Billionaires need a minimum net worth of at least $22.5 billion to crack the top 30. Eighteen from this group hail from the US and two-thirds are completely self-made, having built some of the world's most powerful companies, including Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, Google, Facebook, and Oracle.

The two biggest gainers in the past year were Wang Wei, who added $22.7 billion to his fortune as the founder and majority owner of China's largest package delivery company, and Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, who boosted his fortune by $21.9 billion thanks to Amazon's strong performance.

Note that Bloomberg does not report the net worth of its founder and owner Michael Bloomberg, who does not appear on this ranking, though other sources peg his fortune at roughly $45 billion.

30. Ma Huateng

Net worth: $22.5 billion

Age: 45

Country: China

Industry: Technology

Source of wealth: Self-made; Tencent Holdings

Software engineer Ma Huateng (aka Pony Ma) founded China's largest internet portal, Tencent Holdings, in 1998. He was 26. Ma's company has a number of successful and widely used platforms in its portfolio, including QQ, its instant-messaging service, which is one of the world's 10 largest websites; a mobile-texting service (WeChat) with over 800 million users; a mobile-commerce product (WeChat Wallet); and an online-gaming community (Tencent Games), the largest in China.

Ma's wealth has increased by $4.7 billion in the past year.

29. Phil Knight

Net worth: $25 billion

Age: 78

Country: US

Industry: Retail

Source of wealth: Self-made; Nike

After a stint in the US Army, and with a Stanford MBA under his belt, Phil Knight convinced Tiger-brand shoemaker Onitsuka in the early 1960s to allow him to distribute Tiger shoes under the name Blue Ribbon Sports — the name Knight picked that predated his swoosh-logo-clad company Nike. Knight worked full-time as an accountant as he launched his new brand, and by 1968 he had built up enough of a rapport with customers that he was able to leave the CPA life behind. Knight

Nike has built its success on celebrity and athlete endorsement deals, starting with running prodigy Steve Prefontaine in 1973 and continuing with one of the most successful shoe marketers of all time in Michael Jordan, whom Nike signed to a The biggest NBA star today is still under the Nike roof, with LeBron James signing a lifetime contract with the brand in 2015 reportedly in excess of $1 billion.

Knight's wealth has decreased by $1 billion over the last year.

28. George Soros

Net worth: $25.2 billion

Age: 86

Country: US

Industry: Hedge funds

Source of wealth: Self-made; Soros Fund Management

27. Mukesh Ambani

Net worth: $26.3 billion

Age: 59

Country: India

Industry: Petrochemicals, oil, and gas

Source of wealth: Inheritance/self-made; Reliance Industries

Mukesh Ambani took over as chairman of Reliance Industries when his father, the company's founder, died in 2002. The enormous industrial conglomerate has interests in energy, petrochemicals, textiles, natural resources, retail, and, more recently, telecommunications.

Ambani is the richest person in India and owns a 27-story Mumbai mansion that cost $1 billion to build.

And if Ambani's projections for India's economy prove correct, expect that net worth to soar— it has already grown by $6.3 billion in the last year. Five years years ago, Ambani predicted that India would grow from a $1.4 trillion economy in 2011 to a $30 trillion economy by 2030 — a bullish estimate considering that India's GDP today stands at $2.4 trillion.

26. Wang Wei

Net worth: $26.5 billion

Age: 46

Country: China

Industry: Transportation

Source of wealth: Self-made; S.F. Holding

Wang Wei founded China's largest package-delivery company by revenue, S.F. Express. It recently debuted on the stock exchange, catapulting Wang onto the world's richest list for the first time. Over the past year, his fortune has swelled by nearly $22.7 billion.

The son of a Russian interpreter for the People's Liberation Army Air Force, Wang grew up in Hong Kong and later returned to his birthplace in China in the 1990s to launch his delivery service, according to Bloomberg. At the time, his business was considered part of the "black delivery" market and he risked being caught and fined by the country's postal officers. The company had $7.4 billion in sales in 2015, outpacing its domestic competition, and now operates in more than 50 countries with a fleet of 15,000 vehicles and 36 aircraft.

25. Steve Ballmer

Net worth: $27 billion

Age: 60

Country: US

Industry: Tech

Source of wealth: Self-made; Microsoft

After stepping down as CEO, Ballmer fulfilled his dream of owning an NBA franchise, paying $2 billion in a deal to buy the Los Angeles Clippers, now his main venture.

Ballmer's net worth has increased $4.8 billion in the last year.

24. Sheldon Adelson

Net worth: $28 billion

Age: 83

Country: US

Industry: Real estate

Source of wealth: Self-made; Las Vegas Sands

23. Jorge Lemann

Net worth: $28.8 billion

Age: 76

Country: Brazil

Industry:

Source of wealth: Self-made; 3G Capital

22. Li Ka-shing

Net worth: $30.6 billion

Age: 88

Country: Hong Kong

Industry: Diversified investments

Source of wealth: Self-made; CK Hutchison Holdings

Despite humble beginnings, business magnate Li Ka-shing has become the wealthiest man in Hong Kong. dropped out of school

Horizon Ventures have backed

Two years ago, Li reorganized his business affairs under two new listed companies, one entity for property holdings and another for all other global assets. The move is most likely in preparation to hand over control of his sprawling fortune to his son, but the 88-year-old doesn't have any plans of slowing down just yet. In August 2015, he opened the 12,000th location of AS Watson, CK Hutchison's health and beauty-products retailer, now the largest in the world.

21. Wang Jianlin

Net worth: $31.6 billion

Age: 62

Country: China

Industry: Real estate

Source of wealth: Self-made; Dalian Wanda Group

19. and 20. John and Jacqueline Mars

Net worth: $32.4 billion each

Age: 77 and 81

Country: US

Industry: Candy

Source of wealth: Inheritance; Mars Inc.

Siblings Jacqueline and John Mars inherited a stake in the iconic candymaker Mars Inc. when their father, Forrest Sr., died in 1999. The notoriously private trio co-own but don't actively manage the maker of M&M's and Milky Way bars, which their grandfather started in 1931 as

In 2008, Mars Inc. branched out from chocolate to gum, when it acquired the Wrigley Jr. Co. for $23 billion. Since then, it's delved into pet food, buying Iams and two other brands in 2014 from Procter & Gamble for close to $2.9 billion.

Together the siblings run the Mars Foundation, which gives primarily to educational, environmental, cultural, and health-related causes. In March 2015, John Mars was made an honorary knight by Queen Elizabeth II.

Their combined net worth has risen by $2.6 billion over the last year.

18. Alice Walton

Net worth: $34 billion

Age: 67

Country: US

Industry: Retail

Source of wealth: Inheritance; Walmart

17. Jim Walton

Net worth: $35.1 billion

Age: 68

Country: US

Industry: Retail

Source of wealth: Inheritance; Walmart

The businessman is also director of Walton Enterprises, the holding company for the Walton family assets, and chairman of Community Publishers, an Arkansas-based newspaper firm. After the death of his brother John in 2005, Jim joined the board of Walmart, where he serves as a director today.

16. Rob Walton

Net worth: $35.4 billion

Age: 72

Country: US

Industry: Retail

Source of wealth: Inheritance; Walmart

Samuel Robson "Rob" Walton is the oldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. He started working at the iconic retail behemoth in 1969, holding positions from senior vice president to general counsel to chairman, a role he stepped down from in June 2015 after 23 years on the job. His son-in-law was named as his successor.

Regulatory filings on New Year's Eve revealed that Walton and his brother each gave away 1.5 million Walmart shares to the family charity, Walton Family Holdings Trust, while sister Alice gave away 3.7 million shares, for a total family donation of $407 million. It's an incredible amount, but it's also ultimately a drop in the bucket for the Waltons.

His wealth has increased by $3.3 billion in the past year.

15. Jack Ma

Net worth: $35.7 billion

Age: 52

Country: China

Industry: Technology

Source of wealth: Self-made; Alibaba

14. Liliane Bettencourt

Net worth: $36.8 billion

Age: 94

Country: France

Industry: Cosmetics

Source of wealth: Inheritance/self-made; L'Oreal Group

13. Bernard Arnault

Net worth: $40 billion

Age: 67

Country: France

Industry: Luxury goods

Source of wealth: Inheritance/self-made; LVMH

Bernard Arnault's LVMH houses 70 luxury brands from Louis Vuitton to Hennessy to Dom Perignon, all controlled by family parent company Groupe Arnault. By the 1980s and '90s, Arnault, who started out as a civil engineer, had assumed control of the family business and proceeded to buy high-end fashion house Christian Dior, reviving it from the brink of bankruptcy. Like most LVMH brands today, Dior once again thrives as an industry standard bearer, helping the firm haul in a record EUR 37.6 billion ($39.5 billion) in revenue in 2016.

Arnault's wealth has increased by $6.8 billion in the past year.

12. Sergey Brin

Net worth: $41.6 billion

Age: 43

Country: US

Industry: Technology

Source of wealth: Self-made; Google

Along with cofounder Larry Page, Sergey Brin helped facilitate Google's massive restructuring, which the company announced in 2015. The move put Google under the auspices of a holding company called Alphabet, run by Brin as president and Page as CEO. Google's other ventures, such as Nest and Google X, are separate companies also under the Alphabet umbrella.

The restructuring allowed Brin to focus on exploring inventive new "moonshot" projects and ideas. With top talent and an abundance of resources at its disposal, Alphabet has already made automated homes and self-driving cars a reality.

Brin, who emigrated from Moscow to the US as a child, connected with Page in 1995 at Stanford, where they were each pursuing a PhD. Three years later they founded Google, now one of the most powerful companies on the planet.

Over the past year, Brin's wealth has increased by $4.1 billion.

11. Larry Page

Net worth: $42.5 billion

Age: 43

Country: US

Industry: Technology

Source of wealth: Self-made; Google

10. Ingvar Kamprad

Net worth: $43 billion

Age: 90

Country: Sweden

Industry: Retail

Source of wealth: Self-made; IKEA

9. Larry Ellison

Net worth: $45.3 billion

Age: 72

Country: US

Industry: Tech

Source of wealth: Self-made; Oracle

7. TIE: David Koch

Net worth: $47.9 billion

Age: 76

Country: US

Industry: Diversified investments

Source of wealth: Inheritance/self-made; Koch Industries

7. TIE: Charles Koch

Net worth: $47.9 billion

Age: 81

Country: US

Industry: Diversified investments

Source of wealth: Inheritance/self-made; Koch Industries

Charles Koch is chairman and CEO of multifaceted conglomerate Koch Industries, the second-largest private company in America. His younger brother David is the executive vice president. The company employs 100,000 people and generates $100 billion in sales from its diverse holdings, which make everything from petrochemicals and Dixie Cups to raw clothing materials.

Outspoken in the world of conservative politics, the Koch brothers, who have a combined net worth of $95.8 billion, routinely fund political campaigns, although they took a step back during the 2016 election cycle.

However, in "Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right," it was revealed that Charles Koch's plans to reshape American politics date back 40 years, when he began strategizing and developing a libertarian movement.

6. Carlos Slim Helú

Net worth: $50.7 billion

Age: 77

Country: Mexico

Industry: Telecom

Source of wealth: Self-made; Grupo Carso

invested $4 billion

5. Mark Zuckerberg

Net worth: $58.5 billion

Age: 32

Country: US

Industry: Technology

Source of wealth: Self-made; Facebook

4. Amancio Ortega

Net worth: $68.5 billion

Age: 80

Country: Spain

Industry: Retail

Source of wealth: Self-made; Inditex

Much of Inditex's success can be attributed to fast-fashion giant Zara, the company's biggest brand. The chain is

3. Jeff Bezos

Net worth: $73.1 billion

Age: 53

Country: US

Industry: Tech

Source of wealth: Self-made; Amazon.com

2. Warren Buffett

Net worth: $77.2 billion

Age: 86

Country: US

Industry: Diversified investments

Source of wealth: Self-made; Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett started his prodigious investing career at a young age. As a child he delivered newspapers on his bike, and by 11 the precocious Nebraska native had purchased his first shares in the stock market — He was rejected from Harvard Business School, so Buffett went to Columbia Business School instead and learned under iconic value investor Benjamin Graham, who would become a mentor to the budding financier. Buffett worked as a securities analyst in the early-1950s before starting his own investment firm. He bought textile company Berkshire Hathaway in 1969, transforming it into a holding company that would house the many lucrative investments that helped build his massive fortune and earn the nickname "The Oracle of Omaha."

The array of portfolio companies and investments that made him rich may appear random — he's bet on companies including Coca-Cola, American Express, Geico, Fruit of the Loom, Dairy Queen, and General Motors — but they're all cash-generating machines that offer long-term value. In the past year, his net worth has increased by $13.1 billion.

A frugal man with a fondness for junk food, perhaps the most impressive part of Buffett's $60 billion fortune is that it doesn't include the more than $25 billion he's already given away. He's good friends with Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, whom he collaborated with to create the Giving Pledge, a promise for billionaires to give away at least half of their wealth to charity.

1. Bill Gates

Net worth: $85.2 billion

Age: 61

Country: US

Industry: Tech

Source of wealth: Self-made; Microsoft