Top 10 Billionaires In 2014

So who made the list of the top 10 billionaires in 2014 according to Forbes?

We all want to make money and quit our day jobs but who really wants to be a billionaire? I can see a never ending chorus of people singing out I do, I do, I do.

A few days ago I came across this 2014 Forbes Billionaire Facts & Figures infographic. A little mind-boggling if I might say so!

Some Interesting Facts About The Top 10 Billionaires In 2014

To think that in 2014 there are 1,645 billionaires and their combined wealth is over $6.4 trillion.

Forbes says 1,645 billionaires made the list 2014, having an average net-worth of $4.7 billion. That is up from 1,426 billionaires a year ago with a net-worth of $4.2 billion. The total net-worth associated with this year’s list was $6.4 trillion, up from $5.4 trillion one year ago.

More Women Have Joined The Billionaires Club!

Forbes also said that 268 billionaires were new to the 2014 list, which beat out the previous 2008 high of 226 newcomers. Along with  that a record large number of women have joined the Forbes 2014 list of billionaires.  The 172 women that joined the upper ranks of Forbes Billionaire list, is up an astonishing 25 % from a year ago.

U.S. Still Leading With Largest Number Of Billionaires

There is definitely a geographical mix of countries with billionaires, the U.S. was the country with the largest number of billionaires at 492. China came in at second position with 152 and Russia third place with 111 billionaires. However, there were 4 new countries joining the number of Billionaires on the list and they are Algeria, Lithuania, Tanzania and Uganda.

So, is $1 billion really still such a big deal? I think the majority of people reading this would say Yes, Yes, Yes, it is.

Let’s just say you had one billion dollars, and you wanted to count it and it took you one second per dollar to count, how long do you think it would take to count out your billion dollar piggy bank?

From my calculations, it would take you over 3 decades, and to be more precise you are looking at 31 years, 8 months, and 23 days and that’s not counting the interest. ( just a little trivia for you)

Who Is The Riches Man In The World In 2014?

According to this infographic, Bill Gates comes in as being the richest man in the world and his worth is somewhere around $76 Billion. According to the Forbe’s list, Bill Gates held that position since the mid 90’s except for a few a years that he was bumped by Carlos Slim Helu. Bill Gates, who led the list of Billionaires for 15 of the previous twenty years, won the position back from the Mexican telecom tycoon Slim Helu, who had previously held the top position on  the Forbes list for the past 4 years.

So to think Bill Gates started his empire out of his dad’s garage after dropping out of Harvard University.

Garage Start-ups That Have Lead Up To Some of the Richest People In The World

It seems that a large number of today’s extreme wealth started from humble garage ventures. Bill Gates is not the only garage start-up founder that comes to mind.

One of the latest billion dollar garage ventures is by a fellow by the name of Palmer Luckey(yes that’s his real name – with an “e”) He sold his virtual reality headset (Oculus VR) which he had put together in his garage and sold for whopping $2 billion.

I wonder if working out of your garage is the key to becoming the next billionaire?

Top 10 Billionaires In 2014 According To Forbes 2014 Billionaire Facts & Figures