Dangote, Adenuga, Otedola, Alakija, Rabiu Make Forbes World Billionaire List

Five Nigerians including Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga; Femi Otedola; Folorunso Alakija and Abdulsamad Rabiu, were named in the Forbes 2016 World’s Billionaires’ list that was released on Tuesday.

The latest Forbes World Rich list profiled 1,810 billionaires across the globe.

While Dangote retained his number one position as the richest man in Africa, he was ranked 51 in the world. The value of Dangote’s wealth was put at $15.4 billion. Also, Adenuga with total wealth of $10 billion was ranked 103 richest person in the world by Forbes, just as Otedola, whose wealth was valued at $1.8 billion was ranked 1011 richest person in the world.

In the same vein, Alakija was placed 1121 on the list with her wealth put at $1.6 billion, just as Rabiu was ranked 1577 richest person in the world.

Meanwhile, Bill Gates topped the list of the world’s richest billionaires for the 17th time in 22 years. Though the 60-year-old Microsoft head is $4.2billion poorer than 2015, his net worth of $75billion put him in the top spot of the Forbes’ World Billionaires list for the third year in a row, after dethroning  Mexico’s Carlos Slim Helu in 2014. Helu came in fourth in Forbes’ 2016 list of 1,810 billionaires, behind Gates, Zara’s Amancio Ortega and business mogul Warren Buffett, respectively.

Others who made the top 10 include Amazon’s Jeff Bezos at fifth on the list, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook at sixth, Oracle’s Larry Ellison at seventh, Michael Bloomberg at eighth, and tied for ninth are David and Charles Koch.

Forbes noted that Volatile stock markets, cratering oil prices and a stronger dollar led to a dynamic reshuffling of wealth around the globe and a drop in ten-figure fortunes for the first time since 2009. They explained: “For our 30th annual guide to the world’s richest, we found 1,810 billionaires, down from a record 1,826 a year ago. Their aggregate net worth was $6.48 trillion, $570 billion less than last year.  It was also the first time since 2010 that the average net worth of a billionaire dropped – it is now $3.6 billion, $300 million less than last year.

“Behind these figures is a story of huge upheaval, as 221 people fell off the list, while 198 newcomers joined the ranks; another 29 people from 2015 died while 29 who’d previously fallen off climbed back on. Of those who were billionaires both years, 892 are poorer while 501 added to their fortunes.

“The reshuffling starts at the top. Only two people in the top 20 managed to hold onto their ranks. Bill Gates remains the richest person in the world with a net worth of $75 billion, despite being $4.2 billion poorer than a year ago.

He has been number one for three  years in a row and topped the list 17 out of 22 years. (In the 30 years FORBES has tracked global wealth, only 5 people have held the title of richest person on planet; 3 of those 5 still rank among the 4 richest in the world including Warren Buffett and Carlos Slim.)

“Another new entrant worth mentioning is Zhou Qunfei, whose $5.9 billion fortune from smartphone screens is enough to make her the richest self-made woman in the world. She is one of 190 women in the list, down from 197 last year. Among the notable drop-offs are fashion designer Tory Burch, Sam Adams chief Jim Koch and Dick’s Sporting Goods head Edward Stack.”

The US had 540 billionaires on the list, more than any other country in the world.  It’s followed by mainland China with 251 (Hong Kong has another 69) and Germany with 120.  Russia has 77, ten-figure fortunes, 11 fewer than last year, while Brazil is down 23 to 31.