Trump falls 222 places on Forbes rich list

Donald Trump has plummeted 222 places on Forbes’ annual Rich List of the world’s wealthiest people.

The US President saw his personal fortune drop from $3.5bn (£2.5bn) to $3.1bn last year. Forbes said this was predominantly due to the falling value of central New York property and diminishing returns from his golf courses.

The annual list is a snapshot of wealth taken on 9 February each year, using that day’s stock prices and exchange rates to calculate an individual’s total fortune.

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Topping the list this year is Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. The Seattle-based businessman’s fortune jumped from $39.2bn to $112bn in 12 months, the biggest year-on-year gain ever recorded by Forbes. It makes Bezos the only person to appear in the Forbes ranking with a 12-figure fortune.

This was enough to knock Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who has headed the list for 18 of the past 24 years, off the top spot, even though his wealth also increased from $86bn to $90bn.

Looking at the wider picture, the list features a record 2,208 billionaires from 72 countries, with an average net worth of $4.1bn.

The majority come from the US (585) and China (373). Germany (123), India (119) and Russia (102) round off the top five, although they contained fewer billionaires than California alone which has 144.

This elite group of super-wealthy individuals has a combined fortune of $9.1 trillion, up 18% since last year

Luisa Kroll and Kerry Dolan, from Forbes Media, said this huge percentage increase in wealth shows that: “The super-rich continue to get richer, widening the gap between them and everyone else.”