The outlet says more than half of the 25 richest billionaires lost money year-over-year, and Elon Musk's pricey Twitter purchase wasn't the only reason those numbers went down.
Forbes also crowned a new richest man in the world in its annual report, although we've had a new top dog in the world for several months.
Here's what you need to know about the richest people in the world and their net worths in 2023.
Who is the richest man in the world in 2023?
French billionaire Bernard Arnault was considered the richest man in the world as of spring 2023, according to Forbes.
Arnault's net worth is estimated at approximately $211 billion.
The 74-year-old is the CEO and chairman of LVMH, the parent company behind many top fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton, Sephora, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs and Tiffany & Co., to name a few.
Arnault took over his family's construction company in the 1970s and later pivoted into real estate and luxury fashion to build his empire, Business Of Fashion reports.
He first cracked the Forbes list back in 1997 and has been one of the five richest billionaires for several years now.
Arnault has five children, four of whom are involved in his empire.
What is Elon Musk's net worth in 2023?
Chief Twit Elon Musk's fortunes have fallen dramatically over the last year or so, and his net worth in spring 2023 was about $180 billion, according to Forbes.
That's down from his peak of $219 billion last April, according to Forbes' tracking. The outlet estimates that Musk is the second-biggest loser among billionaires compared to last year, with his net worth falling by about $39 billion.
Musk remains in charge of SpaceX, Tesla and the Boring Company, but his fortunes took a dip in 2022 when he sold off a bunch of Tesla shares to fund his $44-billion purchase of Twitter. Forbes reports that those sell-offs hurt Tesla's stock value and because of that, Musk's net worth dropped.
Musk immediately went all-in on the social media platform, although his changes alienated many staff, users and advertisers. He's currently pushing a paid subscription plan to get verified on Twitter, although major account holders such as the New York Times and Lebron James have refused to buy in.
Musk estimated last month that Twitter's value had dropped by more than half to $20 billion since he bought it, according to an internal email obtained by the New York Times.
All of those setbacks dropped Musk down to No. 2 on Forbes' list of the richest people in the world.
Let that sink in.
What is Jeff Bezos' net worth in 2023?
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and the former richest man in the world, was worth an estimated $114 billion as of spring 2023, according to Forbes.
Bezos took the biggest hit to his net worth of all the billionaires, losing $57 billion compared to last year, according to Forbes. The outlet attributes those loses to a 38% crash in Amazon shares.
Bezos' net worth peaked at about $177 billion in 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic drove record online sales at Amazon. He was considered the richest man in the world that year, although he lost that title to Musk in 2022.
Who is the richest woman in the world in 2023?
The richest woman in the world in 2023 is also French, as Francoise Bettencourt Meyers holds that title with her $80.5-billion net worth. The 69-year-old's wealth is based on the L'Oreal cosmetic line.
Julia Koch is the second-richest woman in the world with a net worth of about $59 billion in spring 2023, according to Forbes.
She inherited a major stake in Koch Industries when her husband, David Koch, died at age 79 in August 2019.
Julia Koch, 60, was an assistant to fashion designer Adolfo before she married David Koch in 1996.
David's brother, Charles Koch, is also worth $59 billion, and together the two have played major roles over the years in shaping U.S. politics with their donations to the Republican Party.
Walmart heiress Alice Walton is the third-richest woman with a net worth of about $56.7 billion.
What is Donald Trump's net worth in 2023?
Former U.S. president Donald Trump's net worth fell to an estimated $2.5 billion in spring 2023, according to Forbes.
He has lost $500 million since last year, although that's the least of his troubles these days.
The outlet reports that his peak net worth was $4.5 billion in 2016, just before he won the U.S. presidency.
His worst year was in 2020, when his net worth plunged to $2.1 billion amid a failed bid to win another term as president. However, his net worth went up again after that and hit $3 billion in 2022.
Trump has already declared that he will run for president again in 2024.
How many billionaires are there in the world in 2023?
There are 2,640 billionaire fortunes in the world, according to Forbes' 2023 numbers. The outlet estimates that we lost 48 billionaires compared to 2022.
Ya hate to see it...
Who are the richest people in the world in 2023?
Here is Forbes' list of the 25 richest people in the world as of spring 2023, along with the biggest source of their wealth.
- Bernard Arnault & family (LVMH/fashion)
- Elon Musk (Tesla/SpaceX)
- Jeff Bezos (Amazon)
- Larry Ellison (Oracle)
- Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)
- Bill Gates (Microsoft)
- Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg/ U.S. media)
- Carlos Slim Helu & family (Mexico telecom)
- Mukesh Ambani (India oil and gas/telecom/retail)
- Steve Ballmer (Microsoft)
- Francoise Bettencourt Meyers & family (L'Oreal)
- Larry Page (Google)
- Amancio Ortega (Zara)
- Sergey Brin (Google)
- Zhong Shanshan (Nongfu Spring bottled water)
- Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook/Meta)
- Charles Koch (Oil and gas/automotive/Dixie cups)
- Julia Koch & family (Oil and gas/automotive/Dixie cups)
- Jim Walton (Walmart)
- Rob Walton (Walmart)
- Alice Walton (Walmart)
- David Thompson & family (Thomson Reuters/Bell Canada/Globe And Mail)
- Michael Dell (Dell Technologies)
- Gautam Adani (India infrastructure)
- Phil Knight & family (Nike)
