HOW did Larry Ellison and Ma Huateng make their money? How did Jensen Huang or Tadashi Yanai create their wealth and become world’s billionaires? Well, these individuals didn’t just pluck money from the trees – there were industries or sectors that propelled their wealth.
The industries range from technology to fashion, automotives to finance, telecoms to food and beverages, and healthcare and energy. This is an indication of where the money and wealth can be found in today’s world.
According to the Forbes’ World’s Billionaires List 2025, the richest man in 2025 was the $342 billion-worth Elon Musk, whose welath was propelled by the automotive sector or electric vehicles. Musk joined Tesla in February 2004 after investing $6.35 million in the business. He subsequently became the majority shareholder and chairman.
Rob, Jim and Alice Walton
The automotive industry is immediately followed by technology. The world’s 2nd to 4th richest people are in the technology sector, with Facebook’s Mark Zucherberg, Jeff Bezos’ Amazon and Larry Ellison’s Oracle named respectively.
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Next to technology is the fashion and retail industry, dominated by Bernard Arnault and family. The world’s next billionaire is in the finance and investments sector. The 95-year-old Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffet, Chairman and CEO of the conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, is the 6th richest person on earth.
The 7th and the 8th richest people on earth – Lary Page and Sergey Brin – are in the technology space. Also producing billionaires is the fashion and retail space, which is lucrative across the globe. It produced the world’s 9th, 11th, 12th and 15th wealthiest people on earth, with Spain-based Amancio Ortega, United States-based Rob Walton and family, Jim Walton and family, and Alice Walton occupying the positions. Rob, Jim and Alice are from the same Walton family in the U.S.
Conversely, the world’s 10th and 13th wealthiest people are major players in the technology sector. The U.S.-based Steve Ballmer has a wealth pile of $118 billion made from Microsoft. Similarly, Bill Gates, estimated at $108 billion net worth, also his wealth from Microsoft.
Jensen Huang made his $97.7 billion from Dell Technologies and is now world’s 17th richest man, while Mukesh Ambani, who owns India-based Reliance Industries, is globally the 18th wealthiest man. He is in petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom, retail, media and financial services sectors.
Carlos Slim Helu & family are the 19th richest in the world. They made their wealth from the telecom sector, controlling América Móvil, Latin America’s biggest mobile telecom firm. On the other hand, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the granddaughter of the founder of L’Oreal, made her $81.6 billion from the fashion and retail industry.
Julia Koch and her three children inherited a 42 percent stake in Koch, Inc. (formerly Koch Industries) from her husband, David Koch, who died in 2019 at age 79. She and her family are the 21st richest in the world. Next is Charle Koch, David Koch’s brother, who is the 22nd richest in the world, with a net worth of $67.5 billion. Charles has been chairman of Koch, Inc., America’s second largest private company by revenue, since 1967. He brought on his first ever co-CEO in 2023.
The world’s 23rd richest person is Zhang Yiming, main co-founder of Chinese tech giant ByteDance, best known for its insanely popular app TikTok, which has more than 1 billion users worldwide. The Chinese, Changpeng Zhao, who goes by CZ, is the 24th richest man on earth. He is the founder and former CEO of Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. He made his wealth from cryptocurrency exchanges.
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The U.S.-based Jeff Yass, worth $59 billion, is the world’s 25th richest man on earth. He is a co-founder of Susquehanna International Group, one of Wall Street’s largest and most successful trading firms. The 66-year-old billionaire is various sectors such, particularly in trading and investments.
Zhong Shanshan, a Chinese, made his wealth from food and beverages. The 26th richest person on earth is the founder and Chairman of Nongfu Spring, a bottled water company that listed its shares in Hong Kong in 2020.
Thomas Peterffy, who is in discount and brokerage business, is world’s 27th richest person. A digital trading pioneer, Peterffy chairs Interactive Brokers, which markets its specialised trading platform to sophisticated investors.
India’s Gautam Adani is the 28th richest individual on earth. He is the chairman of the Ahmedabad-headquartered Adani Group, with interests in ports, airports, power generation and transmission, and green energy, among others. His net worth is estimated at $56.3 billion, making his money from infrastructure and commodities.
The Chinese, Ma Huateng, is the world’s 29th richest, with a net worth of $56.2 billion. Also known as Pony Ma, he is the Chairman and CEO of Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings. He made his wealth from online games/technology.
The Japanese, Tadashi Yanai & family, are the 30th richest, with their net worth estimated at $45.1 billion. Yanai built and runs Tokyo-listed retail clothing empire Fast Retailing, parent of the Uniqlo chain.
Aliko Dangoteis Africa’s richest person. He is the world’s 83rd richest. He founded and chairs Dangote Cement, the continent’s largest cement producer. He also founded the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Nigeria’s petrol refiner, who supplies fuel across the country.
“Techology, fashion, retail, and food and beverages are the dominant sectors,” said a financial analyst, Mr Chidi Amadi, who went through the Forbes’ list.
“It simply tells you where the world’s richest are parking their money. It is an opportunity for exporters and local players to understand what the world needs and work to satify it,”
