The Richest Person at Every Age
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What is it about the very rich that fascinates us so?
In the words of F. Scott Fitzgerald, "They are different from you and me." Yet still, we yearn to find some commonality, perhaps to imagine whether it's possible to some day be like them — or dream of what we might do with all that money.
For instance, I was born in 1986, the same year as Lukas Walton, the scion of the retailing giant Walmart, who is worth more than $11 billion, according to Forbes. There's a certain masochistic pleasure in comparing my lot in life with his. Although I would not trade places with Walton's for $11 billion, it's still fun to imagine.
Which is why we compiled this list of the richest person born in each year from 1917 to 1996.
Money started with the 2017 Forbes The World's Billionaires list, then cross-referenced each person's wealth against Bloomberg's Billionaires Index to make sure the numbers weren't wildly off, and then asked Wealth-X to use their database to double check each person's age.
What did we learn?
- Combined, the people on our list are estimated to be worth $1.4 trillion, or 2% of the global gross domestic product.
- The easiest way to get on this list, especially if you were born after 1957, is to be born into money or marry it.
- If you have to work, be computer literate. Nearly all of the U.S.-bred billionaires earned their wealth in technology, from Evan Spiegel to Michael Bloomberg.
- In total, Americans make up 38% of our list; Europeans, 24%; and Asians, 20%. But while most Europeans on this list inherited their fortunes, 80% of the Asians were self-made.
- The road to supreme wealth is roughest for women. Only 14% of the list is female.
Scroll below to find your birth year, and see how much work you have to do to catch up:
1917: Raymond Perelman
Net Worth (in billions): $0.9 (per Wealth-X)
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Founder and chairman of RGP Holdings
1918: Chang Yun Chung (aka Teo Woon Tiong)
Net Worth (in billions): $1.7
Where From: Singapore
How He Got Rich: Co-founder of Pacific International Lines.
1919: N/A
1920: Aloysio de Andrade Faria
Net Worth (in billions): $2.4
Where From: Brazil
How He Got Rich: Inherited Banco Real from his father, and chairman of Alfa Bank.
1921: David Consunji
Net Worth (in billions): $3.1
Where From: Philippines
How He Got Rich: Founder and chairman of conglomerate DMCI.
1922: Liliane Bettencourt
Net Worth (in billions): $39.5
Where From: France
How She Got Rich: Heir to L'Oréal fortune.
1923: Robert Kuok
Net Worth (in billions): $11.4
Where From: Malaysia
How He Got Rich: Founder of conglomerate Kuok Group.
1924: Henry Sy
Net Worth (in billions): $12.7
Where From: Philippines
How He Got Rich: Founder of conglomerate SMIC.
1925: Serge Dassault
Net Worth (in billions): $16.1
Where From: France
How He Got Rich: Heir to conglomerate GIMD.
1926: Hans Rausing
Net Worth (in billions): $12.5
Where From: Sweden
How He Got Rich: Heir to Tetra Pak.
1927: Samuel Newhouse Jr.
Net Worth (in billions): $12.1
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Heir, and co-owner, of Advance Publications.
1928: Li Ka-shing
Net Worth (in billions): $31.2
Where From: Hong Kong
How He Got Rich: Chairman of conglomerate CK Hutchison.
1929: Pallonji Mistry
Net Worth (in billions): $14.3
Where From: Ireland, via India
How He Got Rich: Largest shareholder in conglomerate Tata Group.
1930: Warren Buffett
Net Worth (in billions): $75.6
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Chairman, and largest stockholder, of Berkshire Hathaway.
1931: Rupert Murdoch
Net Worth (in billions): $13.6
Where From: Australia
How He Got Rich: Executive chairman of 21st Century Fox and News Corp.
1932: Donald Bren
Net Worth (in billions): $15.2
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Chairman of real estate investment firm, Irvine Company.
1933: Sheldon Adelson
Net Worth (in billions): $30.4
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Founder and chief executive of Las Vegas Sands.
1934: Pauline MacMillan Keinath
Net Worth (in billions): $6.8
Where From: America
How She Got Rich: Great-granddaughter of the founder of Cargill.
1935: Charles Koch
Net Worth (in billions): $48.3
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Chairman and chief executive of Koch Industries, which was created by his father.
1936: Amancio Ortega
Net Worth (in billions): $71.3
Where From: Spain
How He Got Rich: Founder and former chairman of Inditex, owner of Zara.
1937: Klaus-Michael Kuehne
Net Worth (in billions): $12.4
Where From: Germany
How He Got Rich: Majority shareholder, and former chief executive, of his grandfather's transportation firm.
1938: Phil Knight
Net Worth (in billions): $26.2
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Co-founder of Nike.
1939: Jorge Paulo Lemann
Net Worth (in billions): $29.2
Where From: Brazil
How He Got Rich: Beer magnate and investor who now owns stake in Restaurant Brands International.
1940: Carlos Slim
Net Worth (in billions): $54.5
Where From: Mexico
How He Got Rich: Chairman and chief executive of various holdings, including Grupo Carso.
1941: Stefano Pessina
Net Worth (in billions): $13.9
Where From: Italy
How He Got Rich: Chief executive and vice chairman of Walgreens Boots Alliance.
1942: Michael Bloomberg
Net Worth (in billions): $47.5
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Founder and chief executive of Bloomberg
1943: Ronald Perelman
Net Worth (in billions): $12.5
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Son of Raymond Perelman, chairman and chief executive of MacAndrews & Forbes
1944: Larry Ellison
Net Worth (in billions): $52.3
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Co-founder and chairman of Oracle.
1945: Azim Premji
Net Worth (in billions): $14.9
Where From: India
How He Got Rich: Chairman of Wipro, an IT firm.
1946: Peter Woo
Net Worth (in billions): $10.5
Where From: China
How He Got Rich: Former chairman of Wheelock and Company, and The Wharf Holdings.
1947: Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen
Net Worth (in billions): $21.1
Where From: Denmark
How He Got Rich: Heir to Lego fortune, and former president and chief executive.
1948: Jim Walton
Net Worth (in billions): $34
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Heir to Walmart fortune.
1949: Bernard Arnault
Net Worth (in billions): $41.5
Where From: France
How He Got Rich: Chairman and chief executive of LVMH.
1950: Theo Albrecht Jr
Net Worth (in billions): $18.8
Where From: Germany
How He Got Rich: Heir to supermarket chain, Aldi
1951: Joseph Lau
Net Worth (in billions): $15
Where From: Hong Kong
How He Got Rich: Majority owner of investment firm Chinese Estates Holdings.
1952: Gennady Timchenko
Net Worth (in billions): $16
Where From: Russia
How He Got Rich: Co-founder of investment firm Volga Group.
1953: Paul Allen
Net Worth (in billions): $19.9
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Co-founder of Microsoft.
1954: Wang Jianlin
Net Worth (in billions): $31.3
Where From: China
How He Got Rich: Chairman of entertainment giant Dalian Wanda.
1955: Bill Gates
Net Worth (in billions): $86
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Co-founder of Microsoft.
1956: Steve Ballmer
Net Worth (in billions): $30
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Former chief executive of Microsoft.
1957:Mukesh Ambani
Net Worth (in billions): $23.2
Where From: India
How He Got Rich: Chairman of energy giant, Reliance Industries Limited.
1958: Hui Ka Yan (aka Xu Jiayin)
Net Worth (in billions): $10.2
Where From: China
How He Got Rich: Founder and chairman of real estate giant, Evergrande Real Estate Group.
1959: Uday Kotak
Net Worth (in billions): $8
Where From: India
How He Got Rich: Founder and chairman of Kotak Mahindra Bank
1960: Jorn Rausing
Net Worth (in billions): $6.1
Where From: Sweden
How He Got Rich: Heir to packaging giant, Tetra Laval.
1961: Abigail Johnson
Net Worth (in billions): $14.4
Where From: America
How She Got Rich: Granddaughter of Fidelity Investments founder Edward Johnson II, and current president and chief executive.
1962: Susanne Klattan
Net Worth (in billions): $20.4
Where From: Germany
How She Got Rich: Inherited stake in her parents' investments, including BMW.
1963: Laurene Powell Jobs
Net Worth (in billions): $20
Where From: America
How She Got Rich: Widow of Steve Jobs.
1964: Jeff Bezos
Net Worth (in billions): $72.8
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Founder, chairman and chief executive of Amazon.com.
1965: Michael Dell
Net Worth (in billions): $20.4
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Founder and chief executive of Dell Technologies.
1966: Stefan Quandt
Net Worth (in billions): $18.2
Where From: Germany
How He Got Rich: Inherited stake in his parents' investments, including BMW.
1967: Kumar Birla
Net Worth (in billions): $9.5
Where From: India
How He Got Rich: Inherited chairmanship of commodities giant Aditya Birla Group after his father's death.
1968: Wang Wenyin
Net Worth (in billions): $14
Where From: China
How He Got Rich: Owns mining giant Amer International.
1969: Lei Jun
Net Worth (in billions): $6.8
Where From: China
How He Got Rich: Co-founded smartphone maker, Xiaomi.
1970: Emmanuel Besnier
Net Worth (in billions): $11.3
Where From: France
How He Got Rich: Inherited ownership in dairy and cheese giant Lactalis.
1971: Ma Huateng
Net Worth (in billions): $24.9
Where From: China
How They Got Rich: Chairman of Tencent.
1972: Andrey Melnichenko
Net Worth (in billions): $13.2
Where From: Russia
How He Got Rich: Majority owner of energy and fertilizer producers.
1973: Larry Page
Net Worth (in billions): $40.7
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Co-founded Google
1974: Liu Qiangdon (aka Richard Liu)
Net Worth (in billions): $7.7
Where From: China
How He Got Rich: Founder of e-commerce leader JD.com.
1975: Tom Persson
Net Worth (in billions): $2.1
Where From: Sweden
How He Got Rich: Inherited stake in H&M.
1976: Jan Koum
Net Worth (in billions): $9.8
Where From: America, via Ukraine
How He Got Rich: Co-founder of Whatsapp.
1977: Alejandro Santo Domingo
Net Worth (in billions): $4.7
Where From: America, via Colombia
How He Got Rich: Inherited a stake in beer giant SABMiller, which was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev.
1978: Garrett Camp
Net Worth (in billions): $6.3
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Co-founded Uber.
1979: Sean Parker
Net Worth (in billions): $2.6
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Former president of Facebook.
1980: Marie Besnier Beauvalot
Net Worth (in billions): $4
Where From: France
How She Got Rich: Inherited ownership in dairy and cheese giant Lactalis.
1981: Yang Huiyan
Net Worth (in billions): $9
Where From: China
How She Got Rich: Inherited ownership in her father's real estate firm.
1982: Eduardo Saverin
Net Worth (in billions): $7.9
Where From: Brazil
How He Got Rich: Co-founded Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg.
1983: Nate Blecharczyk
Net Worth (in billions): $3.2
Where From: American
How He Got Rich: Co-founder of Airbnb.
1984: Mark Zuckerberg
Net Worth (in billions): $56
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Co-founded Facebook.
1985: Julio Mario Santo Domingo III
Net Worth (in billions): $2.4
Where From: America, via Colombia
How He Got Rich: Inherited a stake in beer giant SABMiller, which was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev.
1986: Lukas Walton
Net Worth (in billions): $11.3
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Inherited wealth from his deceased father, John T. Walton, heir to the Walmart fortune.
1987: Wang Han
Net Worth (in billions): $1.3
Where From: China
How He Got Rich: Inherited ownership stake in Juneyao Airlines.
1988: Patrick Collison
Net Worth (in billions): $1.1
Where From: America, via Ireland
How He Got Rich: Co-founded, and runs, online payment company Stripe.
1989: Bobby Murphy
Net Worth (in billions): $4
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Co-founded Snap, creator of instant messaging app Snapchat.
1990: Evan Spiegel
Net Worth (in billions): $4
Where From: America
How He Got Rich: Co-founded Snap, creator of instant messaging app Snapchat.
1991: Hugh Grosvenor
Net Worth (in billions): $12.9 (per Wealth-X)
Where From: United Kingdom
How He Got Rich: Inherited his wealth and title, the Duke of Westminster.
1992 (Honorable Mention): Frances Bean Cobain (per Wealth-X)
Net Worth (in billions): $0.1
Where From: America
How She Got Rich: Inherited wealth from deceased father Kurt. Named honorable mention as neither Wealth-X, Forbes or Bloomberg recognizes a billionaire born this year.
1993: Gustav Magnar Witzoe
Net Worth (in billions): $1.1
Where From: Norway
How He Got Rich: Inherited almost half of a salmon fishing giant.
1994 (Honorable Mention): Justin Bieber
Net Worth (in billions): $0.2 (per Wealth-X)
Where From: Canada
How He Got Rich: Singing songs and selling records. Named honorable mention as neither Wealth-X, Forbes or Bloomberg recognizes a billionaire born this year.
1995: Katharina Andresen
Net Worth (in billions): $1.2
Where From: Norway
How She Got Rich: Inherited partial ownership of the investment company Ferd. Would be richer if not for her sister below.
1996: Alexandra Andresen
Net Worth (in billions): $1.2
Where From: Norway
How She Got Rich: Also inherited partial ownership of the investment company Ferd.