Among the very rich, it is an open secret that many believe Vladimir Putin is the richest person on the planet. Individuals like Elon Musk's net worth is largely calculable due to their public holdings in companies like Tesla, Twitter and SpaceX. When there is a change in value or earnings, there is a respective change in net worth.
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With Putin, however, his wealth is related to Oligarchs and his stranglehold on opaque business practices. Even the modest estimates of Putin’s wealth make him a billionaire. How a KGB agent turned President amassed a billion dollars in wealth is not a story of innovation but exploitation.
Although the exact net worth of Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, is not publicly known, his personal wealth is shrouded in secrecy. However, many reports suggest that Putin's personal wealth could be in the billions of dollars.
In 2015, Russian businessman Sergei Polonsky claimed that Putin's personal net worth was $200 billion, making him the richest person in the world. However, this figure has not been independently verified and is widely regarded as an exaggeration.
Other estimates of Putin's net worth are more conservative, but still suggest that he is extremely wealthy. In 2018, for example, the former US ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, estimated Putin's net worth at $1.4 billion.
It's important to note that Putin's wealth is largely speculative and based on circumstantial evidence, given the lack of transparency surrounding his personal finances. Additionally, Putin has denied having any significant personal wealth, and the Russian government has dismissed claims of his vast personal fortune as baseless
The rankings of the world's richest people often fluctuate due to changes in the stock market, investments, and other factors. However, according to Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires list (as of March 31, 2023), the five richest people in the world are currently:
1. Elon Musk: The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has a net worth of $163.6 billion.
2. Bernard Arnault & family: The CEO of LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) has a net worth of $160.2 billion.
3. Jeff Bezos: The founder and former CEO of Amazon has a net worth of $115.8 billion.
4. Bill Gates: The co-founder of Microsoft has a net worth of $103.2 billion.
5. Mark Zuckerberg: The co-founder and CEO of Facebook has a net worth of $96.6 billion.
It's worth noting that these rankings are subject to change and may be different depending on the source and methodology used to calculate net worth.
Michael Stolz
