The world’s third-richest man worth more than Warren Buffet and Bill Gates | World | News

The Forbes 2024 Rich List holds a list of billionaires who have retained a spot since 2000, however a reshuffle in their ranks places one man in third place thanks to his growing fortune.

The wealthiest people on the planet today remain largely the same as 20 years ago, however the top three spots have changed.

Elon Musk holds first place with Jeff Bezos in second despite neither of them being in the top 20 less than 25 years ago.

Third place goes to billionaire Larry Ellison who has sat firmly in one of the top 20 spots on the list for the past two decades, despite being less in the spotlight than those in first and second place.

His overall net worth is a staggering $217.2 billion (£173.6billion).

Larry Ellison is chairman, chief technology officer and cofounder of software giant Oracle.

Despite giving up the role of CEO in 2014 after 37 years at the helm, he still owns roughly 40% of the company.

Mr Ellison, 80, founded Oracle in 1977. The company specialises in IT, offering business-oriented products and services.

It ranks as the world’s largest database management company, according to its website.

The incredible growth of Oracle can be largely attributed to acquisitions of software companies – the biggest was $28.3 billion (£22.6bn) for electronic health records company Cerner in 2021.

The billionaire has had four previous marriages before his current partner, having two children, David and Megan, with his third wife Barbara Boothe.

After stepping down as CEO, Mr Ellison moved permanently from the United States to the Hawaiian island Lanai, which he bought nearly all of in 2012 for $300 million (£238 million).

Following this, Mr Ellison sat on his fellow Forbes list billionaire’s company board, Tesla, from December 2018 to August 2022.

The Oracle founder owned 45 million split-adjusted shares in Elon Musk’s company before stepping down as a director.

Mr Musk has sat at the top of Forbes Rich List for a second year in a row with a net worth of $449.6 billion (£359.5bn). Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, stands at $240.5 billion (£192.2bn).