Lists, Billion | featured news

World's richest man got richer with $79. billion in 2015.

As Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana ready their latest collections for this spring’s slew of international catwalk shows, their lawyers will be working behind the scenes to ensure two of Italy’s most successful designers won’t be spending the next few Fashion Weeks behind bars...

As the Forbes Wealth team gears up to bring you the Billionaires issue this March -- featuring an extensive catalog of the world's wealthiest people -- we've been finding massive hidden fortunes across the globe. If you're a regular on Forbes.com, you've probably noticed that our homepage has been clogged with new names, some familiar, many more obscure, as we've rifled through financial and legal documents and talked with sources at all hours of the day (and night). We do it all in the name of making public fortunes that many would prefer stay private.

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates remains the nation's richest man by far, as the tech and philanthropy giant took the top spot on the Forbes 400 list for the 19th year running, with a net worth of $66 billion. Investor Warren Buffett, the head of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., again took second with $46 billion, while Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison remains third with $41 billion and brothers Charles and David Koch, co-owners of Koch Industries Inc., tied for fourth with $31 billion.

Liang Wengen of Sany Heavy Industry is the new number one with a net worth of $9.3 billion, followed by Robin Li.