Nearly a fifth of the world’s 100 richest billionaires made their fortune in tech or have significant interests in the sector.
That’s according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List, Britain’s definitive guide to the wealthiest people on the planet.
The Sunday Times list features some familiar tech faces, including bonafide Silicon Valley superstars and those who have made their fortune in China and beyond.
The accumulated wealth of the 19 people on the lists stands at more than the GDP of Switzerland and they run some of the most influential companies on the planet.
Scroll on to see the 19 richest tech billionaires on the planet, ranked in ascending order.
19. Zhang Zhidong, cofounder of Tencent Holdings. Net worth: £11.6 billion ($15.8 billion). Also known as Tony Zhang, he was CTO of Chinese giant Tencent until 2014.
18. William Ding, founder and CEO of NetEase. Net worth: £12.9 billion ($17.5 billion). Ding founded NetEase in 1997 and it is now one of the world’s biggest mobile games businesses.
17. Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Steve Jobs. Net worth: £13.9 billion ($18.9 billion). She founded social impact enterprise Emerson Collective and was recently rumoured to be in talks to back BuzzFeed’s news division.
16. Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro Limited. Net worth: £13.9 billion ($18.9 billion). Premji is known as the czar of the Indian IT industry.
15. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. Net worth: £14.7 billion ($20 billion). Musk also runs tunnel infrastructure firm The Boring Company.
14. Paul Allen, cofounder of Microsoft. Net worth: £16.1 billion ($21.9 billion). As well as setting up Microsoft with Bill Gates, Allen is owner of NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.
13. Lee Kun-Hee, chairman of Samsung Group. Net worth: £16.6 billion ($22.5 billion). He is the third son of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul.
12. Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies. Net worth: £16.8 billion ($22.8 billion). Dell is the world’s largest privately held technology company.
11. Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of SoftBank. Net worth: £16.8 billion ($22.8 billion). SoftBank has a huge $100 billion tech investment fund.
10. Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO. Net worth: £28.4 billion ($38.5 billion). Ballmer now owns NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers.
9. Jack Ma, executive chairman of Alibaba Group. Net worth: £28.9 billion ($39.2 billion). Alibaba is China’s biggest e-commerce company.
8. Pony Ma Huateng, CEO of Tencent. Net worth: £33.6 billion ($45.6 billion). Ma is now China’s richest man.
7. Sergey Brin, cofounder of Google. Net worth: £34.8 billion ($47.2 billion). He is president of Google’s parent company, Alphabet.
6. Larry Page, cofounder of Google. Net worth: £35.2 billion ($47.8 billion). Page was Google’s first CEO until 2001.
5. Larry Ellison, executive chairman of Oracle. Net worth: £43.3 billion ($58.8 billion). Ellison cofounded Oracle in 1977 and still works as the firm’s CTO.
5. Carlos Slim Helú, director of America Movil. Net worth: £49.7 billion ($67.5 billion). Helú used to own a $40 million stake in Shazam and, among a number of assets, controls South American music streaming service Claro Música.
3. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook. Net worth: £52.6 billion ($71.4 billion). Zuckerberg founded Facebook in his college dorm room in 2004.
2. Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft. Net worth: £66.7 billion ($90.5 billion). Gates now focuses on philanthropy through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
1. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon. Net worth: £83 billion ($112.6 billion). Bezos has built a retail empire and is the richest man in the world.
