World’s Richest People: Real-Time Billionaires (Oct 2026)

Elon Musk is the richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $916.8 billion on Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list as of 29 October 2026 (7:45 pm EDT). Jeff Bezos is a distant second at $364.4 billion, and Michael Dell has climbed to third at $246.7 billion. The table below shows the top 15, with the change in each fortune since Forbes’ annual World’s Billionaires list was valued on 1 March 2026.

Top 15 Richest People in the World (29 October 2026)

All figures come from the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list, last updated at 7:45 pm EDT on 29 October 2026. The comparison column uses Forbes’ 2026 World’s Billionaires list, which priced fortunes on 1 March 2026. Forbes does not publish a 1 January baseline, so we have used the closest official snapshot.

Two things stand out. Thirteen of the top 15 are American, and Bernard Arnault, ranked seventh in March, has slipped to 17th at $116.2 billion. Bill Gates ($119.2 billion) and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao ($114.6 billion) sit just outside the table.

What Moved the Rankings This Week

The last few days of October showed how fast these numbers can swing. Alphabet shares fell about 12% on 29 October after its quarterly results, and Forbes estimated that Page and Brin lost roughly $60 billion between them on paper. That drop let Michael Dell, who had passed Brin for fourth place on 26 October, move up to third.

Dell’s rise is the story of the year. Dell Technologies stock was up about 274% for 2026 by 26 October, driven by demand for AI data-centre servers, according to Forbes. His fortune has gone from $141 billion in March to nearly $247 billion.

Bezos, meanwhile, closed 29 October at $365.7 billion before Amazon’s results, and Amazon shares fell about 6% in after-hours trading. The 7:45 pm figure in our table may not yet fully reflect that move.

The Big Wealth Events of 2026

SpaceX goes public and Musk becomes a trillionaire

SpaceX listed on Nasdaq on 12 June 2026 in the largest IPO in US history. It raised $75 billion at $135 a share and closed its first day worth close to $2.2 trillion. SpaceX had already absorbed Musk’s AI company xAI in February. Forbes says Musk owns about 38% of SpaceX including options, and the listing made him the first person worth more than $1 trillion. Forbes also counted nine new billionaires from SpaceX holdings, and about 4,400 current and former staff became millionaires.

Musk has since moved above and below the $1 trillion line several times. He fell under $700 billion in July and was back near $900 billion in August, according to Forbes. On 8 October he lost $36.4 billion in a single session, taking him to $991.6 billion.

Jio Platforms lists in Mumbai

Reliance’s Jio Platforms listed on 28 October after India’s largest-ever IPO, raising about $3.2 billion. Shares opened at ₹1,358 against an issue price of ₹1,119, a premium of roughly 21%. We covered the debut in our report on the Jio Platforms listing premium. Reliance’s own shares fell about 2% on listing day, so the debut did little for Mukesh Ambani’s personal fortune in the short run.

Richest Indians Right Now

Forbes publishes two different views of Indian wealth, and they do not match. The Forbes India’s 100 Richest 2026 list, released on 30 September and based on share prices from 11 September, counts family fortunes. The real-time list tracks individuals only.

Source: Forbes India’s 100 Richest 2026, share prices as of 11 September 2026.

On the individual real-time measure the race is far closer. Mukesh Ambani was worth $80.4 billion on 29 October, ranked 25th in the world. He had overtaken Gautam Adani as India’s richest individual on 13 October, when Forbes put Ambani at $78.8 billion and Adani at $74.9 billion. Adani was among the day’s biggest gainers on 29 October, adding about $3.3 billion, so the gap between the two remains a matter of a few billion dollars. For more on the people running India’s largest groups, see our Top 10 Business Leaders in India.

Richest in the Gulf

Much of the Gulf’s largest personal wealth belongs to residents rather than citizens. Using Forbes’ data:

1. Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, is the region’s richest resident at $114.6 billion (Forbes real-time, 29 October 2026). He is a Canadian citizen living in Dubai.
2. Vinod Adani, Gautam Adani’s brother and a UAE resident, was worth $20.8 billion on Forbes’ 1 March 2026 list.
3. Hussain Sajwani, chairman of DAMAC Properties, is the richest Emirati at $15.3 billion, also as of 1 March 2026.

In Saudi Arabia, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal benefited from SpaceX’s listing. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index put his fortune at about $24.5 billion in early June, a decade high. Our Top 10 Business Tycoons in the UAE profiles more of the region’s leading business families.

How Real-Time Net Worth Is Calculated

Both Forbes and Bloomberg start with stakes in listed companies, multiplied by the latest share price. That is why a fortune can rise or fall by billions in a single session. Forbes measures each day’s change from 5 pm ET on the previous trading day. Private companies, property and other assets are valued separately, and each publisher converts everything into US dollars at current exchange rates.

The judgment calls lie in private assets. Bloomberg values private companies against listed peers and may apply a liquidity discount; it used a 5% discount on Alwaleed’s SpaceX stake, for example. Forbes leaves out Musk’s unvested restricted Tesla shares from his 2018 pay award. Before SpaceX listed, private valuations of SpaceX and xAI drove much of Musk’s fortune, and private companies such as OpenAI still affect the wealth of their backers.

Forbes vs Bloomberg: Why the Numbers Differ

The two lists often disagree, sometimes by a lot. On 23 June 2026, Bloomberg valued Musk at $957 billion while Forbes had him at about $1.1 trillion, a gap explained mainly by how each values private stakes and applies discounts. Neither is wrong; they are estimates built on different assumptions. When you quote a figure, name the source and the date.

For context on the companies behind these fortunes, see our ranking of the Top 10 Companies in the World 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the richest person in the world in October 2026?

Elon Musk, worth $916.8 billion on Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list as of 29 October 2026. Most of his wealth comes from SpaceX and Tesla.

Is Elon Musk a trillionaire?

He became the first person worth more than $1 trillion after SpaceX’s June 2026 IPO, but his fortune has since dropped below that level. On 29 October Forbes put him at $916.8 billion.

Who is the richest Indian right now?

It depends on the measure. Gautam Adani and family top Forbes’ 2026 India list at $112.7 billion. On the individual real-time list, Mukesh Ambani was at $80.4 billion on 29 October, narrowly ahead of Adani since mid-October.

How often is the real-time billionaires list updated?

Fortunes tied to listed shares move with the market throughout the trading day, and Forbes measures daily changes from the previous day’s 5 pm ET close. Stakes in private companies change only when new valuation data appears, such as a funding round or an IPO.