Forget mere billionaires. The race is now on for a truly historic achievement: becoming the first member of the ultra-exclusive trillion-dollar club. Fuelled by a recent report from wealth-tracking service Informa Connect Academy, speculation is swirling around who will cross this sensational financial finish line first. The report predicts one mega-rich tycoon could reach the milestone as early as 2027.
So, who's in the frame for this ultimate prize? Read on to discover who's predicted to become a trillionaire in the coming years and the obstacles they face in making it to 13 figures.
All dollar amounts in US dollars
The world's infatuation with immense wealth dates back centuries. Before we reveal who will break the trillionaire barrier, let's look back at the people who made history as the first millionaires, multimillionaires, billionaires, and beyond.
While historical figures such as Augustus Caesar and medieval African ruler Mansa Musa are estimated to have boasted billion-dollar fortunes when adjusted for inflation, the first actual dollar millionaire is thought to be New England merchant Elias Hasket Derby (pictured), who was worth just over a million dollars when he died in 1799. Derby made much of his money during the American Revolution as a state-sanctioned privateer targeting British shipping.
During the early 19th century, figures like Stephen Van Rensselaer, Stephen Girard, and John Jacob Astor likely crossed the threshold to become the world's first dollar multimillionaires, though the exact order remains debated.
Following in their footsteps, Gilded Age industrialist Cornelius Vanderbilt (pictured) was the first dollar centimillionaire. Upon his death in 1877, the moneyed magnate was worth over $100 million, which translates to several billion dollars in 2024. These days, dollar millionaires are ten a penny (as it were). According to the 2024 UBS Global Wealth Report, there are now 58 million worldwide.
John D Rockefeller is widely credited as the world's first dollar billionaire. The captain of industry crossed the prestigious threshold on 29 September 1916, according to The New York Times. By 1918, Forbes had pegged his wealth at $1.2 billion, equivalent to $25 billion (£19bn) today.
Rockefeller derived his wealth from Standard Oil, the company he co-founded in 1870. At one time, the firm controlled 90% of the oil produced in the US.
Billionaires came thick and fast over the course of the 20th century. The first centibillionaire was Bill Gates (pictured), who reached the wealth pinnacle for a brief time in 1999 amid the dot-com boom before his fortune plummeted by almost half when the bubble burst.
Jeff Bezos followed suit on 24 November 2017 when his wealth also hit 12 figures, thanks to a Black Friday-driven surge in Amazon stock.
In 2020, Bezos attained yet another wow-factor milestone, becoming the first person in history to be worth $200 billion (£152bn). Elon Musk reached the $300 billion (£229bn) mark in November 2021, but by January 2023, a whopping $200 billion (£152bn) had been shaved off his net worth. No other person in history has lost so much money. Musk's wealth has since bounced back, though it currently remains below the $300 billion (£229bn) threshold.
Now let's examine the top 20 contenders edging towards a trillion-dollar net worth, according to the Informa Connect Academy analysis. This is based on their average annual wealth growth rates over the past six years and 2024 wealth estimates, courtesy of Forbes.
Together with his family, David Thomson is at the helm of a vast media empire that includes Thomson Reuters and other major assets such as The Globe and Mail, Canada's number one newspaper.
The Thomsons are worth $67.8 billion (£51.8bn) according to Forbes. Since the clan's wealth has grown by an average 16.07% in recent years, Informa Connect Academy predicts it will reach a trillion-dollar net worth in 2043. David Thomson will be 86 by that time.
Spain's richest person, Armancio Ortega, has a fortune of $103 billion (£78.7bn). The retail mogul owns 60% of Inditex, which boasts eight super-successful brands including Zara and Massimo Dutti.
Unless Ortega lives beyond 107, it's unlikely he'll ever join the trillionaire club, based on his average annual wealth growth rate of 13.34%. But his daughter, Marta Ortega Pérez, could very well achieve the milestone as she's set to inherit his Inditex share.
Adding Warren Buffett to the list of potential trillionaires is something of a red herring given his age and the fact he has pledged to put his wealth in a charitable trust, which his three children will oversee.
Buffett, who's worth $133 billion (£101bn) in 2024, would achieve trillionaire status in 2042 based on his annual wealth growth rate of 12.45%. The legendary investor would be 112 by that time – and while it isn't outside the realm of possibility that he'll live that long, it's highly unlikely.
Michael Bloomberg co-founded his namesake financial information and media firm in 1981 and now owns 88% of the business. In the meantime, the tycoon served as mayor of New York City for 12 years and was a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination in the 2020 presidential election.
Based on his average annual wealth growth rate of 14.55%, Bloomberg, who's worth $106 billion (£81bn), is expected to join the 13-figure club in 2041 when he'll be a year off his hundredth birthday.
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers could become the world's first female trillionaire, though her wealth is shared with wider members of the Bettencourt Meyers family.
The L'Oréal heiress, who, along with her family, owns a third of the cosmetics behemoth, has a fortune of $99.5 billion (£76.2bn). Based on an average annual wealth growth rate of 16.51%, this is poised to grow to a trillion dollars in 2040. By that point, Bettencourt Myers will be 87 years old.
One of the lesser-known contenders on this list, 41-year-old Zhang Yiming is the co-founder of TikTok parent ByteDance. The Chinese billionaire, who owns around a fifth of ByteDance and has various other interests, is worth $43.3 billion (£33.1bn). His wealth has increased by an average of 29.33% since 2017.
If his fortune continues to grow at this rate, Zhang will attain trillionaire status in 2037. But should the US government succeed in banning TikTok, ByteDance's valuation will likely tank, hindering Zhang's path to trillionairedom.
Sergey Brin founded Google in 1998 along with his fellow Stanford University graduate Larry Page. The search engine whizz now owns 5% of Google's parent company Alphabet, hence his enormous wealth, which stands at $110 billion (£84.2bn).
Brin's fortune has grown by an average of 21.37% annually over the past six years, and if this growth continues, he'll reach trillionaire status in 2036. By then, Brin will be a relatively youthful 63.
Larry Page owns 6% of Alphabet (compared to Brin's 5%) and is $4 billion (£3.1bn) richer than his Google co-founder, with a net worth of $114 billion (£87.2bn) in 2024.
Page's typical annual wealth growth rate is slightly higher than Brin's at 21.57%. However, it's predicted he'll also become a trillionaire in 2036 at the age of 63, albeit a few months sooner than Brin. That's if his current rate of wealth growth remains unchanged.
As we've mentioned, Jeff Bezos is the first person in the 21st century to amass a fortune of $100 billion (£76.5bn) and became the first in history to achieve a net worth of $200 billion ($152bn) in 2021.
The Amazon founder, who owns 8.8% of the e-commerce and cloud computing titan, has since seen his wealth fall back; he's worth $194 billion (£14bn) in 2024. It's unlikely he'll be the first to achieve a trillion-dollar net worth, as a slew of other billionaires have seen their fortunes grow much faster. If his average annual wealth growth rate of 15.27% remains unchanged, Bezos will reach the milestone in 2036 when he'll be 72 years old.
Larry Ellison owns 60% of Oracle, the software colossus he co-founded in 1977. Ellison is also sitting on 15 million Tesla shares and counts a variety of jaw-dropping assets, including an entire Hawaiian island, among his portfolio.
Worth $141 billion (£108bn) in 2024, Ellison's wealth has been growing at an average rate of 19.74% since 2017. Based on this, he'll become a trillionaire in 2035, the year he turns 91.
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer owns 4% of the tech giant, considerably more than its founder Bill Gates, who has a 1.4% stake. Asset-wise, Ballmer's biggest concern is the Los Angeles Clipper NBA team, which he bought for $2 billion (£1.5bn) in 2014. Forbes now values the team at $4.65 billion (£3.6bn). His net worth in 2024 stands at $121 billion (£92.6bn).
If Ballmer's fortune continues growing at an average annual rate of 25.76%, as it has done over the past six years, he'll be a trillionaire in 2034, just in time for his 78th birthday.
Michael Dell founded his eponymous computer company in 1983 when he was a student at the University of Texas at Austin. The lion's share of Dell's $91 billion (£69.7bn) net worth derives from his 50% stake in the company, which turned over $102 billion (£78.4bn) in the 2023 fiscal year.
Dell's fortune has been expanding at an annual rate of 30.89% since 2017. If this growth continues unabated, he'll join the 13-figure club in 2033, when he'll be 68 years old.
Currently Asia's richest person with a net worth of $116 billion (£88.9bn), Mukesh Ambani has a 42% stake in Reliance Industries, a monster Indian conglomerate with interests in everything from oil to retail and media.
Ambani recently bankrolled his son Anant's lavish star-studded nuptials to heiress Radhika Merchant, which reportedly set him back $600 million (£459.6m), making it the most expensive wedding of all time. The final bill was a drop in the ocean, of course, and with Ambani's wealth growing at an average of 28.25% annually, he's set to become a trillionaire in 2033 when he'll be 73 years old.
Together with his family, Nike co-founder Phil Knight owns a huge chunk of the world's number-one sportswear company, which he and his former track coach Bill Bowerman founded in 1964 with just a thousand dollars.
Fast-forward to 2024, and Knight is worth a cool $40.9 billion (£31.3bn). Based on his average annual wealth growth rate over the past six years, the sportswear magnate could attain trillionaire status as soon as 2030. By that time, Knight will be 92.
Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg holds a 13% stake in the social media network's parent company Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp. His gigantic net worth stands at $177 billion (£136bn) in 2024.
If Zuckerberg's average annual wealth growth rate of 35.76% remains unchanged, he'll be a trillionaire in 2030 at the age of 46, which would make him the youngest person to achieve the spectacular milestone.
Along with his family, Bernard Arnault has a 48.6% stake in LVMH, the luxury goods juggernaut that owns scores of distinguished high-end brands from Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior to Moët & Chandon and Tiffany & Co.
Based on an average annual wealth growth rate of 29.33%, Arnault and his family are on course to join the 13-figure club in 2030 when the patriarch will be 81.
Arguably the least famous billionaire among the contenders, 80-year-old Prajogo Pangestu is the founder and chairman of Barito Pacific, Indonesia's leading petrochemical company. His net worth is $43.4 billion (£33.3bn) as of 2024.
Pangestu's wealth has skyrocketed over the past six years, and he boasts the highest average annual growth rate of anyone on this list at 135.95%. If the momentum continues, Pangestu will be a trillionaire as soon as 2028.
Jensen Huang co-founded chipmaker Nvidia in 1993 and owns a 3% stake in the firm. Buoyed by the AI boom, the tech company saw its stock surge in 2023. The 61-year-old's net worth has soared in tandem, coming in at $77 billion (£59bn) in 2024.
Huang's wealth has grown by an average of 111.88% annually over the past six years. If this robust growth continues, he'll join the trillionaire club in 2028. However, Nvidia stock has been dipping of late amid concerns over slowing sales growth, the sluggish global economy, and a potential antitrust probe, which could jeopardise Huang's chances of becoming a trillionaire in just four years' time.
Mukesh Ambani may be Asia's richest person at present but runner-up Gautam Adani is on track to pip him to the post and become a trillionaire as early as 2028, along with Pangestu and Huang.
The 62-year-old Indian tycoon owns 75% of Adani Entreprises, the lynchpin in the Adani Group, which has interests in energy, infrastructure, and more. Its phenomenal growth has translated to an enormous windfall for Adani, whose wealth has increased by an average of 122.86% over the past six years, reaching $84 billion (£64.3bn) in 2024.
Elon Musk may have lost $200 billion (£152bn) at the end of 2022 but the Tesla, X, and SpaceX boss has seen his wealth jump by an average of 109.88% annually over the past six years. Based on this figure, Informa Connect Academy expects the controversial 53-year-old tycoon, who's worth $195 billion (£149.3bn) in 2024, to become the world's first trillionaire in 2027.
Still, it's important to remember that this is just a projection based on past performance. The future is uncertain, and a downturn in the stock market or a decline in Musk's companies could impact his chances of reaching the milestone first. And considering how erratic the entrepreneur's behaviour has been in the past, nothing is impossible...
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