Richest people 1984–2026
$7.700B
$5.500B
$3.300B
$2.800B
$2.500B
$2.400B
$2.100B
$1.900B
$1.800B
$1.600B
$1.500B
$1.500B
$1.500B
$1.068B
$1.010BExplore more than four decades of changing fortunes, from the Japanese property boom to the rise of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. Drag the timeline, choose a year or press play to follow the top 15 people shown in our richest-people film, from July 1984 to September 2026.
Open the event cards for archival interviews, memorable business moments and unexpected humour, including a young Donald Trump on 60 Minutes, Bill Gates on Letterman, Facebook’s stock-market debut and Gates admitting that Ctrl+Alt+Delete was a mistake. Who surprised you most in the ranking?
About the data: Values show personal wealth estimates in nominal US dollars, not cash balances or inflation-adjusted purchasing power. This interactive uses the same underlying curves as the film. The original 1984–2025 history was transcribed from a reference video and has not been independently verified against a complete historical billionaire census. The selected people and source rankings may contain historical omissions or inconsistencies.
Dated publisher estimates extend the history through 13 September 2026. The extension combines 115 published values across eight snapshots; partial lists and gaps require estimates. Transitions between observations are interpolated for animation, and the continuously advancing calendar does not imply measured daily wealth. Historical observations, source records and animation estimates remain distinct in the project.
Event source links are available in each card. Some footage comes from later broadcasts or retrospective coverage; year-only dates are displayed without inventing a precise recording day. Portraits and flags follow the film’s chosen identities and country associations.
Explore more interactive histories in Visuals.
Timeline summary and key events
In Jul 1984, the leading People in this dataset were Yoshiaki Tsutsumi ($7.700B), Taikichiro Mori ($5.500B), Haru Yoshimoto ($3.300B). By Sep 2026, the leaders were Elon Musk ($929.400B), Larry Page ($277.900B), Michael Dell ($276.500B).
- — 🏙️ Before the White House. At 39, Trump tells Mike Wallace he could negotiate an arms-control deal with the Soviet Union. Source Source 2
- — 📣 “Just 99 dollars!” Ballmer pitches Windows 1.0 in an over-the-top internal Microsoft parody. Source Source 2
- — 📉 Black Monday. The Dow plunges 22.6% in a single day. Panic spreads through global markets. Source Source 2
- — 🫧 Japan’s bubble peaks. Japan’s stock market hits a record high. The crash that follows reshapes its great fortunes. Source Source 2
- — 🚁 Escobar surrenders. Escobar turns himself in and enters La Catedral prison after securing protection from extradition. Source Source 2
- — ⚖️ Reputation comes first. At a congressional hearing, Buffett draws a hard line on misconduct. Source
- — 🏅 A lifetime of building. President George H. W. Bush awards Walton the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Source
- — 🎤 “A giant sucking sound.” Perot warns that a trade deal with Mexico could send American jobs abroad. Source Source 2
- — 📺 From television to politics. Berlusconi announces his entry into politics in a televised address. He becomes Italy’s prime minister later that year. Source
- — 🕺 Windows 95 launches. Gates and Ballmer celebrate the launch of Windows 95 onstage. Source Source 2
- — 🌐 The internet meets late night. Letterman jokes about internet baseball broadcasts: “Does radio ring a bell?” Gates laughs along. Source
- — 💥 The demo has other plans. A Windows 98 demonstration crashes live. Gates turns the embarrassment into a joke. Source
- — 🫧 Peak dot-com fever. The dot-com bubble peaks. A historic technology-stock collapse follows. Source Source 2
- — 🚀 Private money reaches space. SpaceShipOne completes its prize-winning flight, backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Source Source 2
- — 🎁 Giving the fortune away. Buffett discusses his pledge to give most of his wealth to charitable foundations. Source
- — 📱 A $500 phone? Ballmer laughs at the iPhone’s price and questions its appeal to business users. Source
- — 🏦 Wall Street in crisis. Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy. The global financial crisis deepens. Source Source 2
- — 👑 A new number one. Slim overtakes Gates and Buffett in Forbes’ annual billionaire ranking. Source
- — 😅 “It was interesting.” Zuckerberg meets Jesse Eisenberg on SNL and gives his verdict on The Social Network. Source
- — 🔔 Facebook meets Wall Street. Zuckerberg rings Nasdaq’s opening bell from Facebook’s campus on its IPO day. Source
- — ⌨️ “It was a mistake.” Gates admits that requiring Ctrl+Alt+Delete to log into Windows was a mistake. Source Source 2
- — 🧊 Challenge accepted. Gates builds a contraption for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Source
- — 📞 Power of data. Ambani says Jio will give each Indian the power of data to fulfil every dream. Source Source 2
- — 💬 “Senator, we run ads.” Asked how free Facebook makes money, Zuckerberg gives a memorable answer. Source Source 2
- — 🔨 That wasn’t the plan. Cybertruck’s armored glass breaks during its live unveiling. Source Source 2
- — 🚀 “Best day ever!” Bezos flies to space aboard New Shepard, then returns to Earth. Source Source 2
- — 🚰 “Let that sink in.” Musk carries a sink into Twitter’s headquarters on the eve of his takeover. Source Source 2
- — 🧠 Meet Blackwell. Huang unveils NVIDIA’s next-generation AI platform as demand for computing surges. Source Source 2
- — 🎮 “Max difficulty on hardcore!” Musk shows off his high-level PoE2 character, but struggles with basic mechanics. Viewers accuse him of using a boosted account. Source
Sign in or create an account to comment.
1 comment