Ruben Vardanyan Included in Forbes List of World's Richest People

Forbes USA has released its 38th annual global ranking of dollar billionaires, which includes Armenian business figures. Argentine-Armenian businessman Eduardo Eurnekian is ranked 1104th with a fortune of $3 billion. Russian-based businessmen Samvel Karapetyan and Albert Avdolyan share the 1143rd position, each with an estimated wealth of $2.9 billion.

Reality show star Kim Kardashian is ranked 1851st with a fortune of $1.7 billion. Ruben Vardanyan, the former State Minister of the self-declared Republic of Artsakh, who has been illegally detained and is currently held in Baku, ranks 2545th with a net worth of $1.1 billion.

As for the top of the ranking, for the second consecutive year, Bernard Arnault, the chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, tops the list of the world's richest billionaires. Over the past year, he has increased his wealth by $22 billion, bringing his total fortune to $233 billion.

Elon Musk, head of Tesla and SpaceX, and Jeff Bezos, head of Amazon, hold the second and third positions, respectively, just as they did a year ago. The return of Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg to the top ten was unexpected; he earned over $100 billion in the past year, placing him 4th (up from 16th last year).

According to Forbes' ranking, the combined wealth of the world's 20 richest individuals is estimated at $2.48 trillion. This year's top 20 includes only one woman, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, Vice Chair of the L'Oréal cosmetic empire. Her net worth has slightly increased to $99.5 billion, securing her title as the richest woman on the planet.

The following is the top 20 of Forbes USA's billionaire ranking:

1. Bernard Arnault ($233 billion), Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, France
2. Elon Musk ($195 billion), Tesla, SpaceX, USA
3. Jeff Bezos ($194 billion), Amazon, USA
4. Mark Zuckerberg ($177 billion), Meta, USA
5. Larry Ellison ($141 billion), Oracle, USA
6. Warren Buffett ($133 billion), Berkshire Hathaway, USA
7. Bill Gates ($128 billion), Microsoft, USA
8. Steve Ballmer ($121 billion), Microsoft, USA
9. Mukesh Ambani ($116 billion), Investments, India
10. Larry Page ($114 billion), Google, USA
11. Sergey Brin ($110 billion), Google, USA
12. Michael Bloomberg ($106 billion), Bloomberg LP, USA
13. Amancio Ortega ($103 billion), Zara, Spain
14. Carlos Slim Helú ($102 billion), Telecommunications, Mexico
15. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers ($99.5 billion), L'Oréal, France
16. Michael Dell ($91 billion), Dell, USA
17. Gautam Adani ($84 billion), Adani Group, Infrastructure and Raw Materials, India
18. Jim Walton ($78.4 billion), Walmart, USA
19. Rob Walton ($77.4 billion), Walmart, USA
20. Jensen Huang ($77 billion), Semiconductors, USA