World’s Richest Tech Billionaires
There are a record 206 tech billionaires on Forbes’ 2018 list of The World’s Billionaires, 23 more than a year ago. Together they are worth an astounding $1.3 trillion, up 30% since last year. It’s been a banner year for most of these tech tycoons: 58% of them have bigger fortunes than a year ago, while only 13% experienced declines.
The two countries with the most tech billionaires were, perhaps not surprisingly, the U.S. and China, with 38% and 26% of all tech billionaires, respectively. This year marks the first time that two techies from China rose to the top 20 richest: Tencent chairman Ma Huateng(also known as Pony Ma) ranks No. 17 in the world, thanks in part to his wildly popular WeChat, while Alibaba BABA +3.31% chairman Jack Macomes in at No. 20 richest. Altogether, 8 of the 20 richest people on Earth amassed fortunes in the tech sector.
Of the 79 American tech billionaires, 55 live in California. Another seven in tech are not American citizens, but call California home.