There is wealthy, and then there is seriously wealthy.
At the very top end, fortunes can rise or fall by tens of billions of dollars in the space of a month as share prices and company valuations move around.
So, who sits at the top of the pile right now?
According to Forbes, these are the 10 richest people in the world as of 1 September 2026.
Image source: Getty Images
1. Elon Musk – US$892 billion
Elon Musk remains comfortably on top with an estimated fortune of US$892 billion.
His wealth is largely tied to SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA). Forbes estimates that his fortune jumped by US$202 billion during August as both companies increased in value. To put this wealth into context, Australia's largest bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), has a market capitalisation of around A$270 billion.
2. Larry Page – US$277 billion
Google co-founder Larry Page is second with US$277 billion.
Much of his wealth comes from his holding in Google parent Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL), where he remains a board member and controlling shareholder.
3. Jeff Bezos – US$268 billion
Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos sits in third place with US$268 billion.
Bezos remains Amazon's executive chairman and owns around 8% of the ecommerce and cloud computing giant.
4. Sergey Brin – US$256 billion
Fellow Google co-founder Sergey Brin is worth an estimated US$256 billion.
Like Page, his fortune is closely linked to Alphabet. Forbes notes that Brin has also become more involved with the company's artificial intelligence efforts.
5. Michael Dell – US$241 billion
Michael Dell has built a US$241 billion fortune.
He founded Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) as a teenager and remains its chairman and CEO.
6. Mark Zuckerberg – US$197 billion
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is sixth with US$197 billion.
He still owns approximately 13% of the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
7. Larry Ellison – US$193 billion
Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) co-founder Larry Ellison is worth US$193 billion according to Forbes.
His fortune increased by US$25 billion during August, helping him move back up the rankings.
8. Jensen Huang – US$191 billion
Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang has an estimated US$191 billion fortune.
His rise has been driven by Nvidia's extraordinary growth as its chips have become central to the artificial intelligence boom.
9. Steve Ballmer – US$155 billion
Former Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer is back in the top 10 with US$155 billion.
Forbes notes that Ballmer has retained a significant Microsoft shareholding since leaving the company.
10. Amancio Ortega – US$148 billion
Finally, Zara co-founder Amancio Ortega has an estimated fortune of US$148 billion.
He owns around 60% of Zara parent Inditex (BME: ITX), with his wealth also reportedly spread across a substantial global property portfolio.
