35 Turks among world’s billionaires at start of 2025, richest unchanged: Forbes

For the first time in its history, the number of individuals featured on Forbes’ Billionaires List surpassed 3,000 in 2025, with the collective wealth of the world’s richest reaching $16.1 trillion.

In 2025, 35 Turkish business figures made it onto the list.

Türkiye’s richest individual remained unchanged: Murat Ulker, with a net worth of $5.5 billion, ranked 639th globally.

Ulker was followed by Cemil Kazanci, Chairman of Kazanci Holding, with a fortune of $4.3 billion; Ipek Kirac, Board Member of Koc Holding, with $3.2 billion; Semahat Arsel, also a Koc Holding board member, with $3.1 billion; and Erman Ilicak, Chairman of Ronesans Holding, also with $3.1 billion.

The combined wealth of the Turkish billionaires on the list was estimated at approximately $65.05 billion.

Among them, four Turkish entrepreneurs earned their fortunes through companies based abroad. These include Prof. Dr. Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of Germany-based biotech firm BioNTech; Eren Ozmen and Fatih Ozmen, president and CEO of U.S.-based aerospace company Sierra Nevada Corporation; and Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO of U.S.-Turkish yogurt brand Chobani.

Elon Musk tops the list

The number of billionaires rose by 247 in 2025 compared to the previous year, reaching 3,028 globally, while their collective net worth increased by $2 trillion year-on-year.

Topping the list once again was American entrepreneur Elon Musk, founder of Tesla, SpaceX, X, and xAI, with a net worth of $342 billion—maintaining his position as the world’s richest person.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg followed in second place with $216 billion, while Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ranked third with $215 billion.

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison came in fourth with $192 billion, and Bernard Arnault, CEO of luxury conglomerate LVMH, rounded out the top five with $178 billion.

Trump doubles net worth after election victory

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who reclaimed the presidency for a second term, saw his net worth more than double following his election win—rising from $2.3 billion to $5.1 billion.

The United States remains the country with the highest number of billionaires, boasting 902 individuals on the list. It is followed by China with 516 billionaires and India with 205.

Female billionaires numbered 406 this year, representing 13.4% of the total. The world’s wealthiest woman was Alice Walton, heir to the Walmart fortune, with a net worth of $101 billion.

The average age of billionaires was 66. The oldest was 103-year-old American insurance magnate George Joseph.

Meanwhile, the youngest billionaire was 19-year-old Johannes von Baumbach, heir to German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim.