#10 Ma Huateng Net worth: $17.6 billion Country: China Industry: Technology Source of wealth: Tencent Holdings Ma Huateng is a Chinese Internet entrepreneur. Nicknamed “Pony”, Ma is the founder, president, chief executive officer, and executive board member of Tencent Holdings, Ltd., one of the biggest telecommunications companies in China. Pony earned his B.S. in software engineering in 1993, and, in 1998, Tencent with four friends. . One year later, the company launched Tencent QQ, an instant messaging service, which became very popular in China and put Pony on the road to his great wealth. Tencent soon became the largest instant communication service network in China. Along with its expansion, Tencent added more employees and eventually Ma was named chief executive officer, executive board member, and chairman of the board. Tencent grew in popularity with the introduction of such popular online multi-player games as, “League of Legends”. Billed as “the Chinese AOL”, Tencent now encompasses web portals, e-commerce, and multiple social networks as well. #9 Michael Dell Net worth: $20 billion Country: US Industry: Technology Source of wealth: Self-made; Dell Michael Dell was studying to be a doctor at the University of Texas in 1984 when he started a company called PC Ltd. building computers. He dropped out of college to pursue building computers full time. That company later became Dell. By the time he was 23-years-old, Dell went public and Michael Dell was personally worth $18 billion. #8. Jack Ma Net worth: $22 billion Country: China Industry: Technology Source of wealth: Self-made; Alibaba #7 Steve Ballmer Net worth: $24 billion Country: US Industry: Tech Source of wealth: Self-made; Microsoft Steve Ballmer dropped out of Stanford’s MBA program in 1980 to join his old Harvard friend Bill Gates at Microsoft. He was the company’s first business manager and drew a $50,000 salary. He also got a large stake in the company. Ballmer was eventually made CEO of Microsoft. In 2014, Ballmer paid $2 billion to acquire the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers. #6 Sergey Brin Net worth: $37 billion Country: US Industry: Technology Source of wealth: Self-made; Google Sergey Brin and co-founded Google with Larry Page in 1998, after meeting at Stanford a few years earlier. Today, Brin oversees Google’s parent company Alphabet as its president. He is working on a way to provide WiFi to rural communities using high altitude balloons. #5 Larry Page Net worth: $38 billion Country: US Industry: Technology Source of wealth: Self-made; Google Larry Page is the slightly wealthier Google founder. These days, Page is CEO of Google’s parent company Alphabet. It was Page who came up with the algorithm at the heart of Google’s search engine, which compiles results in a specific ranking. Page also led Google’s acquisition of Android. #4 Larry Ellison Net worth: $40 billion Country: US Industry: Tech Source of wealth: Self-made; Oracle Larry Ellison is the founder and CEO Oracle, one of the largest software companies in the world. He is so wealthy that he owns Lanai—one of the Hawaiian Islands. Ellison lives in a $200 million house on 45 acres in Silicon Valley. The mansion is modeled after a 16th century Japanese estate. #3 Mark Zuckerberg Net worth: $50 billion Country: US Industry: Technology Source of wealth: Self-made; Facebook Mark Zuckerberg famously developed Facebook while he was a student at Harvard. He subsequently dropped out and moved to Palo Alto to concentrate on Facebook. He and his wife Pricilla Chan have joined The Giving Pledge and vowed to give away 99% of their wealth during their lifetimes. #2 Jeff Bezos Net worth: $65.1 billion Country: US Industry: Tech #1 Bill Gates Net worth: $90 billion Country: US Industry: Tech Source of wealth: Self-made; Microsoft Bill Gates isn’t just the wealthiest tech billionaire; he is the richest man on the planet. Gates has been a billionaire since Microsoft went public when he was 30. He is the co-founder of the software giant and one of the architects of The Giving Pledge. These days, he is a member of Microsoft’s board and focuses his time on his philanthropic work. He has been vocal about his desire to not leave his children much of his fortune so that they are forced to make their own way in the world rather than live off his billions.
