Who is The Richest Person In The World

A dollar millionaire used to be a very rich person. Today a net worth of a million dollars is commonplace. Even here in the UK a net worth of a million pounds is not uncommon, mainly beause of property values.

A million aint what it used to be.

Today's truly rich people don't worry too much about the odd million. They count their wealth in billions of dollars.

A list of the wealthiest people in the world is a list of billionaires. There are well over 900 of them.

The richest men and women in the world are valued at billions of dollars, yet little of this is "real" money in the bank. Few people could summon up a billion dollars in cash - even trying to do so would probably cause the economy to collapse.

Most of the richest people have their money tied up in long term (non-liquid) investments, or in stocks and shares that are subject to market fluctuations.

A change in share price can mean that a very rich person "gains" or "loses" millions in one day. That's not "real" money changing hands, it's simply a change in valuation of their property.

So the valuations placed on people in the rich list should be taken with at least a gain of salt. There's little point comparing the exact worth of billionaires. Let's just say they're rich enough.

Wealth today is becoming increasingly virtual. Our bank accounts are just numbers in a computer, most people use credit cards more than cash. Cash itself has become a concept since the abandoning of the gold standard. There's even a move to complete virtual economies with people buying and selling Second Life Linden Dollars, World of Warcraft WoW gold, etc.

It's probably more efficient this way but it lacks style.

If, like me, you long for the days when being rich meant having a chest full of gold and diamonds, check out the treasure pages on Treasurology