Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski has risen to No. 54 on Bloomberg’s ranking of the world’s richest people, putting him among the 250 wealthiest people globally as Bernard Arnault falls to 11th place and leaves the top 10 for the first time since 2017.
Bernard Arnault’s net worth plummeted by US$65 billion this year, dropping his fortune to US$143 billion. This represents the sharpest decline among all 500 billionaires tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The French chairman of luxury giant LVMH had spent more than eight years among the world’s 10 richest people.
This evolution marks a new milestone as U.S. citizens claim all top 10 spots on the index, powered overwhelmingly by fortunes tied to technology.
Gilinski leads a group of Colombians on the ranking
Gilinski’s No. 54 position makes him the highest-ranked Colombian on Bloomberg’s list. Anchored in banking and investments, his business empire extends well beyond financial services into multiple corporate sectors.
Other Colombians also appear in the ranking. Alejandro Santo Domingo ranks 135th, Nubank founder David Velez is 221st, and banker Luis Carlos Sarmiento is 250th, according to data reported in Colombia on Sept. 14.
The four fortunes reflect different paths to wealth. Santo Domingo’s holdings are tied to a diversified investment portfolio, Velez built his fortune through the digital bank Nubank, and Sarmiento accumulated his wealth through banking and infrastructure interests.
Gilinski’s rise comes after years of expansion in Colombian banking and investments. His business group has acquired or increased stakes in major Colombian companies, strengthening his position among the country’s most prominent business families.
For Colombia, the ranking provides a snapshot of how a small group of entrepreneurs and established business families continues to hold a significant presence among Latin America’s largest fortunes.
Arnault drops out as luxury demand weakens
Arnault’s fall reflects a difficult year for LVMH and the wider luxury-goods market. Bloomberg reported that the French billionaire’s fortune had fallen by about US$65 billion since the start of 2026, taking him to US$143 billion and 11th place. Warren Buffett now sits above him in 10th place.
Arnault had remained in Bloomberg’s top 10 since 2017. His decline has been driven largely by the fall in LVMH’s share price as investors reacted to weaker demand for luxury goods.
The slowdown has affected important markets for LVMH. Demand in the Persian Gulf has weakened amid the war in the Middle East, reducing business in luxury shopping centers such as Dubai. Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Tiffany are among the group’s major brands exposed to the region.
China has presented another challenge. Luxury demand there has weakened, and Louis Vuitton has faced additional pressure following a trademark dispute with Chinese tea producer Molly Tea that triggered an online backlash.
Arnault’s decline is significant beyond LVMH. He was the first person outside North America to reach the top of Bloomberg’s billionaire ranking and the only consumer-goods executive to have held the No. 1 position. He briefly became the world’s richest person in Dec. 2022 before Elon Musk regained the lead.
How Bloomberg tracks the world’s richest people
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index updates its estimates at the end of each New York trading session, making it a daily measure of how changes in stock prices, private-company valuations and other assets affect the fortunes of the world’s richest people.
Bloomberg applies valuation methods to publicly traded and privately held assets and adjusts estimates for factors including taxes and other financial considerations. The list is also shaped by specific eligibility criteria, including a policy that omits Bloomberg’s own founder, Michael Bloomberg.
That methodology makes the ranking different from annual wealth lists such as Forbes’ billionaire rankings. Instead of providing a once-a-year snapshot, Bloomberg’s index can show how quickly a billionaire’s estimated fortune changes as markets move.
The world’s 10 richest are now all American
Arnault’s exit leaves an entirely American top 10 for the first time since Bloomberg launched its billionaire index in 2012.
Elon Musk remains far ahead of the rest, with an estimated fortune of US$918.8 billion. Alphabet co-founder Larry Page ranks second, followed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Alphabet co-founder Sergey Brin and Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell.
Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett complete the top 10.
The concentration of technology fortunes is striking. Page, Brin, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Ellison, and Huang built or control businesses at the center of the technology economy, while Musk’s fortune spans Tesla, SpaceX and other ventures.
Dell’s ascent perfectly underscores how the artificial-intelligence boom is rewriting the global wealth rankings. Demand for AI infrastructure has helped drive Dell Technologies’ shares higher, lifting Michael Dell’s estimated fortune sharply during 2026.
U.S. tech and AI wealth now firmly dominate the top of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This concentration comes as global fortunes outside of tech take a hit from cooling consumer demand, market volatility, and geopolitical disruptions.
