World's richest people named on list with a combined wealth of more than $16 trillion

The world's richest individuals have a combined wealth that goes beyond the whopping amount of $16 trillion (£12.3 trillion) as they own some of the most valuable assets in the world.

If there was ever anyone you wanted to write you into their will it's this bunch, and frankly it is a stupendous amount of wealth to be concentrated in the hands of so few people.

Forbes have been compiling their list of billionaires for years, with the entrants shifting up and down depending upon fluctuations in their net worth.

Since they started doing it the number of recorded billionaires in the world has grown from 140 back in 1987 to over 3,000.

We'd be here all day if we tried telling you everybody on that list, but there's plenty of names you'll recognise among the top values.

It's all gone a bit weird, really (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Of course it was going to be Elon Musk at the top of the list, with a net work of $342 billion.

The Tesla, X, SpaceX and xAI boss (he really likes companies called 'X' for some reason) has his fingers in many pies.

These days that includes the US government, though his involvement with Donald Trump's White House has resulted in some people deciding to boycott brands Musk is associated with.

He also recently sold X (formerly Twitter) to himself in a deal worth $45 billion.

Some way off in second place with a net worth of $216 billion is Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who has steadily grown his empire over the years, acquiring a number of other sites you and I likely use every day.

For some reason, he recently decided that the best birthday gift he could give his wife was the sight of himself performing on stage in a tight blue jumpsuit.

Rich people, man.

The world's three richest people are all in this photo (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Rounding out the top three is Jeff Bezos, the man behind Amazon who remains as wealthy as he is bald, and he recently added the James Bond franchise to the valuable assets under his control.

He doesn't know who he'd cast in the leading role, though.

Bezos has a net worth of $215 billion so he squeaks in just behind Zuckerberg on this list, but the trio are some way above the other entries.

Only compared to those three could a net worth of $192 billion, which is what Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has, look paltry, while fifth on the list is Bernard Arnault who is worth $178 billion.

If you wanted to find Bill Gates on there, you'd have to go beyond the top 10 and look at unlucky number 13, he's there with a net worth of $108 billion.