It’s been a tumultuous 2022 for the wealthiest people on the planet, with the top 10 richest on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index ending the year with heavy losses totalling a combined $359.15 billion, dragged down by global economic uncertainty.
Globally, the world’s billionaires lost nearly $2 trillion combined in 2022, according to Forbes magazine.
Economic uncertainty — compounded by the Russia-Ukraine war, high inflation and rising interest rates — has increased volatility in global financial markets, which fell into bear territory earlier this year after a 13-year bull run.
The biggest individual loser was Tesla co-founder and new Twitter owner Elon Musk, who shed a whopping $138 billion from his net worth in 2022 — almost equivalent to the gross domestic product of Hungary — and lost his title as the world’s richest person for the first time in 14 months.
Now ranked the world’s second-wealthiest person, Mr Musk, 51, lost the top spot to Bernard Arnault, chairman of French luxury group LVMH, on December 12.
Watch: Who is Bernard Arnault, the man who replaced Elon Musk as the world’s richest person?
Mr Arnault has a net worth of $162 billion despite losing $16.4 billion this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Mr Musk is now worth $132 billion, down from $273.5 billion a year ago and a far cry from the peak of his wealth, which hit a high of $320 billion in November 2021, Forbes reported.
The majority of Mr Musk’s fortune is tied to Tesla stock, which has lost more than half of its value since January 3, when it was trading at $399.93.
On Wednesday, Tesla shares were worth $109.10, down 69 per cent year to date, as shareholder concerns deepened over Mr Musk’s distraction with Twitter, which he bought in October for $44 billion, and a fall in demand for electric vehicles.
Perhaps the brightest spot in the top 10 world’s richest list was the rapid rise in personal wealth for India’s self-made billionaire Gautam Adani, who added $42.2 billion to his net worth in 2022.
Mr Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, started climbing the ranks of the world’s richest in April this year, when shares in his listed companies skyrocketed.
He is now the world’s third-richest person, with a net worth of $119 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Over the past two decades, the Adani Group has diversified into ports, power generation and distribution, airports, data centres and digital services.
“Today, he is one of the 100 most influential businessmen worldwide, both in the shipping trade and infrastructure industry,” said Celebrity Net Worth, which tracks the wealth and finances of the rich and famous.
In February, Mr Adani was crowned the wealthiest person in Asia, with a net worth of $88.5 billion, and ranked as the 10th-richest person in the world at the time, Bloomberg reported.
Mr Adani, a first-generation entrepreneur who started out as a diamond trader in Mumbai in the 1980s, helped run his brother’s plastics business in his home state of Gujarat before setting up Adani Enterprises — the group’s flagship company — as an agri-commodities trader in 1988.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates — who held the world’s richest title from 1995 to 2017, according to Forbes — is ranked the fourth-richest person with a net worth of $109 billion.
So far this year, Mr Gates has shed $28.6 billion from his personal fortune but last week said that he expected to drop out of the world’s richest list at some time in the near future.
“I turned 67 in October. It's hard to believe I'm that old — in America, most people my age are retired!” Mr Gates said in his end-of-year blog post on December 20.
“But I won’t be slowing down anytime soon. I’m still going full speed on the project I began more than two decades ago, which is to give the vast majority of my resources back to society.
“Although I don’t care where I rank on the list of the world’s richest people, I do know that as I succeed in giving, I will drop down and eventually off the list altogether.”
In July, Mr Gates said he would give most of his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which he set up with his ex-wife in 2000.
He also said the foundation would increase its annual endowment payout to $9 billion annually by 2026, up from $6 billion currently.
“To help make this spending increase possible, I am transferring $20 billion to the foundation’s endowment this month,” Mr Gates said at the time. This explains the majority of the decrease in his net worth.
Bill Gates at NYU in Abu Dhabi — in pictures
Meanwhile, renowned investor Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, ended 2022 as the world’s fifth-richest person with a net worth of $106 billion, despite giving more than $4 billion to charity this year.
Like Mr Gates, Mr Buffett, 92, has also pledged to give away the majority of his fortune and was a trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation until 2021, when he stepped down from the role.
Since 2006, Mr Buffett has contributed more than $36 billion of his personal fortune to the foundation. In June this year, Mr Buffett gave the foundation $3.1 billion in Berkshire Hathaway B shares.
The past year has also been difficult for Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, who started 2022 as the world’s second-richest person with a net worth of $194.2 billion.
However, Mr Bezos, who was ranked the world’s richest person in 2017 but lost the crown to Mr Musk in September 2021, has dropped back to sixth place after losing $87.6 billion, or 45.5 per cent, of his personal fortune this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
His current net worth is $105 billion, driven down by the value of Amazon stock, which has fallen from $170.40 on January 3 to trade at $83.05 on Wednesday, a drop of 51.27 per cent year to date.
Amazon’s decreased stock value comes amid a slowdown in sales for the world’s biggest e-commerce retailer as high global inflation continues to weigh on consumers.
Watch: Jeff Bezos thanks Amazon staff and customers after trip to space
Larry Ellison, co-founder of computer technology company Oracle, who dropped out of the exclusive $100 billion club earlier this year, is now ranked the world’s seventh-richest person, with a net worth of $90.1 billion.
His fortune is down from $108.1 billion a year ago, when he was the world’s 10th-richest person.
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has edged up one place to become the world's eighth-richest person with a fortune of $86.9 billion. So far this year, he has lost $3.1 billion from his net worth, according to Bloomberg data.
Steve Ballmer, former chief executive of Microsoft and owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, has also fallen out of the centibillionaires’ club and is now the world’s ninth-wealthiest person, with a fortune of $84.1 billion, down from $120.7 billion a year ago.
Rounding out the top 10 is Google co-founder Larry Page, who has a net worth of $81.2 billion. A year ago, Mr Page was worth $129.5 billion and was the world’s fifth-richest person.
The most notable fall out of the world’s top 10 richest list is Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook.
With a current net worth of $44 billion, Mr Zuckerberg is now the world’s 25th-richest person — down from a high of number three in 2021.
Facebook changed its name to Meta in October 2021 and since the beginning of the year, its share price has plunged 68 per cent, dragged down by a 52 per cent annual drop in third-quarter net profit, which marked the social media company's second consecutive quarterly revenue decline.
However, he’s not the only billionaire to experience a diminishing personal fortune.
After ending 2021 with a net worth of $6.8 billion, Ye — the rapper formerly known as Kanye West — has seen his fortune plummet to about $400 million this year.
Ye dropped out of the billionaires’ club in October, when a number of business partners, including adidas, ended business deals with the singer after he made anti-Semitic remarks earlier this year.
But 2022’s biggest fall from grace would have to be that of Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced co-founder and former chief executive of collapsed cryptocurrency trading platform FTX.
Mr Bankman-Fried, 30, lost his $16 billion fortune overnight, in what has been described as the biggest one-day loss on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after FTX filed for bankruptcy in November.
He was arrested in the Bahamas on December 12 after federal prosecutors in the US charged him with eight criminal counts, including conspiracy and wire fraud, for allegedly misusing billions of dollars in customer funds before the $9 billion collapse of FTX and Alameda Research, his cryptocurrency trading company.
He is currently under house arrest at his parents’ home in California after a US court granted him bail of $250 million.
If convicted, he faces up to 115 years in prison, legal experts said — and it is unlikely he will ever feature on the world's rich lists again.
The world’s top 10 richest people in 2022
1. Bernard Arnault — $162 billion
2. Elon Musk — $132 billion
3. Gautam Adani — $119 billion
4. Bill Gates — $109 billion
5. Warren Buffett — $106 billion
6. Jeff Bezos — $105 billion
7. Larry Ellison — $90.1 billion
8. Mukesh Ambani — $86.9 billion
9. Steve Ballmer — $84.1 billion
10. Larry Page — $81.2 billion
The specs
Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder
Transmission: 7-speed auto
0-100kmh 2.3 seconds
0-200kmh 5.5 seconds
0-300kmh 11.6 seconds
Power: 1500hp
Torque: 1600Nm
Price: Dh13,400,000
On sale: now
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
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Expert advice
“Join in with a group like Cycle Safe Dubai or TrainYAS, where you’ll meet like-minded people and always have support on hand.”
Stewart Howison, co-founder of Cycle Safe Dubai and owner of Revolution Cycles
“When you sweat a lot, you lose a lot of salt and other electrolytes from your body. If your electrolytes drop enough, you will be at risk of cramping. To prevent salt deficiency, simply add an electrolyte mix to your water.”
Cornelia Gloor, head of RAK Hospital’s Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Centre
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can ride as fast or as far during the summer as you do in cooler weather. The heat will make you expend more energy to maintain a speed that might normally be comfortable, so pace yourself when riding during the hotter parts of the day.”
Chandrashekar Nandi, physiotherapist at Burjeel Hospital in Dubai
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Everton 1 Stoke City 0
Everton (Rooney 45 1')
Man of the Match Phil Jagielka (Everton)
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
Most F1 world titles
7 — Michael Schumacher (1994, ’95, 2000, ’01 ’02, ’03, ’04)
7 — Lewis Hamilton (2008, ’14,’15, ’17, ’18, ’19, ’20)
5 — Juan Manuel Fangio (1951, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57)
4 — Alain Prost (1985, ’86, ’89, ’93)
4 — Sebastian Vettel (2010, ’11, ’12, ’13)
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance: the specs
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 plus rear-mounted electric motor
Power: 843hp at N/A rpm
Torque: 1470Nm N/A rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.6L/100km
On sale: October to December
Price: From Dh875,000 (estimate)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Married Malala
Malala Yousafzai is enjoying married life, her father said.
The 24-year-old married Pakistan cricket executive Asser Malik last year in a small ceremony in the UK.
Ziauddin Yousafzai told The National his daughter was ‘very happy’ with her husband.
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
The biog
Born: Kuwait in 1986
Family: She is the youngest of seven siblings
Time in the UAE: 10 years
Hobbies: audiobooks and fitness: she works out every day, enjoying kickboxing and basketball
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
MATCH INFO
What: Brazil v South Korea
When: Tonight, 5.30pm
Where: Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae
What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Cricket World Cup League 2 Fixtures
Saturday March 5, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy (all matches start at 9.30am)
Sunday March 6, Oman v Namibia, ICC Academy
Tuesday March 8, UAE v Namibia, ICC Academy
Wednesday March 9, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy
Friday March 11, Oman v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Saturday March 12, UAE v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri, Muhammad Waseem, CP Rizwan, Vriitya Aravind, Asif Khan, Basil Hameed, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Karthik Meiyappan, Akif Raja, Rahul Bhatia
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
