I see the list making the rounds again so I thought I should share some random highlights about the 39th annual “World’s Billionaires List 2025” which was published online on April 1, 2025.
Johannes von Baumbach, age 19, is the world’s youngest billionaire in 2025. He’s heir to Boehringer Ingelheim, a major family-owned pharmaceutical company, making his wealth entirely inherited.
His net worth is estimated at around $5.4 billion, according to Die Welt (a reliable German news outlet). Some other sources report slightly different figures like $5.6 or $5.7B, but those are approximate and may reflect real-time valuations.
Another key factor of the 2025 list is that out of 3,028 billionaires globally, 406 are women, accounting for 13.4% of the list, which is a slight increase from 369 women (13.3%) in 2024.
Making, 13.4% of the 2025 list being women Billionaires, while women remain significantly underrepresented among global billionaires, their numbers are gradually increasing, albeit incrementally. .
There are a few South Africans featured on the Forbes 2025 World’s Billionaires List, specifically when we are talking about the sub-list of African billionaires
- Christoffel Wiese : Fashion & Retail (Retail holdings)
- Jannie Mouton & family : Finance & Investments (Banking & Diversified)
- Johann Rupert & family : Fashion & Retail (Luxury goods)
- Koos Bekker : Media & Entertainment
- Michiel Le Roux : Finance & Investments (Banking)
- Nicky Oppenheimer & family : Metals & Mining (Diamonds)
- Patrice Motsepe : Metals & Mining & Diversified
With seven South African–resident billionaires making the Africa-specific Forbes 2025 list, whose industries span luxury goods, diamonds, banking, media, and retail, one can’t help but think about how everything intersects on a grand scheme of things.
Last but not least, the chaotic and erratic Elon Musk was highlighted as the world’s richest man, globally.
“After ranking as runner-up the past two years, Elon Musk reclaims the No. 1 spot on Forbes’ 2025 World’s Billionaires list, our annual ranking of the planet’s wealthiest people.
The 53-year-old businessman, who has vaulted to political prominence as one of President Donald Trump’s closest advisors, boasts a net worth of $342 billion (as of March 7, when Forbes locked in net worths for the list), making him not just the richest person in the world, but the richest person Forbes has ever tracked. – According to Forbes
