We compared the combined net worth of America and Africa's 9 richest people

david nganga

October 19, 2017 1:23 PM

The difference in the combined net worths is quite striking.

Forbes magazine earlier this week released its 36th annual list of the 400 Richest Americans, having a record-breaking, combined total net worth of $2.7 trillion, up from $2.4 trillion in 2016.

Taking top spot for the 24 consecutive year was Microsoft Founder Bill Gates with a net worth of $89 billion this year.

No individual on the list of the 400 Richest Americans had a net worth of less than $2 billion. This was an increase from the $1.7 billion necessary to make the cut for the 2016 list and a record threshold.

In that regard, Business Insider SSA sought to compare the net worth of the top richest Americans and Africans in 2017 as listed by Forbes.

While Africa's richest person is SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, with a net worth of $20.8 billion, the combined net worths of the two quarters tells a different tale.

America's top 9 list of wealthy folks includes Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, Charles Koch, David Koch, Michael Bloomberg and Larry Page whose total net worth is $566.9 billion.

On the other hand, Africa's top 9 richest individuals consists of Elon Musk, Aliko Dangote, Nicky Openheier, Mike Adenuga, Johann Rupert, Christoffell Wiese, Nasseff Sawiris, Naguib Sawiris and Isabel Dos Santos with a combined net worth of $68.9 billion.

The difference in net worths is quite striking with that of America being eight times more than that of Africa's top 9 richest people.

david nganga

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