For the recent past we have been on the brink of a technological revolution. Some extremists go as far as saying that ‘one day machines will take over humans in terms of jobs and decisions’; while many liberals state that ‘humans would not have to work and can focus on self-development if they teach their machines to efficiently replace them from labour intensive jobs’. While we are at the crossroads of clashes in mindsets and opinions about progress, many whiz-kids and enterprising individuals are capitalizing on the markets by introducing constant innovation to technology.
So here we wanted to shed some light on the most productive individuals in context who have introduced disruptive ideas and concepts to the markets. Some innovations were marketed in such a fashion that many consumers cannot imagine life without them anymore. How many people do you know who can spend a day without checking their Facebook or logging into their Windows or ‘Googling’ something?
No more hints now; here are the top 25 of the richest personalities in the ‘Tech’ industry along with their net worth and the source of their fortunes.
Bill Gates
Net Worth: $81.6 Bn
Age: 59
Profile: America’s richest man, Bill Gates is an American business magnate, philanthropist, investor, computer programmer, and inventor. He is the former CEO & chairman of Microsoft.
Source: Microsoft
Country of Citizenship: US
Larry Ellison
Net Worth: $49.4 Bn
Age: 70
Profile: Lawrence Joseph “Larry”, is an American businessman and the co-founder and chairman of Oracle Corporation.
Source: Oracle
Country of Citizenship: US
Mark Zuckerberg
Net Worth: $32.6 Bn
Age: 30
Profile: Mark Zuckerberg founded facebook in 2004 & is the 2nd youngest self-made billionaire. (2012)
Source: Facebook
Country of Citizenship: US
Larry Page
Net Worth: $30.7 Bn
Age: 41
Profile: “Larry” Page, co-founded Google in 1998 with Brin. He is an American business magnate and computer scientist. The Google cofounder’s fortune has risen $6.6 billion over the past year.
Source: Google
Country: US
Sergey Brin
Net Worth: $30.1 Bn
Age: 41
Profile: Sergey Mikhaylovich Brin, co-founded Google with Page in 1998. Google is one of the most profitable Internet companies and an icon of this decade.
Source: Google
Country: US
Jeff Bezos
Net Worth: $28.4 Bn
Age: 50
Profile: Jeffrey Preston “Jeff” Bezos, played a key role in the growth of ecommerce as the founder and CEO of internet giant Amazon.com.
Source: Amazon.com
Country: US
Steve Ballmer
Net Worth: $22.7 Bn
Age: 58
Profile: Steven Anthony “Steve” Ballmer (born March 24, 1956) is an American businessman, he was the CEO of Microsoft from January 2000 to February 2014
Source: Microsoft
Country: US
Jack Ma
Net Worth: $21.9 Bn
Age: 50
Profile: Jack Ma, is a Chinese entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group.
Source: ecommerce
Country: China
Michael Dell
Net Worth: $21.4 Bn
Age: 49
Profile: Dell
Source: Michael Saul Dell, is the founder & CEO of Dell Inc.
Country: US
Laurence Powell Jobs & Family
Net Worth: $17.2 Bn
Age: 50
Profile: Laurence is the founder and chair of the Emerson Collective, an organization that focuses on using entrepreneurship.
Source: Apple, Disney
Country: US
Robin Li
Net Worth: $17.1 Bn
Age: 45
Profile: Robin Li, the Chairman and CEO, Baidu Inc. Board of Directors, Education & Technology Group Inc. He is ranked as the second richest man in mainland China.
Source: Internet search
Country: China
Paul Allen
Net Worth: $17.1 Bn
Age: 61
Profile: Paul Gardner Allen, best known as the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, with Bill Gates in 1975.
Source: Microsoft Investments
Country: US
Charles Ergen
Net Worth: $16.6 Bn
Age: 61
Profile: Charles William Ergen better known as Charlie Ergen, is a Businessman & Co-founder of satellite dish provider Dish Network
Source: Dish Network
Country: US
Azim Premji
Net Worth: $16 Bn
Age: 69
Profile: Azim Premji is an Indian business tycoon and philanthropist who is the chairman of Wipro Limited.
Source: Software
Country: India
Ma Huateng
Net Worth: $15.3 Bn
Age: 43
Profile: Ma Huateng is a Chinese entrepreneur who founded Tencent Inc., one of the largest internet companies in China.
Source: Internet Media
Country: China
Shiv Nadar
Net Worth: $12 Bn
Age: 69
Profile: Shiv Nadar is an Indian industrialist and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of HCL and the Shiv Nadar Foundation.
Source: Information technology
Country: India
Eric Schmidt
Net Worth: $9.2 Bn
Age: 59
Profile: Eric Emerson Schmidt is the Executive Chairman of Google.
Source: Google
Country: US
Lei Jun
Net Worth: $9 Bn
Age: 44
Profile: Lei Jun is the Founder, Chairman & CEO of Xiaomi Tech, Executive Director of Kingsoft, Chairman of UCweb Inc, Founder of Amazon China, Chairman of YY.com & Chairman of Great Wall Club.
Source: Smartphones
Country: China
Xavier Niel
Net Worth: $7.9 Bn
Age: 47
Profile: He started his first venture, WorldNet in 1993 at age 25, and exited seven years later with more than $50 Mn. Free Mobile, which Niel launched in 2012, sells unlimited calls, texts and Internet for 19.99 euros ($27.50) a month.
Source: Inter Telecom
Country: France
Pierre Omidyar
Net Worth: $7.7 Bn
Age: 47
Profile: Pierre Morad Omidyar is the Founder & Chairman of eBay Inc.
Source: Ebay
Country: US
Dustin Moskovitz
Net Worth: $7.7 Bn
Age: 30
Profile: Dustin Moskovitz is the facebook’s third employee.He left the social network in 2008 to start software firm Asana.
Source: Facebook
Country: US
James Goodnight
Net Worth: $7.7 Bn
Age: 71
Profile: James Morris Goodnight, created SAS in 1976. Since then he has been the CEO for more than three decades.
Source: Software
Country: US
David Duffield
Net Worth: $7.7 Bn
Age: 74
Profile: David Duffield is the co-founder and former chairman of PeopleSoft, the co-founder and co-CEO at Workday, Inc.
Source: Business software
Country: US
Hasso Plattner
Net Worth: $7.7 Bn
Age: 70
Profile: Hasso Plattner In February 2013 co founded German software giant SAP.
Source: Software
Country: Germany
Liu Qiangdong
Net Worth: $7 Bn
Age: 40
Profile: He is the Chairman and CEO of Chinese online shopping firm, JD.com
Source: ecommerce
Country: China
Jan Koum
Net Worth: $7 Bn
Age: 38
Profile: He is the CEO and co-founder with Brian Acton of WhatsApp, a mobile messaging application which was acquired by Facebook Inc. in February 2014
Source: Whatsapp
Country: US
Terry Gou
Net Worth: $6.9 Bn
Age: 64
Profile: Terry Gou is the founder and chairman of Foxconn.
Source: Electronics
Country: Taiwan
[Disclaimer: All the above information has been procured from various reliable sources and is subject to variation over time.]
