Forbes, The American Business Magazine, annually compiles and publishes in March, The World's Billionaires, an annual ranking by documented net worth of the world's wealthiest billionaires. The first list was published in March 1987. The total net worth of each individual on the list is estimated and is cited in United States Dollars, based on their documented assets and accounting for debt. The article World's Richest People 2018 lists the top 20 wealthy persons on the planet in the year 2018.

In 2018, a record of 2,208 people were on the list. The 2018 The World's Billionaires list included 259 newcomers mostly from China and the U.S. in The World's Billionaires 2018 list there were 63 people under 40 and a record number of 256 women. The average net worth of the list came in at US$4.1 billion, up US$350 million from 2017. Added together, the total net worth for 2018's billionaires was US$9.1 trillion, up from US$7.67 trillion in 2017. Until 2017, Microsoft founder Bill Gates had topped the list 18 of the past 24 years, while Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is ranked at the top for the first time and he became the first centibillionaire included in the ranking. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook is currently the only person in the top 10 billionaires list who is under the age of 50, and the only one in the top 20 billionaires list who is under the age of 40.
World's Richest People 2018 - Top 20