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There is no single way to become the richest person in a country. Look at the people at the top of the wealth charts across five major economies and the businesses behind them could hardly be more different.
In the US, it is Elon Musk. Forbes' 2026 list estimated his wealth at $839 billion, largely tied to Tesla and SpaceX. Musk co-founded SpaceX in 2002 and was an early investor in Tesla before becoming its CEO. Today, electric cars, rockets and AI are at the centre of his business empire.
India's Mukesh Ambani, with an estimated $99.7 billion, built his fortune around Reliance. The company began with textiles under his father Dhirubhai Ambani and expanded into petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom and retail. Jio alone now has more than 500 million subscribers, giving Reliance a presence in the everyday lives of millions of Indians.
China's Zhang Yiming took a completely different route. He co-founded ByteDance in 2012, the company behind TikTok. Forbes estimated his wealth at $69.3 billion in its 2026 ranking. What started as an internet company eventually became a global consumer platform used by people across the world.
Japan's Tadashi Yanai built his fortune through something much simpler: clothes. He took over his father's small clothing business and opened the first Uniqlo store in Hiroshima in 1984. That business eventually grew into Fast Retailing, turning Uniqlo into a global brand. Forbes estimated Yanai and his family were worth $61.8 billion.
Then there is Russia's Alexey Mordashov, whose fortune came from steel. He started his career as an economist at a Soviet steel plant and eventually became its controlling shareholder as Russia's economy moved through privatisation. His wealth was estimated at $37 billion.
Five countries, five very different businesses: rockets, energy, social media, clothing and steel.
The common thread isn't the industry. It is ownership and scale. Each built or controlled a business that grew far beyond its original market, and the value of that ownership compounded along the way.
