Six Of The World's Wealthiest People You've Never Heard Of

There are over 3,000 billionaires across the planet, according to Trade Algo, who have combined wealth of nearly $4.7 trillion, which is comparable to that of about 3,000 millionaires. 50 billionaires alone are found in the United States.

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There are a lot of people on Earth who are not well known, but they are also pulling the levers of global influence, just like the tech rock stars you may know. Some of them have become self-made while others were born into aristocracy. Many of them, however, are among the wealthiest and most powerful people on the planet. The majority, however, remain relatively unknown and obscure to the average working person.

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It turns out that rich doesn't always mean rich as it is often assumed that the rich are famous. Take a look at our list of unsung billionaires and you'll learn the names of even the richest people you've never heard of.

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Francoise Bettencourt Meyers

Net worth: $87.9 billion

There are Oprah, Dolly, Queen Bey, and three Kardashians in the world, but Francoise Bettencourt Meyers might be able to give them their fortunes in her couch cushions. You might not have heard of the French heiress, even if her grandfather's company rings a bell - even though she's the richest woman in the world, she's said to be a low-key person who shies the spotlight.

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As part of Bettencourt Meyers' family, which owns 33% of L'Oreal, Bettencourt Meyers inherited the company from her father. The woman is an experienced pianist and a scholar who has published a number of books about the Bible and Greek mythology as well as a philanthropist who helped repair Notre Dame Cathedral after the fire. She has served on the corporation's board since 1997 and is the chairman of the company's family holding company, as well as a member of the corporation's family holding company.

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Gianluigi Aponte

Net worth: $31.2 billion

The sea captain Gianluigi Aponte was a Neopolitan by training, so it wasn't surprising when he entered the shipping business in the 1970s. There is a very good chance that Gianluigi Aponte helped get some of your things to your house when he and his wife started a company with only one vessel to move cargo between Europe and Africa. Today, you might own some of the things Gianluigi Aponte helped move to your house.

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In the process of building MSC into the second largest shipping conglomerate behind Maersk, he built it into the world's second largest shipping conglomerate. There are few corners of the ocean in which Gianluigi Aponte does not go fishing for cash because he founded a cruise line, an inland logistics business and a port operations company.

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Amancio Ortega

Net worth: $80.5 billion

Amancio Ortega is not the legendary consignment shop discount mogul you're used to. He owns a consignment shop, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren are only consignment shop discount moguls, not the world famous brand names you're used to.

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This is a man who earns $400 million a year solely from dividends on his company, so you may as well pay him a little respect.

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Ortega was one of the most important pioneers of the fast-fashion movement. If you shop at GAP, Forever 21 or H&M, then you owe him a huge debt of gratitude. In 1968, he founded a clothing company called Inditex and it is now a global mega-corporation that has eight brands and 7,500 stores in over 20 countries.

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His dividend income has been used to invest in real estate all over the world in cities such as New York, Madrid, London, Chicago, Miami, Barcelona, as well as many others.

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Gina Rinehart

Net worth: $27.2 billion

A lot of wealthy people across the world earned their money in the old-fashioned way - or orphanages handed down from father to son. Despite inheriting a mess, Gina Rinehart put it in order and did such a good job of cleaning it up she has now become Australia's richest woman in history.

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When her father passed away, she found her company in financial disarray, which she rebuilt Hancock Prospecting, which she became the executive chair of in 1992, after she took over as head of the company in 1991 as a result of her father's death. She launched her biggest asset, Roy Hill, in 2015, and has since paid off the $7.2 billion loan that financed it. She is also Australia's second most important cattle producer as a side hustle.

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Susanne Klatten

Net worth: $24.2 billion

She is a 19% owner of BMW, which is the result of her mother is the third wife of an industrialist who pioneered the luxury automobile market in the early 20th century, which makes her share owning BMW an ironic irony. At first glance, Susanne Klatten seems to have all the hallmarks of a classic heiress who has done nothing else to earn her position in life than being born.

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It is apparent, however, that Gina Rinehart is still a woman of moxie when you look closer.

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In addition to having an MBA, Klatten is a self-described economist whose claim to fame comes from her grandfather who helped her father build a chemical company called Altana AG, which continues to exist today.

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A global pharmaceutical and specialty chemical multinational giant, Klatten transformed the family business into a multinational corporation with $2.5 billion in annual sales, where she is the sole owner, and she is central to this business' success.

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Qin Yinglin

Net worth: $19.9 billion

Yinglin Qin is a self-made man who, although born in a large population of China, has been able to build his own business as well as a self-made man with a reputation for animal husbandry at Henan Agricultural University. He and his wife went into business together in 1992 after graduating from college. It is not surprising that the couple started their business with 22 pigs, but in the following decades they have built it into a company that is today the largest pig-breeding operation in China's biggest market, Muyuan Foodstuff. [11]

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When swine flu wiped out half of China's pigs a few months ago, Yinglin's net worth doubled in just a few months as a result of literally doubling the amount of pig meat that was being produced. Even in his home country of China, few people know his name despite the fact that he made his fortune through agricultural.