The world's top investors spend their days handling money and generating substantial returns for their clients — and the best of the best make billions for themselves in the process.
Business Insider recently released its list of the 50 richest people on earth in partnership with Wealth-X, a company that conducts research on the super-wealthy. Wealth-X maintains a database of dossiers on more than 110,000 ultra-high-net-worth people, using a proprietary valuation model to discern the size of their fortunes.
When narrowed down to those who work in finance, the list encompasses a some of the greatest investors and financiers in history, including legendary Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett and Ray Dalio, the most successful hedge fund manager ever. Combined, these 10 men are worth nearly $260 billion and control far more of the world's wealth through their funds and investments.
Read on to see the rest of wealthiest people in finance.
SEE ALSO: The 50 richest people on earth
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10. James Simons
Net worth:$14.3 billion
Age: 77
Country: US
Industry: Hedge funds
Source of wealth: Self-made; Renaissance Technologies
Before revolutionizing the hedge fund industry with his mathematics-based approach, "Quant King" James Simons worked as a code breaker for the US Department of Defense during the Vietnam War, but was fired after criticizing the war in the press. He chaired the math department at Stony Brook University for a decade until leaving in 1978 to start a quantitative-trading firm. That firm, now called Renaissance Technologies, has more than $65 billion in assets under management among its many funds.
Simons has always dreamed big. About 10 years ago, he announced that he was starting a fund that he claimed would be able to handle $100 billion, about 10% of all assets managed by hedge funds at the time. That fund, Renaissance Institutional Equities Fund, never quite reached his aspirations — it currently handles about $10.5 billion— but his flagship Medallion fund is among the best-performing ever: It has generated a nearly 80% annualized return before fees since its inception in 1988.
In October, Renaissance shut down a $1 billion fund — one of its smaller ones — "due to a lack of investor interest." The firm's other funds, however, have been up and climbing. Simons retired in 2009, but remains chairman of the company.
9. Ray Dalio
Net worth:$16.3 billion
Age: 66
Country: US
Industry: Hedge funds
Source of wealth: Self-made; Bridgewater Associates
Ray Dalio's hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, is the biggest in the world, managing a portfolio of around $154 billion in global investments.
At the top of his industry and having amassed an enormous fortune, Dalio has more recently focused on giving away money and advice. He's taken the Giving Pledge, committing to donate the majority of his wealth to charity. And last year he shared his highly coveted "investment secrets," albeit in an unorthodox manner for a hedge funder, in a 30-minute YouTube video, which has been watched more than 2 million times. His 123-page, self-published manual on his principles of money management and leadership is also seen as somewhat of a bible among the investment world.
Dalio has always taken a radical approach to management, making everything he and his fund does completely transparent to employees. And it's worked well for him: Bridgewater, while sometimes viewed as "cultish," is one of the most coveted places to work in finance. Dalio has said that he attributes his success, in part, to reminding himself that history repeats itself and keeping track of the decisions he's made that didn't work.
8. Len Blavatnik
Net worth:$16.7 billion
Age: 58
Country: US
Industry: Diversified investments
Source of wealth: Self-made; Access Industries
After earning degrees at Columbia University and Harvard Business School, Len Blavatnik— a Ukraine-born American — founded Access Industries, a privately held industrial company, in 1986. The company began with only Russian investments, but it now boasts a diverse portfolio that includes natural resources, chemicals, media and telecommunications, and real estate.
Blavatnik built his fortune through business savvy and a knack for making well-timed investments. In 2004, his company purchased a 20% stake in Tory Burch, becoming the first and largest outside investor in the fashion house, which has since blossomed into a powerhouse retailer worth over $3 billion. He's credited with one of the greatest investments of all time in his risky buyout of petrochemicals maker LyondellBasell, which he purchased out of bankruptcy amid the financial crisis for north of $2 billion. The value of his stake had jumped to more than $10 billion in 2014. He incurred a comparatively measly fine of $656,000 from the Federal Trade Commission in October for failing to properly report his investments in the company.
Recently he's tried his hand as a music mogul, purchasing Warner Music Group in 2011 for $3.3 billion. Two years later, he bought British label Parlophone for $742 million, giving him an expanded roster of musical acts that includes Coldplay, Blur, Metallica, and Bruno Mars. His music holdings also include investments in emerging-technology companies such as Spotify and Beats Electronics.
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