We are conducting a live investigation into who might be the world's richest person. The idea is that none of the existing rich lists could capture such a person because they rely heavily on metrics that are easier to confirm ā public shareholdings, real estate in their own name and identifiable assets.
We aren't critical of those approaches except that we disagree the richest person on that list should be called the "richest" person on earth. It's clear that the ultra-rich go to extraordinary lengths to conceal their treasure. In some cases, it's just because they're simply private people. In other cases, it's because some of the money is ill-gotten or having such massive wealth is politically sensitive in their home countries. These reasons are precisely why we care more about the story of their wealth than that of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.
All that secret wealth is like dark matter in the universe ā it's huge and omnipresent and warps the very fabric of space-time, but we can't see it. What can someone actually accomplish with free access to tens and hundreds of billions of dollars? What's not for sale at that level?
Each of our candidates so far explain a bit more how the world really works, where this powerful resource is pooled and being used in strange and unexpected (and sometimes dastardly) ways.
šÆ WHALE HUNTING
Tracking Hidden Wealth in the Shadows
Saudi state assets and Aramco control. Wealth decline due to oil revenue drop and massive infrastructure spending on NEOM ($1.5T project)
Iran's parastatal empire through Setad organization. Controls $95B+ through confiscated properties and corporate networks
Russian state resources, oligarch tribute system. Methodology now includes controlled wealth vs. personal assets
Binance cryptocurrency exchange. Served 4-month prison sentence, paid $4.3B in fines, but still owns ~90% of Binance
Susquehanna International Group and ~7% of ByteDance. Biggest wealth gainer in 2025 (+$17B) from TikTok success
Thai Crown Property Bureau and royal assets. Faces growing calls for monarchical reform
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). Controls ~20% of global shipping capacity, invested $40B+ in ships and ports
Oil (Sibneft) and steel (Evraz). Under UK/EU sanctions, forced Chelsea FC sale, limited access to Western assets
Democratic Republic of Congo cobalt mining. Under US sanctions but successfully liquidating assets, $250M DRC settlement
Bangladesh state resources. Ousted Aug 2024, fled to India. 124 bank accounts frozen, but likely has hidden offshore wealth
Chinese state position, family business investments. US intelligence reports reveal hidden family wealth
Angolan state oil and diamond assets. UK sanctions Dec 2024, $733M global asset freeze, but likely has hidden assets
Kazakhstan state assets. Catastrophic loss after stepping down in 2019, January 2022 protests, successor distancing
FTX cryptocurrency exchange (collapsed). Convicted of fraud, serving 25-year prison sentence
UAE royal assets and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth. Died May 13, 2022, succeeded by brother Mohamed bin Zayed