Top 10 Richest World In The World (2024)

Have you thought of these top 10 richest world leaders in the world and their countries before? Some came from countries that are not counted among the top 10 richest countries in the world but even as that, they managed their way to the top.

Below is the list of the top 10 richest presidents in the world with their net worth

1. Vladimir Putin of Russia – $200 billion

Vladimir Putin

He is the richest president in the whole world and one of the World’s most powerful presidents. He is the current president of Russia, a seat he has occupied since 2012. Apart from being the president of Russia, he was also a former prime minister from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012.

However, he started his political career after resigning from the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1991. Before resigning in 1991 to begin a political career, Putin worked as a KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. The report shows that Vladimir Putin acquired his wealth from his post as a lieutenant colonel and his political career.

2. Kim Jong-un – $5 billion

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is thought to have amassed a net worth of $5 billion (£3.9bn) since 2013. Around that time, US and South Korean officials discovered assets and bank accounts controlled by the supreme leader and his family.

They found that much of his wealth was stashed away in over 200 bank accounts held in China and other countries, including Austria, Luxembourg, Russia, and Switzerland.

3. Xi Jinping – $1.5 billion

Xi Jinping may hold the distinguished titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, President of the People’s Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, but he has a very modest salary of just $22,000 (£17k) per year.

However, in 2012 it was revealed that Jinping and his family had hidden investments in multiple holding companies, including a $244 million share of property investment firm Shenzhen Yuanwei, the equivalent of $334m (£258m) in 2024 money. At one point, it was believed Xi had a net worth of $1.5 billion (£1.2bn), however, the true extent of his wealth today is unknown.

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4. Bashar al-Assad – $1.5 billion

In 2012, Syria’s leader Bashar al-Assad was estimated to have amassed a fortune of around $1.5 billion, despite moves to freeze his assets in the UK, the US, and Switzerland. For the financial year 2022, the US Department of State put his net worth at an estimated $1-$2 billion (£771m-£1.5bn).

Before the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, the Assads and their friends were said to have owned between 60% and 70% of the country’s assets, including land, energy plants, and factories.

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5. Srettha Thavisin – $1.3 billion

Replacing Prayuth Chan-ocha, Srettha Thavisin became prime minister of Thailand on 22 August 2023. A successful businessman, Thavisin co-founded Sansiri – one of Thailand’s largest real estate developers – in 1998 and went on to become a billionaire.

Sansiri has gone from strength to strength, experiencing growth even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thavisin, under whose leadership the company carried out one of the most expensive land purchases in Thai history, had to transfer his Sansiri shares to his daughter upon embarking on his political career, but remains one of the richest world leaders of all time with an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion (£1bn).

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6. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo – $600 million

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has been president of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea since 1979, when he ousted his uncle, Francisco Macías Nguema, in a military coup. Recent estimates of his wealth are few and far between but Forbes has previously pegged his fortune at $600 million (£463m).

A taste for luxury seems to run in the family. In 2016 his son Teodoro ‘Teodorín’ Nguema Obiang (and the country’s vice president) saw his fleet of 26 luxury cars, including seven Ferraris, five Bentleys, three Lamborghinis, a Maserati, a McLaren and a Bugatti Veyron seized by Swiss authorities as part of a corruption probe. The fleet was later sold at a charity auction for $27 million (£20.8m). More recently, the VP has had several homes seized by authorities and auctioned off, including an estate in Malibu, California, the proceeds of which funded COVID-19 vaccines in Equatorial Guinea.

7. Ilham Aliyev – $500 million

Azerbaijan’s Prime Minister, Ilham Aliyev, earned an official annual salary of $230,000 in 2010, the equivalent of $330,000 (£255k) in 2024 money. However, he and his family have other means to rely on, including large property assets abroad. In 2010, his then-12-year-old son Heydar reportedly purchased nine waterfront mansions in Dubai worth some $44 million ($63m/£49m today), a figure the average Azerbaijan citizen would have to work 10,000 years to accrue.

The Aliyevs hit the headlines again when the Pandora Papers revealed that the British royal family’s Crown Estate bought a £67 million ($87m) London property from the president’s young son. Both Aliyev and his government have been accused of corruption over the years.

His net worth is said to be around $500 million (£386m), though other estimates put it as high as $900 million (£694m).

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8.Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – $500 million

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan served as mayor of Istanbul and Türkiye’s prime minister before being elected as the country’s president in 2014. Despite maintaining enough support to stay in power, many have accused him of corruption and autocratic tendencies, and the nation’s currency, the Lira, has fallen to an all-time low leaving many households struggling financially.

Meanwhile, in July 2023, local media reported Erdoğan had increased his monthly salary by 39% from $3,829 (£2,954) to $5,360 (£4,135), which puts him on an annual salary of less than $65,000 (£51k).

However, Erdoğan’s net worth is the subject of intense scrutiny. He’s estimated to be worth around $500 million (£386m) today, although some reports have pegged his fortune as being in the billions.

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9. Paul Kagame – $500 million

Paul Kagame has been president of Rwanda since 2000 after he led rebel forces to end the Rwandan genocide that saw more than a million people murdered. Kagame has been key to the African country’s economic rehabilitation, and the idea of becoming the “Singapore of Africa”, although this has been matched by an intolerance for dissent.

In 2012, it was reported that Kagame and the Rwandan Patriotic Front were controlling the country’s economy through a holding company called Crystal Ventures. This group is thought to have assets of $500 million (£386m) across everything from private jets to the country’s biggest milk processor. It’s been estimated that Kagame, the chairman of Crystal Ventures, is also worth $500 million (£386m).

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10. Cyril Ramaphosa – $450 million

Cyril Ramaphosa earns an annual salary of around $173,000 (£133k) as South African president following a pay rise for elected officials in July 2023. While his salary is nearly 18 times higher than the average household income of his people, he’s reportedly been donating half his salary to charity since 2018.

Ramaphosa stepped down as chairman of the investment firm Shanduka Group in 2015 to avoid a conflict of interest and completed the sale of his stake a year later. In 2015, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $450 million (£347m). It’s unclear how his net worth has changed over the last nine years. Rampahosa faced investigation after around $4 million (£3.1m) in cash was found stashed in his house during a supposed burglary at one of his farms. However. a public watchdog cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Summary

Below is a brief summary of the top 10 richest presidents in the world:

• Vladimir Putin
• Kim Jong-un
• Xi Jinping
• Bashar al-Assad
• Srettha Thavisin
• Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
• Ilham Aliyev
• Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
• Paul Kagame
• Cyril Ramaphosa