<P> A billionaire , in countries that use the short scale number naming system , is a person with a net worth of at least one billion ( 1,000,000,000 , i.e. a thousand million ) units of a given currency , usually major currencies such as the United States dollar , the euro or the pound sterling . The American business magazine Forbes produces a complete global list of known U.S. dollar billionaires every year and updates an Internet version of this list in real time . The American oil magnate John D. Rockefeller became the world 's first confirmed U.S. dollar billionaire in 1916 . As of 2017 , there are over 2,000 U.S. dollar billionaires worldwide , with a combined wealth of over US $7.6 trillion . According to a 2017 Oxfam report , the top eight richest billionaires own as much combined wealth as `` half the human race '' . </P>
<P> A billionaire , in countries that use the short scale number naming system , is a person with a net worth of at least one billion ( 1,000,000,000 , i.e. a thousand million ) units of a given currency , usually major currencies such as the United States dollar , the euro or the pound sterling . The American business magazine Forbes produces a complete global list of known U.S. dollar billionaires every year and updates an Internet version of this list in real time . The American oil magnate John D. Rockefeller became the world 's first confirmed U.S. dollar billionaire in 1916 . As of 2017 , there are over 2,000 U.S. dollar billionaires worldwide , with a combined wealth of over US $7.6 trillion . According to a 2017 Oxfam report , the top eight richest billionaires own as much combined wealth as `` half the human race '' . </P>
who was the first billionaire in the united states
who was the first billionaire in the united states
John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller