<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 . Additionally a centibillionaire ( or centi - billionaire ) is commonly used to reference a billionaire worth one hundred billion dollars ( 100,000,000,000 ) . 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 $7.7 trillion . According to a 2017 Oxfam report , the top eight richest billionaires own as much combined wealth as `` half the human race '' . Many current billionaires are extremely successful businesspeople , including Bill Gates , Jeff Bezos , Larry Ellison , Michael Dell , and Meg Whitman . They created their wealth through the ownership and control of major corporations . Some billionaires have inherited their wealth through family owned corporations such as Mars , Walton , Rockefeller , and Koch . </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 . Additionally a centibillionaire ( or centi - billionaire ) is commonly used to reference a billionaire worth one hundred billion dollars ( 100,000,000,000 ) . 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 $7.7 trillion . According to a 2017 Oxfam report , the top eight richest billionaires own as much combined wealth as `` half the human race '' . Many current billionaires are extremely successful businesspeople , including Bill Gates , Jeff Bezos , Larry Ellison , Michael Dell , and Meg Whitman . They created their wealth through the ownership and control of major corporations . Some billionaires have inherited their wealth through family owned corporations such as Mars , Walton , Rockefeller , and Koch . </P>
the world 's first billionare made his fortune in what industry
the world 's first billionare made his fortune in what industry
oil
oil