Top 10 Richest Bankers In The World (2023)

Banking is one industry that has consistently produced some of the wealthiest people worldwide. For this reason, the sharpest minds are often drawn into banking because they have a high probability of becoming rich and famous. The richest bankers in the world are risk-takers- it comes with the territory because if a banker does not take risks, then he has nothing to pay out to clients who have chosen him because they trust in his ability to make money for them.

This list is understandably fluid; one bad year can severely dent a bankers’ net worth and make him significantly poorer. As a matter of fact, some bankers have lost up to half of their net worth in one year, just as they might have doubled it.

Banking takes boldness, and it takes a lot of professionalism to make this kind of money without losing one’s mind, but there are few people who managed to do it.

Richest Bankers In The World

1. Warren Buffett

Net worth: $82.4 billion

Warren Buffett is an iconic investor and banker, the richest banker in the world. His story is legendary; as a child, he distributed newspapers on his bike at a young age, and by the time he was 11 he was already investing in the stock market. 

Warren Buffett gained his experience working as a securities analyst in the early 1950s before starting his own investment company. Warren Buffett is not a banker by training, but he is ‘the most important person in banking’ as a result of his ownership of banking stocks. 

Interestingly his holding company is a textile company called Berkshire Hathaway, and he has owned this company since 1969. He is called the “Oracle of Omaha.” For his unbelievable insights in stocks trading.

2. Abigail Johnson

Net worth: $28.6 billion

Abigail Johnson was born into investment banking. Her grandfather and father were both investment bankers, and their company Fidelity Investments has been in the company for 3 generations. She is an American, and it was her grandfather, Edward C. Johnson II, who established Fidelity Investments.

Abigail Johnson has been CEO of Fidelity Investments since 2014 when her father stepped down from the position. She owns a 24.5% stake in the firm, which manages $3.2 trillion in assets.

3. Jim Simons

Net worth: $22 billion

James Simons is a professional investment banker with a personal fortune in excess of 22 billion US dollars. He is the director of Renaissance Technologies LLC. Jim Simons is proof that a superior mind will make money. He was a code breaker for the US Department of Defense during the Vietnam War, and after that, he became a mathematics professor.

He developed a mathematical system of analyzing stocks and started his own investment company. He banks money for rich people and makes them even richer with the profits he makes. His company Renaissance Technologies, now has more than $57 billion in assets under management among its many funds.

4. Carl Icahn

Net worth: $19.4 billion

Carl Icahn is a billionaire investment banker and political appointee. His net worth is estimated at about 19 billion dollars, while his investment company controls several times that amount in assets. Carl Icahn has long had an eye for companies that are not living up to their potential. through his investment company, he buys such establishments, and then makes changes in their operations and management, and so turns them around; making them profitable.

His investments are usually long-term investments, but usually very profitable because if the companies are resold, they usually bring in a lot of money in profits.

5. Steve Schwarzman

Net worth: $17.9 billion

Steve Schwarzman is an American billionaire investor and investment banker. His father was a dry goods store owner, but he learned the art of investment and went on to found Blackstone in 1985. His company has now become the world’s largest private equity firm, with over $439 billion in management.   

In a recent year under review, Schwarzman was the highest-paid investment banker when he took home about $786 million in only one year.

6. Ned Johnson III

Net worth: $17.1 billion

Ned Johnson III already has his daughter on this list, but he is also deserving of a spot, not just as a veteran, but because he is still very savvy as an investment banker and mentor to the younger generation of investment bankers.

Ned Johnson was the CEO of Fidelity Investments for almost 40 years before he called it a day and handed over the reins to his daughter. Apart from his financial empire, he also has an art collection said to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. His son also runs a real estate empire worth over $2.5 billion dollars.

7. Thomas Peterffy

Net worth: $15.7 billion

Thomas Peterffy is an American investment banker worth an estimated 15.7 billion dollars. This is a big name in the world of online investments; he is considered the father of modern trading; he founded the first online trading company Interactive Brokers in 1995. 

He is a visionary who developed the first computer-based system for trading. His vision has paid off handsomely, and today he is one of the biggest men in investments and trading. He also has an impressive art collection- one worthy of a billionaire.  

8. Ken Griffin

Net worth: $15.4 billion

Ken Griffin is the billionaire investor behind Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel and one of the richest bankers in the world. He attended Harvard and started trading in his dorm room. He may not have known it at the time, but he would later become one of the biggest and most influential investors.

Ken owns investment banks across the USA and his mode of business not only centers on the companies alone, but it is also client-centered. He has made a fortune for his clients, through his company Citadel. He has an impressive art collection, two private jets, and an array of beautiful houses.

9. Ray Dalio

Net worth: $15.4 billion

Ray Dalio is the billionaire brain behind Bridgewater Associates, which has around $160 billion in global investments. He is one of the most accomplished investors in America, having amassed an incredible fortune for himself and his friends. He has now concentrated his efforts on grooming and developing talent. He has written about how to be a successful investor, and his books are highly sought after in the investment world.

10. Budi Hartono

Net worth: $14.9 billion

Budi Hartono is a billionaire investor from Indonesia. He inherited a family fortune which includes a bank, a tobacco company, and a telecom business. He and his brother are the largest shareholders in the Bank of Central Asia, which is the largest and most influential retail bank in Indonesia. Their other businesses have also grown from strength to strength. 

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Some people believe that bankers are the most hardworking people in the business sector as they invest all their time and life in serving others by making sure that funds deposited into the bank is kept safe and accounted for no matter how much.

In the bank, every penny is worth it, and that is why it is almost impossible to be a fraud in the banking sector as a banker and not get caught at one point in time. Many people have had themselves carted away due to some offenses like fraud and embezzlement in the bank, and such people are severely dealt with especially when they cannot provide the funds they have stolen.