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The second inauguration of President Donald Trump earlier this year was a blunt reminder - if needed - of the way money and power are closely entwined.
Elon Musk may have been the highest profile billionaire to offer Trump his support, but sitting next to him at the ceremony were tech tycoons Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos.
They are three of the richest men in the world, who see their fortunes fluctuate by billions every 24 hours.
The mega-rich are less rare than they used to be, with Forbes magazine revealing last year that there were a record 2,781 billionaires in the world.
Famous faces making their first appearance in the list include fashion designer Christian Louboutin ($1.2 billion), NBA legend Magic Johnson ($1.2 billon), TV producer Dick Wolf ($1.2 billion) and pop star Taylor Swift ($1.1 billion).
They all have some way to go to catch up with the 13 richest people in the world in May 2025.
Here they are, and how much they are worth, according to the experts at Forbes.
1. Elon Musk
The world's richest man - by quite some distance - is still Tesla, SpaceX and X owner Elon Musk. In November 2021 he became the first person ever to be worth $300 billion and he's now eased well past the $400 million mark. His involvement in politics helped Donald Trump become the American President for the second time but has been divisive to say the least - hitting the value of Tesla stock in particular. He's currently still worth $410.1 billion though - so don't feel too sorry for him. | Getty Images
2. Jeff Bezos
Sitting a couple of seat down from Elon Musk at the inauguration of President Donald Trump was Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. He's the world's second richest man with a forture of around $228.4 billion. | Getty Images
3. Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg's fortune was assured when he founded Facebook at the age of just 19. The Meta CEO has recently slipped to being 'just' the fourth richest person in the world earlier this year, but is now back into third place with a fortune estimated at $226.7 billion. | Getty Images
4. Larry Ellison
Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who owns 98 per cent of Lānaʻi, the sixth-largest island in Hawaii, takes fourth sport with a fortune estimated at $199.5billion - the first time he's dipped below $200 billion for a couple of years. The software guru has recently been advising President Trump on matters relating to Artificial Intelligence. | Getty Images