Forbes billionaires list: Founders of Uber car app make first appearance

Bill Gates is the richest man for the 16th time, with $79.2bn

Travis Kalanick, the co-founder of Uber, is now worth $5.3bn (AFP/Getty)

The co-founders of the smartphone-based taxi service Uber have made the Forbes billionaire list for the first time – alongside the man who became their first employee after he responded to a job advert tweet.

Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp, who created the controversial car-hire app, are new arrivals in the annual ranking of the world’s billionaires, with a net worth each of $5.3bn.

Ryan Graves, who five years replied “hire me :)” to a tweet about a job with an unknown start-up that promised “BIG equity”, is now worth $1.4bn.

Bill Gates is declared the richest man in the world for the 16th time, with a $79.2bn fortune. However, youthful technology innovators are elbowing their way into the list, which features a record 1,826 billionaires.

There are 46 billionaires under the age of 40, with the new entries including the trio behind room-letting website Airbnb, and Evan Spiegel, the Snapchat creator, who at 24 is the world’s youngest billionaire. Another newcomer is Michael Jordan, 52, the retired basketball player who inspired the Nike Jordan clothing brand.

The idea for the Uber car service came to Kalanick, 38, and Camp, 36, in 2008 when they were searching for a cab in Paris. The company is now valued at $41.2bn. The Uber trio are joined on the list by three Airbnb founders – Nathan Blecharczyk, 31, Brian Chesky, 33, and Joe Gebbia, 33, each with a net worth of $1.9bn from the accommodation rental website.

Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder, 30, moves into the top 20 for the first time with a net worth of $33bn.

A record number of women made the list – 197 versus 172 in 2014, with 29 of those self-made billionaires. The leading woman is Christy Walton, the widow of John Walton, an heir to the Wal-Mart empire.

The number of British billionaires on the list has risen to 53, up six from last year.

Newcomers include Speedo brand owner Stephen Rubin, with a net worth of $3bn (£1.95bn), Monster energy drinks boss Hilton Schlosberg, and The Range homewear owner Chris Dawson.

World’s richest: The Forbes list

The top 10 dollar billionaires and the source of their wealth

1 Bill Gates, $79.2bn, Microsoft (US)

2 Carlos Slim Helú and family, $77.1bn, telecoms (Mexico)

3 Warren Buffett, $72.7bn, Berkshire Hathaway investments (US)

4 Amancio Ortega, $64.5bn, retail (Spain)

5 Larry Ellison, $54.3bn, Oracle software (US)

6= Charles Koch, $42.9bn, Koch Industries, including energy, manufacturing and plastics (US)

6= David Koch, $42.9bn. Koch Industries, including energy, manufacturing and plastics (US)

8 Christy Walton and family, $41.7bn, Wal-Mart (US)

9 Jim Walton, $40.6bn, Wal-Mart (US)

10 Liliane Bettencourt, $40.1bn, L’Oréal (France)

Selected others

15 Jeff Bezos, $34.8bn, Amazon.com (US)

16 Mark Zuckerberg, $33.bn, Facebook (US)

17 Michael Jordan, $1bn, former basketball player and entrepreneur (US)