You may see their luxurious homes, their impressive cars and their designer clothes.
However, the spiritual life of the world’s most powerful millionaires and billionaires is often overlooked.
Billionaire Donald Trump’s arrival to the presidency of the United States has brought new attention to the topic of wealth on the international stage.
Is faith part of the “lifestyles of the rich and famous”?
Here is a look at some of the world’s major religions and the wealthiest adherent in each one, based on the Forbes list of the world’s 100 wealthiest people. Attention is also given to how each person is using their wealth according to the guidelines of their faith.
The world’s wealthiest Christian
Bill Gates
Title: Founder of Microsoft
Industry: Computer software/hardware and consumer electronics
Summary: Gates is not only the wealthiest Christian, but he is also the richest person in the world. He tops the Forbes list with a net worth of more than $80 billion. Multiple sources report that Gates attends services at a Catholic church with his wife, Melinda. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Gates, who was originally skeptical of religion, was careful to say that his wife goes to the church and he simply “participates” in services. However, he has said that “it makes sense to believe in God,” and he believes that the moral systems of religion are important.
“We’ve raised our kids in a religious way,” he said.
Gates also believes in the biblical principle of “to whom much is given, much is expected,” adding, “I’ve been very lucky, and therefore I owe it to try and reduce the inequity in the world. And that’s kind of a religious belief. I mean, it’s at least a moral belief.”
Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates and his wife have donated more than $28 billion toward education, health care and reducing poverty.
The world’s wealthiest Muslim
Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal
Title: Chairman and CEO of Kingdom Holding Company
Industry: Investments and entertainment
Summary: Listed by Forbes as the 41st richest person in the world with a net worth of $17.3 billion, Al-Waleed has been described by Time magazine as the “Arabian Warren Buffet.” Currently, his company owns Rotana, the Arab world’s largest entertainment company, and has a diverse portfolio of investments in financial services, real estate, tourism and hospitality, petrochemicals, aviation and technology. Al-Waleed is also a member of the royal family of Saudi Arabia, which oversees the area that includes the two holiest sites of Islam.
According to a statement from his company, Al-Waleed has “provided over $2.4 billion in donations and grants” to development projects in many countries and seeks to “initiate a meaningful dialogue between Islam and other world cultures to set a path towards openness, understanding and peace.”
The world’s wealthiest Jew
Michael Bloomberg
Title: CEO of Bloomberg L.P.
Industry: Software, financial services and mass media
Summary: Bloomberg has half-jokingly described himself as a “short, Jewish, divorced billionaire.”
He is the grandson of Jewish immigrants from Russia and has been associated with Reform Judaism, the progressive branch of the Jewish religion. Bloomberg rarely talks about his own faith, preferring instead to promote religious diversity and freedom in his role as a leader in business and politics.
Ranking as the eighth richest person in the world, Bloomberg has a net worth of $43.3 billion. He built his company with the vision of providing information technology that would “bring transparency and efficiency to the buying and selling of financial securities.” Bloomberg’s operation began as a one-room startup and now has more than 1,500 employees around the world.
Bloomberg has also had a successful tenure as a three-term mayor of New York City, and his Bloomberg Philanthropies has donated $4.3 billion to charities in the areas of health, arts and culture, education, the environment and government innovation.
The world’s wealthiest Hindu
Mukesh Ambani
Industry: Energy, telecommunications
Title: Chairman of Reliance Industries Limited
Summary: Coming in at 36 on the Forbes listing, Ambani has a net worth of $33 billion and is the chairman, managing director and largest shareholder of Reliance Industries Limited. Based in India, the Fortune Global 500 company has nearly 25,000 employees and is involved with refining, petrochemicals, energy, textiles, retail and telecommunications.
Ambani has been listed in many publications as the wealthiest person in India for the past nine years. He has also overseen the efforts of the Reliance Foundation, a charitable organization that has provided educational funds for more than 15,000 children, 10,000 cornea transplants, and a Braille-edition newspaper for the blind in the Hindi language.
Note: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is at No. 6 on the Forbes list, was raised Jewish. However, Zuckerberg was not placed on this list because he has seemingly been on a journey to find the belief system that he believes is right for him.
At one point, according to The Washington Post, he became an atheist, a position he later renounced. More recently, Zuckerberg has shown appreciation for both Buddhism and Christianity, and in a recent posting said he now believes “religion is very important.”
Chinese entrepreneur Wang Jianlin, placed at 18 on the Forbes list with a net worth of $28.7 billion, might be described by some as the wealthiest Buddhist, given the significant presence of the faith in that area of the world. However, Jianlin was not added to this list because he has not publicly claimed devotion to any religion, probably because China is officially atheist.
