The minimum fortune needed to appear on Forbes’ 2019 World’s Billionaires list was $1 billion.
Forbes used a net-worth threshold of $1 billion for its 2019 global billionaire ranking. Anyone below that estimate was excluded from the main list, even if they were exceptionally wealthy by ordinary standards. The threshold is a useful way to distinguish the global billionaire list from other Forbes rankings.
Forbes estimates net worth by adding assets such as company shares, private businesses, property, cash, and investments, then subtracting known debts. Public share prices are especially important because they can change the estimated fortune from one day to the next.
The threshold was not the same as the entry point for every Forbes list. The Forbes 400, for example, ranks wealthy people in the United States and has a much higher minimum. Forbes also publishes regional lists with their own populations and measurement conventions, so the phrase “Forbes rich list” can refer to several different products.