Scientists and inventors have played a crucial role in shaping the course of history and improving the world we live in, often making groundbreaking discoveries and inventions that have transformed our lives in profound ways. Despite their significant contributions, these innovators have often been overshadowed by the attention given to generals, politicians, and artists. However, their impact cannot be understated, and their work has often been rewarded with financial success and other forms of recognition.
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Read on to find out who the most successful, wealthiest inventors of all time are. With an Estimated Net worth as of March 11, 2023.
Elon Musk – Estimated Net Worth Today: $175.5B.
We’re really big fans of South African-born billionaire, inventor, and investor Elon Musk(born in 1971) – and after listing the man’s achievements, it’s not difficult to understand why.
Musk’s early online ventures, Zip2 and PayPal, were highly successful and groundbreaking. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI; and president of the philanthropic Musk Foundation.
Musk is the second-wealthiest person in the world, according to both the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and Forbes‘s real-time billionaire list.
Tesla has more than 2,900 active patents and around 3,900 total patents.
Musk himself is attributed as the inventor of several of the patents:
- Design patents related to the artistic design of Tesla cars and their charging ports.
- Autonomous vehicle patents focus on driverless controls, including the ability to summon a vehicle to a specific location.
- Location-specific search patents describe a system that automatically expands the geographic search area until enough results are found.
- Patents related to Data Exchange involve the transmission of a document copy over a client-server network.
- Telephone Network patents involve web-based phone calls that direct users to a company through a call center, with a simpler concept.
- The invention combines a business directory and map database for users to search and get directions through a single website access.
Jeff Bezos – Estimated Net Worth Today: $114B.
Jeff Bezos, a name familiar to most, is a man whose impact on your life cannot be overstated. He is the mastermind behind Amazon, one of the most innovative and influential companies of our time.
Bezos conceived of the idea of selling books online, realizing that he could eliminate the need for costly overheads like inventory management, in-store electricity, and bookstore decoration. This allowed him to sell books at a discount and make a significant profit. From this humble beginning, Amazon has grown into a colossal online marketplace that sells almost anything you can think of.
Here is a short description of some of Bezos’s patents that he has been listed as an inventor or co-inventor:
- “Method and system for ordering an item using a client device” – U.S. Patent No. 6,298,392 – A technology patent allowing customers to order products using a mobile device or computer.
- “System and method for converting text into a set of phonemes” – U.S. Patent No. 7,237,165 – A patent for a technology that converts written text into spoken words by breaking it down into individual phonemes.
- “Electronic marketplace for digital products” – U.S. Patent No. 7,853,647 – A patent for a technology that enables the sale of digital products through an online marketplace.
- “Method and system for the network-based translation of languages” – U.S. Patent No. 9,280,158 – A patent for a technology that uses machine learning algorithms to translate text between languages in real-time.
- “Aerial vehicle delivery system” – U.S. Patent No. 9,305,280 – A patent for a technology that allows for delivering packages using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones).
- “Self-balancing one-wheeled vehicle” – U.S. Patent No. 9,340,178 – A patent for a technology that creates a self-balancing, one-wheeled personal transportation device.
- Blue Origin’s patent for “Sea landing of space launch vehicles” describes a system for safely and cost-effectively landing reusable space launch vehicles on a platform in the ocean using sensors and cameras. The patent includes methods for controlling the landing trajectory and adjusting the platform’s position for wind and waves.
Larry Ellison – Estimated Net Worth Today: $107.2B.
Larry Ellison is the chairman, chief Technology officer (CTO), and co-founder of Oracle Corporation; a multinational technology company specializing in database software and cloud solutions. He was one of the three founders of the company, along with Bob Miner and Ed Oates, in 1977.
Ellison is known for his leadership style, entrepreneurial spirit, and innovative approach to technology, which has helped Oracle become a dominant player in the enterprise software industry.
Bill Gates – Estimated Net Worth Today: $103.9B.
Mr. Gates is a genius that produced what we all use and knows (and are using right this second to write this article), Microsoft.
Gates is renowned for his exceptional intelligence, having achieved an almost perfect score of 1590 out of 1600 on his SATs in high school. He was subsequently admitted to Harvard University, but surprisingly, he dropped out to pursue his vision of creating Microsoft.
Today, Gates is recognized as one of the greatest innovators and entrepreneurs of our time.
Here is a short description of some of the notable patents that Bill Gates has been awarded:
- “Method and apparatus for displaying information on a display” – A patent for a technology that allows information to be displayed on a computer screen.
- “Method and apparatus for altering a displayed character string” – A patent for a technology that allows a user to modify the appearance of text displayed on a computer screen.
- “Method and apparatus for displaying multiple windows on a display” – A patent for a technology that allows multiple windows or applications to be displayed on a computer screen at the same time.
- “System and method for providing and displaying a web page having an embedded menu” – A patent for a technology that allows a web page to have a menu embedded within it, providing a more streamlined user experience.
- “Computerized method and system for creating digital certificates” – A patent for a technology that allows digital certificates to be created, used for verifying the identity of users and protecting online transactions.
- “Method and system for matching users in a computer network” – A patent for a technology that matches users in a computer network based on their preferences or behaviour.
- “System and method for generating and managing user-generated content” – A patent for a technology that allows users to create and manage their own content on a website or platform.
Michael Bloomberg – Estimated Net Worth Today: $94.5B.
Mike Bloomberg is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who served three terms as Mayor of the City of New York.
Mr. Bloomberg cofounded the financial information and media company Bloomberg LP in 1981.
His passion for public health led to ambitious new strategies that became national models, including a ban on smoking in all indoor workplaces, as well as at parks and beaches.
Larry Page – Estimated Net Worth Today: $79.2B.
Mr.Page cofounded Google in 1998 with Sergey Brin.
With Brin, Page invented Google’s PageRank algorithm, which powers the search engine.
Page was CEO until 2001, when Eric Schmidt took over, and then from 2011 until 2015 when he became CEO of Google’s new parent company Alphabet.
Larry Page stepped down as CEO of Alphabet, the parent of Google, in December 2019 but remains a board member and a controlling shareholder.
He has also invested in flying car startups Kitty Hawk and Opener.
Sergey Brin – Estimated Net Worth Today: $76B.
Brin cofounded Google with Larry Page in 1998 after the two met at Stanford University while studying for advanced degrees in computer science.
In 2004, Sergey Brin became the youngest person on the Forbes 400 list of richest people in the world.
Sergey Brin and Larry Page stepped down as president and CEO of Google in December 2019.
Brin is reportedly funding a high-tech airship project.
Mark Zuckerberg – Estimated Net Worth Today: $64.4B.
Zuckerberg started Facebook at Harvard in 2004 at the age of 19 for students to match names with photos of classmates.
He took Facebook public in May 2012; he now owns about 13% of the company’s stock.
Facebook changed its name to Meta in November 2021 to shift the company’s focus to the metaverse.
Zuckerberg also has the distinction of being the world’s youngest billionaire, which he achieved in 2008 at the age of 24.
Zhang Yiming – Estimated Net Worth Today: $53B.
Zhang Yiming is the founder of ByteDance, one of China’s largest media content platforms; the social media group behind the video-sharing app TikTok.
The Beijing-based company also owns the news aggregation service Toutiao.
Founded in 2012, ByteDance is valued at $75 billion and brings in around 1 billion monthly users globally — it is considered by some as the world’s most valuable start-up.
Li Ka-Shing – Estimated Net Worth Today: $38B.
Li Ka-Shing is revered as one of the most influential businessmen in Asia.
He is the senior advisor for CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings after he retired from the Chairman of the Board in May 2018; through it, he is the world’s leading port investor, developer, and operator of the largest health and beauty retailer in Asia and Europe.
In 2019 Forbes put Li on the list of the world’s most generous philanthropists outside of the US. Li is often referred to as “Superman Li” in Hong Kong because of his business prowess.
Huateng Ma – Estimated Net Worth Today: $35.3B.
Huateng Ma also known as Pony Ma. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Tencent, one of the most valuable companies in Asia, one of the largest internet and technology companies, and one of the biggest investment, gaming and entertainment conglomerates in the world.
Tencent’s popular social messaging app WeChat has more than 1 billion users.
Tencent, which owns a stake in U.S. videogame company Epic Games, is one of the largest videogame publishers in the world.
Thomas Peterffy – Estimated Net Worth Today: $25.3B.
Mr. Peterffy founded Interactive Brokers in 1993 after originally starting in market-making, which markets its specialized trading platform to sophisticated investors.
Peterffy arrived in America in 1965 at age 21, the penniless descendant of Hungarian aristocrats who lost nearly everything to the Soviets.
He announced in January 2019 that he will step down as CEO in Q3 2019, concurrent with his 79th birthday, after running Interactive Brokers for 42 years. He appointed Milan Galik as CEO but will remain chairman.
Jensen Huang – Estimated Net Worth Today: $21.1B.
Jensen Huang co-founded graphics chip maker Nvidia in 1993 and has served as its CEO and president since its inception.
Mr. Huang has led Nvidia to become a dominant force in computer gaming chips, and under his leadership, the company has expanded its portfolio to include the design of chips for data centers and autonomous cars.
He’s given Stanford University $30 million for an engineering center and $5 million to Oregon Health & Science University for cancer research labs.
Masayoshi Son – Estimated Net Worth Today: $21B.
Masayoshi Son founded and runs mobile telecom and investment giant SoftBank Group and is chairman of UK-based Arm Holdings.
Son is known for his assertive and unconventional investment strategies, including a $20 million investment in Alibaba in 2000, which is now worth billions of dollars. He is also known for his ambitious vision of a world powered by artificial intelligence, which he calls “Singularity”.
Mr. Son’s first venture into technology was with UC Berkeley physics professor Forrest Mozer. They created and patented a pocket dictionary. Sharp purchased the technology for $456,000 in 1979.
Adjusted for inflation, this is equivalent to about $1 million today.
Li Shufu – Estimated Net Worth Today: $18.8B.
Shufu Li is the chairman of Geely Automobile Holdings, one of China’s largest automakers and one of the few not controlled by the state.
Li was regarded as one of the most influential private entrepreneurs in China. In 2018, he was honoured with a reform pioneer title for his pioneering spirit since the country’s reform and opening-up.
Shufu Li expanded his global presence through his private holding company starting in 2010 when he successfully acquired the Swedish car brand Volvo.
Li has also bought stakes in Daimler, sportscar maker Lotus and flying car start-up Terrafugia.
Wang Chuanfu – Estimated Net Worth Today: $18.7B.
Wang Chuanfu is a Chinese entrepreneur and the founder of the electric car company BYD, holding the throne as the king of China’s nascent electric vehicle market, which is currently the largest EV market in the world.
Wang started his career in the battery industry and later founded BYD in 1995. Under his leadership, BYD has become a leading manufacturer of electric vehicles, batteries, and other electronic components.
Wang has received numerous awards, including the Frost & Sullivan “2009 Automotive Entrepreneurial Company of the Year” award and the “2010 Technology and Innovation Award” from the Wall Street Journal.
John R. Menard – Estimated Net Worth Today: $17.4B.
John Menard is the founder and owner of Menards, a home improvement retailer with over 300 stores, spanning from Wyoming to Ohio.
Menards is estimated to bring in approximately $13 billion in annual sales and competes with major home improvement retailers.
Known for his hands-on approach to management, Menard maintains tight control over his business operations, requiring even top executives to clock in every morning.
Mr. Menard sponsored the winning car at the 2019 Indy 500, his first win in nearly 40 years of involvement in racing.
Piaoyang Sun – Estimated Net Worth Today: $17.1B.
Sun Piaoyang transformed Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine, which was previously state-led, into one of the biggest manufacturers of tumour-treating medicines and anti-infection drugs in China.
Under his leadership, the company has become one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in China, specializing in the development and manufacturing of oncology drugs, surgical anesthesia, and other medical treatments.
Sun has received numerous awards, including the Forbes “Asia’s 50 Power Businesswomen” in 2013 and “Asia’s Heroes of Philanthropy” in 2015.
Dilip Shanghvi – Estimated Net Worth Today: $15.6B.
In 1983, Dilip Shanghvi, the son of a pharmaceuticals distributor, borrowed $200 from his father to start Sun Pharmaceutical Industries in 1983 with the objective of producing psychiatric drugs.
The company become India’s most valuable publicly-traded pharmaceutical company. The company generates annual revenue of $4.5 billion, out of which two-thirds is derived from overseas markets.
Also, Shanghvi is active as a personal investor, with interests that increasingly extended beyond pharmaceuticals, notably in the field of renewable energy.
Robert J Pera – Estimated Net Worth Today: $15.5B.
Robert Pera is the founder and CEO of wireless equipment maker Ubiquiti Networks. He is the majority shareholder, owning nearly 75% of the company.
Pera started his career at Apple in 2003, and within 10 months of the job, founded Ubiquiti. He left Apple to work at Ubiquiti full-time in 2005.
Ubiquiti specializes in selling wireless broadband systems with a focus on emerging markets. The company had revenue of $1.7 billion in the fiscal year through August 2022, which is a testament to the success of its business model.
Pera also has a controlling stake in the Memphis Grizzlies, a professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association.
At the age of 36, Pera earned a spot on Forbes‘ list of the 10 youngest billionaires in the world
Shilin Huang – Estimated Net Worth Today: $15.2B.
Huang Shilin is a former vice chairman of Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), one of China’s largest battery suppliers for the electric vehicle industry.
Shilin also holds a B.Tech degree from the Hefei University of Technology.
CATL went public on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2018.
CATL’s customers include BMW, Volkswagen and Geely.
Zhidong Zhang – Estimated Net Worth Today: $12.8B.
Tony Zhang Zhidong – is the co-founder, former CTO and second-largest individual shareholder of Tencent, a Chinese internet conglomerate.
Zhang was Tencent’s Chief Technology Officer for 16 years until his retirement in September 2014.
Tencent’s portfolio includes the messenger app WeChat, League of Legends game developer Riot Games, and minority stakes in Spotify and Snap Inc.
Michael Cannon-Brookes – Estimated Net Worth Today: $10.3B.
Mike Cannon-Brookes is cofounder and co-CEO of collaboration software firm Atlassian, based in Sydney.
With Scott Farquhar started Atlassian in 2002, shortly after graduating from university, funding it with credit cards.
He is also an adjunct professor at the University of New South Wales School of Computer Science and Engineering.
He and fellow billionaire Andrew Forrest have been in disagreement over their joint venture, Sun Cable, a renewable energy company. As a result, they have decided to put Sun Cable up for sale.
In 2022, Cannon-Brookes acquired a minority stake in Australian energy company AGL Energy.
Scott Farquhar – Estimated Net Worth Today: $10.1B.
Scott Farquhar is co-founder and co-CEO of the software company Atlassian.
He graduated from the University of New South Wales, with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science.
Mr. Farquhar often carries the epithet of accidental billionaire after he and his business partner Mike Cannon-Brookes founded Atlassian with the aim to replicate the A$48,000 graduate starting salary typical at corporations without having to work for someone else.
Atlassian’s marquee customer list includes wholesale retailer Costco and American airline Delta.
David R. Cheriton – Estimated Net Worth Today: $9.3B.
David R. Cheriton a computer science professor at Stanford University, made his fortune thanks to an early investment in Google; where he was among the first angel investors. And Arista, where he was co-founder and chief scientist (IPO in 2014); Granite Systems (sold to Cisco in 1996) and Kealia (sold to Sun Microsystems in 2004).
He has made contributions to education, with a $25 million donation to support graduate studies and research in the School of Computer Science.
Cheriton became chief data center scientist at Juniper Networks after the acquisition of his company Apstra in 2021.
Dustin Moskovitz – Estimated Net Worth Today: $8.8B.
Moskovitz is a co-founder of Meta Platforms, the company behind Facebook — the world’s largest social network.
Most of his net worth lies in his estimated 2% stake in Facebook.
After leaving the social network in 2008, he cofounded Asana, a workflow software company.
Moskovitz co-founded the philanthropic organization Good Ventures with his wife Cari Tuna in 2011; which has given millions to malaria eradication and marriage equality.
In March 2011, Forbes reported Moskovitz to be the youngest self-made billionaire in the world, on the basis of his 2.34% share in Facebook.
Pierre M. Omidyar – Estimated Net Worth Today: $8.8B.
Pierre Omidyar founded the online auction firm eBay in 1995 and now serves on the company’s board.
In 2002, eBay acquired online payment company PayPal, which was later spun off as a separate company in 2014. As of now, Omidyar owns a 5% stake in eBay and a 6% stake in PayPal.
In 2013, he announced that he would create and finance First Look Media; the parent company of online news site The Intercept and the entertainment company Topic Studios.
In October 2018, his network spun off its decade-old citizen engagement arm, which has doled out $326 million since its launch and named it Luminate.
Joseph Gebbia – Estimated Net Worth Today: $7.6B.
Joseph Gebbia is a co-founder of Airbnb and Samara, an accessory dwelling unit startup that was formerly Airbnb’s design studio, the company’s non-profit foundation.
In July 2022, Gebbia stepped back from his day-to-day role at Airbnb.
He owns a 9% stake in Airbnb.
In September 2022, he joined the board of Tesla. In January 2022, Mr. Gebbia bought a minority stake in the San Antonio Spurs basketball team.
James Dyson – Estimated Net Worth Today: $7.6B.
James Dyson is best known as the inventor of the dual cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner, which works on the principle of cyclonic separation.
Dyson employs more than 5,800 engineers around the world and says it invests about $10 million a week in product development.
In addition to vacuum cleaners, Dyson has also invented other household appliances such as bladeless fans, air purifiers, and hair dryers.
In 2017, Dyson founded the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology, based on the Dyson Campus in Malmesbury.
James was awarded a CBE in 1996 and a Knight Bachelor in 2007. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2015, and in the 2016 New Year Honours was appointed to the Order of Merit – the highest honour and the only one within the Queen’s personal gift.
James Goodnight – Estimated Net Worth Today: $7.4B.
Since founding SAS, a leading business analytics software vendor, in 1976. Jim Goodnight has served as its CEO and overseen an unbroken chain of revenue growth and profitability that is unparalleled in the industry. He is a recognized pioneer among companies that consistently top great workplace rankings; having secured the top position on several country and multinational lists. Goodnight has been honoured with numerous awards, including being named a Great American Business Leader by Harvard Business School and one of America’s 25 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs by Inc. magazine.
Goodnight is a passionate advocate for education reform; believes that education is a critical factor in the success of individuals, organizations, and nations. He is an active participant in the Business Roundtable and the Business Council, where CEOs address global issues and business concerns. With a Ph.D. in statistics, Goodnight speaks regularly on leadership, education, and innovation at international events.
Marc Benioff – Estimated Net Worth Today: $7.0B.
Marc Russell Benioff – is best known as the co-founder, chairman and CEO of the software company Salesforce. He owns about 4% of the cloud computing software firm he cofounded in 1999.
Before joining Salesforce, he spent 13 years at Oracle, the database software giant, where he was mentored by Larry Ellison.
Salesforce was a pioneer in delivering its software as a service (SaaS) model, which hosted the software online, rather than requiring clients to install it on their computer systems.
Benioff has invested in numerous tech startups as an angel investor and is also an active philanthropist, supporting various causes.
Jincheng Liu – Estimated Net Worth Today: $6.9B.
Liu Jincheng chairs EVE Energy.
EVE Energy Co., Ltd. researches, manufactures and sells lithium batteries. The Company produces lithium primary batteries, lithium-ion batteries, power systems, energy storage systems, and others. EVE Energy also operates import and export businesses.
Liu holds degrees from Wuhan University, South China University of Technology and the China Europe International Business School.
This post first appeared on IDiyas Blog On Prolific Inventors And Their Inventions And Patents, please read the originial post: here
