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The 20 Richest Engineers in the World

Sergey Brin and Larry Page

If you're considering going to college to become an engineer, then you may be entering a profession that will make you incredibly wealthy. Some of the richest people in the world today started as engineers. To give you an idea of who has earned a fortune with their engineering careers here are the 20 richest engineers in the world today.

20. Baba Kalyani Net worth $2.1 billion

According to this, Baba Kalyani is the son of the founder of the Kalyani Group. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he earned his degree in mechanical engineering. Upon his father's death, he became the chairman of the Kalyani Group and heir to the family fortune. The company manufactures automotive parts and aerospace components.

19. Viktor Vekselberg Net worth: 11.9 billion

Viktor Vekselberg earned his degree in mechanical engineering from the Moscow State University of Railway Engineering. He was born in the country of Ukraine. He started his career scrapping. He took the copper materials out of worn cables and sold them for scrap. He purchased several average-sized bauxite mines along with aluminum smelting equipment and founded the Sual Holding company. He made a fortune in the aluminum industry and is now the 19th richest engineer in the world today.

18. James Ratcliffe Net worth: $18.5 billion

According to Interesting Engineering, James Ratcliff is the eighteenth richest engineer in the world as of 2021. He is the founder of the Ineos Group and its chairman. He earned his degree in chemical engineering. Mr. Ratcliffe is a British billionaire who is now based out of Monaco. He hasn't always been rich. He had to mortgage his home to leverage a business deal in 1992. Ratcliffe is currently the 118th richest person in the world and he owes it to his career as an engineer.

17. Vagit Alekperov Net worth: $20.9 billion

Vagit Alekperov attended the Azerbaijan Institute of Oil and Chemistry where he earned his BSc in science and engineering. Mr. Alekperov started his career as an oil rig worker in the Caspian Sea region, but he was a hard worker and continued to work his way up. He became the deputy minister of the former Soviet Union's oil industry. A previous Caspian Sea oil rig worker, Vagit Alekperov worked his way up to the role of deputy minister of the oil industry in the former Soviet Union. Alekperov has a BSc in Science and Engineering from the Azerbaijan Institute of Oil and Chemistry. He is a writer who published a book called "Oil of Russia: Past, Present, and Future." He has made his fortune in the oil industry and owns the largest independent oil organization in Russia, called Lukoil.

16. Thomas Kwok Net worth: $16.5 billion

Thomas Kwok is the 77th richest person in Hong Kong and he is a member of the fourth richest family in Hong Kong. He attended the Imperial College in London, England, and studied civil engineering. He continued with his education, receiving an MBA degree. He made a career in real estate and is currently the chairman of a Hong Kong real estate company called Sun Hung Kai Properties. Before going into real estate he was set to become an engineer, so technically, he is one of the richest engineers in the world today.

15. Leonid Mikhelson Net worth: $24.6 billion

Leonid Mikhelson was a student at the Samara Institute of Civil Engineering. He earned his degree in the discipline in 1977. He began his career working at a company that was building a pipeline in the Tyumen region of Russia. He is the founder and chairman of Novatek, a natural gas producing company. He is the 57th richest engineer in the world as of 2021.

14. Vladimir Lisin Net worth: $25.7 billion

Vladimir Lisin is a civil engineer who started as a mechanic for a coal mine in the Soviet Union. He worked his way up the ladder and by 1986, he became the Deputy Chief Engineer of a company called Tulachermet Metal Works. He eventually got into the steel business and he became one of the richest engineers in the world with a net worth of $25.7 billion.

13. Len Blavatnik Net worth: $32.3 billion

Len Blavatnik attended university and studied computer science and railway engineering. He is a native of Ukraine, which is the country of his birth, but his family raised him in Moscow, Russia. In 1978 he move to the United States as an immigrant. he became incredibly rich when he sold TNK-BP, a Russian oil company that he owned. He made $7 billion upon the sale in 2013. He went on to attend Columbia University where he earned a master's degree in computer science. He went on to become the 22nd richest person in the world thanks to his company Access Industries with a net worth of more than $32 billion.

12. David Koch Net worth: $40 billion

According to Rank Red, David Koch attended MIT where he studied chemical engineering. He is an Amerian who serves as the vice president of Koch Industries. The company has grown to become one of the top ten biggest private companies on the planet. Mr. Koch is known for his generosity and philanthropic spirit. He has earned his fortune through Koch Industries to his status as a chemical engineer. At one time, he was the richest New York city resident when his net worth hit an all-time high of $47.7 billion. It has since declined, but he is still the 12th richest engineer in the world.

11. Charles Koch Net worth: $45 billion

Charles Koch is also an engineer as is his brother David. Charles studied Nuclear engineering at MIT. He is older than David and his fortune is about $5 billion more. He has also made his fortune working for Koch industries. He is the current chief executive officer of the business. After Charles completed his bachelor's in general engineering, he continued his education and earned a master of science degree in mechanical engineering.

10. Michael Bloomberg Net worth: $56.1 billion

Michael Bloomberg attended Johns Hopkins University where he earned his degree in electrical engineering. He has done a great many things in his professional life, including serving as New York City's 108th Mayor. Mr. Bloomberg continued his education, attending the Harvard Business School where he earned his MBA degree in 1964. His first job was as a securities broker for Solomon Brothers on Wall Street. He spent the first decade of his career working for other people until he earned enough to found his own company. He is the founder of Innovative Market Systems. He changed the name to Bloomberg L.P. later, and this company is the source of his $56.1 billion net worth.

9. Carlos Slim Helu Net worth: $62.6 billion

Carlos Slim Helu attended the National Autonomous University of Mexico where he studied civil engineering. He went on after college to become a businessman as well as an investor and a philanthropist. Carlos Slim is a native of Mexico. He was at one time the richest person in the world between 2010 through 2013. He was upstaged in that category by Bill Gates. He is still one of the richest engineers in the world. He serves as the CEO and chairman of Telmex, America Movil, Samsung Mexico because of his investment firm that is called Grupo Carso. Grupo Carso, Diversified is the source of his tremendous wealth.

8. Sergey Brin Net worth: $75.7 billion

Sergey Brin was born in the Soviet Union. His family immigrated to the United States when he was just 6 years old. He was raised in America. He attended the University of Maryland as well as Stanford University where he earned his masters in computer engineering. He is the co-founder of Alphabet Inc. He met his future partner Larry Page while attending Stanford. The two engineers developed the concept for the company that would make them both incredibly rich men.

7. Larry Page Net worth: $77.3 billion

Larry Page is a co-founder of Alphabet Inc. His net wealth is about $5 billion higher than his partner Sergey Brin, placing him as the 6th richest engineer in the world as of 2021. He attended the University of Michigan to earn his bachelor's degree. He and Brin met while they were attending Stanford University earning their honorary degrees. He is credited with being the inventor of the PageRank search ranking algorithm. His academic studies were in computer engineering.

6. Mukesh Ambani Net worth: $78.8 billion

Mukesh Ambani is a chemical engineer from the country of India. He has an incredible fortune amassed of just under $80 billion. Ambani currently serves as the chief executive officer of the biggest shareholder of India's second-largest company called Reliance Industries Limited. Mr. Ambani built a solid foundation by completing a chemical engineering degree as an undergraduate. He continued his education at Stanford University where he came close to completing his MBA degree, but an opportunity came his way that he couldn't pass up. He helped his father to build Reliance. Today he is the richest person in all of India. Reliance Industries is a Global 500 company that specializes in the refinement of chemicals. Ambani owns 44.7 percent of all shares in Reliance.

5. Mark Zuckerberg Net worth: $101.9 billion

Mark Zuckerberg is the founder of the Facebook Corporation. Zuckerberg attended college where he studied to become an engineer. He didn't complete his degree. He dropped out of college when he was just in his second year, but he does have an engineering background. He became a billionaire in 2008 and today, his fortune has increased more than a hundredfold.

4. Bill Gates Net worth: $118.9 billion

At one time, Bill Gates was the richest man in the world, but today he is the fourth richest engineer in the world. Mr. Gates is an engineering genius, even though he did not complete his graduation at Harvard University. He dropped out of school and founded the Microsoft Corporation. He was also involved with Berkshire Hathaway and Cascade Investments. He has become one of the most influential people in the technology industry. He does have an honorary computer sciences degree from Harvard University. Gates is known for his generosity and his philanthropy which is executed through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He has donated tens of billion to charitable organizations and worthy causes.

3. Bernard Arnault Net worth: $142.7 billion

Bernard Arnault is one of the most famous names in the fashion industry. The French businessman is the chief executive officer and the chairman of Louis Vuitton (LVMH). His name is well known in the designer fashion industry. He attended Ecole Polytechnique in his home country of France. He earned his bachelor's degree in engineering from the institution. Mr. Arnault is the third richest engineer in the world as of 2021.

2. Elon Musk Net worth: $152.4 billion

Elon Musk is the second richest engineer in the world. He is best known for his work with SpaceX and Tesla. He attended the University of Pennsylvania where he studied engineering. Mr. Musk is a serial entrepreneur. He co-founded a neurotechnology company called Neuralink, which developed brain-to-machine interfaces in the form of implants. He also established The Boring Company specializing in tunnel construction. He owns a company called Open I which develops friendly artificial intelligence. He's a revolutionary innovator with his development of Tesla, and most recently SpaceX with planned trips to the planet Mars. He owns 20 percent of Tesla. His SpaceX company has a valuation of more than $46 billion.

1. Jeff Bezos Net worth: $176.4 billion

Jeff Bezos attended Princeton University where he studied electrical engineering and computer science. After graduating he took a job in finance, but by 1994, he was ready for a change. He spent some time working with various companies on Wall Street before he decided to found his own companies. He launched a telecommunication company called Fitel, He is also the founder of Amazon, Inc. Mr. Bezos spent time working as a technical engineer for a company called D.E. Shaw & Co. He is the richest engineer in the world as of 2021.

Liz Flynn

Written by Liz Flynn

Liz Flynn has worked as a full-time writer since 2010 after leaving a career in education. She finds almost all topics she writes about interesting, but her favorite subjects are travel and food. Liz loves the process of researching information, learning new things, and putting into words what others who share her interests might like to read. Although she spends most of her time writing, she also enjoys spending time with her husband and four children, watching films, cooking, dining out, reading, motorsports, gaming, and walking along the beach next to her house with her dog.

Read more posts by Liz Flynn

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