Richest people in telecom
30 billionaires worth a combined $236B, ranked by Forbes real-time estimates on October 11, 2026. Carlos Slim Helu & family leads at $115B.
Ranking
| Name | Rank | Net worth | Since 2026 list | Age | Source | Country |
|---|
| Carlos Slim Helu & family | 16 | $115B | -$10.1B | 86 | Telecom | Mexico |
| Xavier Niel & family | 226 | $13.8B | -$752M | 59 | Internet, telecom | France |
| Sunil Mittal | 263 | $12.5B | -$1.7B | 68 | Telecom | India |
| Rajan Mittal | 465 | $8.2B | -$1.1B | 66 | Telecom | India |
| Rakesh Mittal | 466 | $8.2B | -$1.1B | 71 | Telecom | India |
| Patrick Drahi | 553 | $7.2B | -$1.2B | 63 | Telecom | France |
| Robert Hale Jr | 619 | $6.5B | +$473M | 60 | Telecom | United States |
| Yasumitsu Shigeta | 690 | $6.0B | -$1.0B | 61 | Mobile phone retailer | Japan |
| Naguib Sawiris | 740 | $5.6B | +$26M | 72 | Telecom | Egypt |
| Shaul Shani | 825 | $5.2B | -$39M | 71 | Telecom | Israel |
| Catherine Commisso & family | 947 | $4.6B | -$1.0B | 68 | Telecom | United States |
| John Caudwell | 1027 | $4.1B | -$56M | 74 | Mobile phones | United Kingdom |
| Abel Avellan | 1086 | $3.9B | -$2.2B | 55 | telecoms | United States |
| Najib Mikati | 1131 | $3.7B | -$84M | 70 | Telecom | Lebanon |
| Taha Mikati | 1131 | $3.7B | -$84M | 81 | Telecom | Lebanon |
| Denis O'Brien | 1369 | $3.1B | -$10M | 68 | Telecom | Ireland |
| Craig McCaw | 1477 | $2.8B | -$81M | 77 | Telecom | United States |
| John Stanton | 1713 | $2.4B | +$18M | 71 | wireless | United States |
| Xue Jiping | 1778 | $2.3B | n/a | 75 | Cable | China |
| Strive Masiyiwa | 1912 | $2.2B | +$51M | 65 | Telecom | Zimbabwe |
| Marcelo Claure | 2151 | $1.9B | -$479M | 55 | Cell phone distribution | United States |
| David Teoh | 2299 | $1.8B | -$600M | 70 | Telecom | Australia |
| Kenny Troutt | 2467 | $1.7B | -$47M | 78 | Telecom | United States |
| Vladimir Yevtushenkov | 2510 | $1.6B | +$15M | 78 | Telecom, investments | Russia |
| Terence (Terry) Matthews | 2563 | $1.6B | -$33M | 83 | Telecom | Canada |
| Gleb Fetisov | 2786 | $1.4B | -$3M | 60 | Investments | Russia |
| Wu Kaiting | 2822 | $1.4B | -$28M | 56 | Electronics | Hong Kong |
| Andrei Kuzyaev | 2914 | $1.3B | +$15M | 61 | telecom, oil service, real estate | Russia |
| Mohammed Ibrahim | 2984 | $1.3B | -$49M | 80 | Communications | United Kingdom |
| Zhong Peifeng | 3011 | $1.2B | +$128M | 63 | semiconductor | United States |
Wealth by country
- Mexico: 1 billionaires, $115B combined, richest Carlos Slim Helu & family
- India: 3 billionaires, $28.9B combined, richest Sunil Mittal
- United States: 8 billionaires, $25.0B combined, richest Robert Hale Jr
- France: 2 billionaires, $21.0B combined, richest Xavier Niel & family
- Lebanon: 2 billionaires, $7.4B combined, richest Najib Mikati
- Japan: 1 billionaires, $6.0B combined, richest Yasumitsu Shigeta
- Egypt: 1 billionaires, $5.6B combined, richest Naguib Sawiris
- United Kingdom: 2 billionaires, $5.4B combined, richest John Caudwell
- Israel: 1 billionaires, $5.2B combined, richest Shaul Shani
- Russia: 3 billionaires, $4.3B combined, richest Vladimir Yevtushenkov
- Ireland: 1 billionaires, $3.1B combined, richest Denis O'Brien
- China: 1 billionaires, $2.3B combined, richest Xue Jiping
- Zimbabwe: 1 billionaires, $2.2B combined, richest Strive Masiyiwa
- Australia: 1 billionaires, $1.8B combined, richest David Teoh
- Canada: 1 billionaires, $1.6B combined, richest Terence (Terry) Matthews
Questions people ask
Who is the richest person in telecom?
Carlos Slim Helu & family is the richest person in telecom, worth $115B on October 11, 2026, according to Forbes real-time estimates. Xavier Niel & family is next at $13.8B.
How many billionaires are there in telecom?
Forbes tracks 30 billionaires in telecom as of October 11, 2026, worth a combined $236B. The median net worth among them is $3.4B.
Are billionaires in telecom getting richer this year?
The 29 of them who were also on the 2026 Forbes billionaires list are down 8.3% (-$21.1B) together since that list, comparing each person's real-time worth with their figure on it.
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