Our Methodology
A net worth figure is only as good as the work behind it. Here is exactly how we build, date and revise every estimate on this site.
Last updated
What we mean by net worth
Net worth is everything a person owns minus everything they owe. It is not salary, and it is not lifetime earnings. A footballer who earned $300 million over a career but spent, taxed and lost much of it may have a far smaller net worth estimate than the headline contract suggests. The same definition is used in household research such as the US Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances, which is a useful reference for how wealth is measured in practice.
The sources we use
We start with documents, not headlines. In rough order of weight, we rely on:
- Regulatory filings, annual reports and disclosed shareholdings
- Property records, land registries and court documents
- Reported contract values from leagues, unions and credible sports reporting
- Funding announcements and transactions involving private companies
- Interviews and reporting from established news organisations
Anonymous claims, fan sites and other net worth websites are never used as a source on their own. If we cannot trace a figure back to something verifiable, it does not go into the estimate.
How each asset is valued
Different assets need different treatment. Public shares are easy to price; a stake in a private company or a song catalogue is not. We apply the same rules to every profile so that the numbers can be compared.
| Asset type | How we value it | Typical adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| Listed shares | Market price on the valuation date | None |
| Private company stakes | Latest funding round or comparable listed companies | Discount of 20–40% for illiquidity |
| Real estate | Purchase price, records and local comparable sales | Known mortgages subtracted |
| Music and media catalogues | Multiple of estimated annual royalty income | Conservative multiple |
| Career earnings and cash | Reported pay after estimated taxes, fees and spending | Typically 40–60% retained |
Debts and what we cannot see
Liabilities are the hardest part. Where loans, mortgages or pledged shares are disclosed, we subtract them. Where they are not, we apply a cautious estimate and say so in the profile. We would rather publish a lower figure we can defend than a higher one we cannot.
Dates, ranges and updates
Every figure carries a valuation date. Profiles are reviewed at least once a year and whenever a major event, such as a company sale or a new contract, changes the picture. Rankings such as our richest people in the world list are generated from the same profile data, so a figure on a list always matches the person's page. You can browse every estimate in the wealth explorer.
Where our figures come from
Our starting point is the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list, which is updated after every trading session. We record the figure on a stated date, then check the two parts that move most: the number of shares a person holds, taken from regulatory filings, and the price used for private companies, taken from the most recent funding round or tender offer. Company filings, annual reports and court records are used to verify anything a list does not show.
We do not publish photographs we have no licence for, and we do not copy text from other publishers. Profiles are written by our editorial team and reviewed by the research desk before publication. See our editorial policy for the standards that apply.