Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Tencent's Ma Huatang Make Forbes' Annual Richest List — billboard.com

Forbes has released its annual ranking of the world's wealthiest people, with Bill Gates yet again topping the list at a whopping net worth of $79.2 billion. Due to the now-inextricable relationship between technology and music, more billionaires than ever can be said to be involved, tangentially or directly, in the worldwide music industry. Tencent founder Ma Huateng oversees a company that has recently struck partnerships with Sony Music and Warner Music. Others serve as the algorithmic gatekeepers, like Facebook (a company with names peppered throughout the list, in a nearly chronological order of those who stayed and those who moved on from the social giant). Some are quickly becoming important on the world stage, like Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone maker that is gaining marketshare in its home country. Others are vaguely or directly dynastic, like radio giant Cox and audio giant Dolby. And some are just curious, like the founders of WhatsApp, which was purchased for $19 billion last year by Zuckerberg's Facebook and which has likely seen more than a few (million) links to music sent across its digital texting service. (For the nerds: George Lucas' industry is simply listed as Star Wars.)

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