The Billionaires Behind The Workplace

 

The billionaires behind the work space  Plus: A Diversity Report Card | March Madness Corporate Spending | 30 Under 30 Europe ADVERTISEMENT BECOME A MEMBER • NEWSLETTERS • MYFORBES

A total eclipse and the men’s championship game to cap off March Madness? What a start to the week! There should be plenty to discuss around the proverbial water cooler. 

In other news, Forbes released its annual list of billionaires last week, highlighting the richest people in the world. Tech remained a major contributor to the wealth on the list, with artificial intelligence startups minting two new billionaires in Ivan Zhao of Notion and Brett Adcock of Figure.

And what about the billionaires who started, own or run the products and software most of us use during the workday? Take Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, worth $114 billion and $110 billion respectively. From Google search to the Google Workspace offerings that include Gmail, Drive and Google Docs, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t use at least one of the company’s applications during their day-to-day work. It’s similar with the billionaires coming out of Microsoft, including cofounder Bill Gates and creator of Microsoft Word and Excel Charles Simonyi, worth $128 billion and $7.3 billion.

Then there’s the people behind the products used within the job market itself, like David Duffield, who Forbes estimates is worth $14.2 billion largely from his role as cofounder of HR software Workday and PeopleSoft. His Workday cofounder, Aneel Bhusri, is worth $3.1 billion. 

I find it fascinating to think about the companies—and people—behind the products we use every day, especially at work. You can check out the full billionaires list here, as well as a look at some of the list’s surprising numbers.

Maria Gracia Santillana Linares Careers Reporter Follow me on Forbes.com

WORK SMARTER

Practical insights and advice from Forbes staff and contributors to help you succeed in your job, accelerate your career and lead smarter Toying with the idea of becoming a “supercommuter”? Here are some things you should keep in mind.  Consider these tips as you decide if a job relocation is right for you.  Take a look at the pros and cons of taking a sabbatical.  Reconnecting with old coworkers can be difficult. Here’s some sample messages to start.   Wondering which job titles make up the C-suite at your company? We broke down who is part of the top roles in most organizations.  TOUCH BASE GETTY IMAGES News from the world of work Are there any lucky March Madness bracket winners reading this? Company brackets have been a popular way to bring the office together, and companies spent 69% more on March Madness-related expenses this year, ranging from prizes for bracket winners to trips to championship games, according to data collected by fintech Brex. One company, for example, spent $1,500 on custom-made March Madness Nike sneakers.  U.S. unemployment fell to 3.8% in March, extending its longest streak of sub-4% unemployment in six decades, according to a report by the Labor Department. The U.S. also added 303,000 new jobs, well above economists’ expectations of 200,000.  Relief from late work calls and emails could soon be coming to California. A proposed bill would make it legal for workers to ignore after-hour calls, texts and emails from their bosses. The “right-to-disconnect” bill would eliminate the pressure for employees to always be online, author of the bill Assemblyperson Matt Haney told Forbes contributor Jack Kelly. And it may be for the best: A 2023 study by Slack’s Workplace Labs found that employees who send messages after work hours tend to be less productive, not more.  Forbes released its annual 30 Under 30 Europe list on Tuesday. From tech to finance, media to manufacturing, the founders of this year’s list raised a total of $1 billion in funding. While 70% of listers are (co)founders of their own companies, some like Jasmine Yeo, fund manager at Ruffer and Finance lister, have risen through corporate ranks to stand out amongst their Under 30 peers NUMBER TO NOTE 90,309 That’s the number of jobs cut in March, the highest since a January 2023 peak. Leading the way? Cuts in the U.S. Army and Veterans Affairs department. VIDEO Money comes, money goes. Here are five people who dropped off the billionaires list in 2024.