If there was a category above the ultra-wealthy, what would youname it? Maybe something like the “spaceship-owning-super-rich”?It's something to ponder as you peruse the latest list of theworld's wealthiest people, releasedby Forbes earlier this week.

The report not only names the who's who ofthe billionaire club — all1,826 of them — but also denotes different trends ofwealth acquisition and distribution. For example, billionaires'aggregate net worth went up from $6.4 trillion in 2014 to $7.05trillion this year. There are 46 billionaires under the age of 40,and of the 290 newly minted billionaires, 71 are from China.However, most of the ultra rich are from the United States or arefirst generation Americans.

How does Forbes compile this huge list? Their team of reportersgathers net worth, values individuals'assets such as stakes in public and private companies, real estate,yachts, art and cash, and take into account billionaire's estimateddebt. They also reach out to billionaires to make sure theirnumbers are correct and, as their article says, “some cooperate;others don't.” Another important thing to note is that this Forbeslist only ranks individuals rather than “multi-generationalfamilies who share large fortunes,” and so you will see thatmembers of the same family are tied or outrank each other on thelist.

Forbes emphasized that this list only includes entrepreneurs,not individuals who are part of a royal family, dictators or otherfamilies who control a nation's riches.

To see the billionaires who made the top 25, keep reading.

25. DavidThomson: $25.5B

Canada
Thomson Reuters media mogul

Grandson of Roy Thomson, 1^st Baron Thomson ofFleet, David Thomson has been chairman of the board of hisgrandfather's media conglomerate, the Thomson Corporation, since2002. The company acquired Reuters in 2008 to form Thomson Reuters.David now owns 40 percent stake in CTVglobemedia, owners of theGlobe and Mail newspaper in Toronto, through the Thomson familyinvestment company the Woodbridge Company Limited. David iscurrently co-chairman of Woodbridge and is 57 years old.

Sources: ThomsonReuters.com and ThomsonBoard of Directors (AP Photo/Eric J.Shelton)

22. Tie: John Mars, Jacqueline Mars, ForrestMars, Jr.: $26.6 B (each)

United States
The Mars, Inc. family

Brother and sister John and Jacqueline Mars, and father ForrestMars, Jr. are heirs to the Mars, Inc. candy and food makers anddistributors giant. Founded in 1911 by their great grandfather,Franklin Clarence Mars, when he started making butter cream candyin his Tacoma, Washington kitchen, Mars, Inc. is America's sixthlargest private company.

Sources: Mars.com, Forbes (This March26, 2014 photograph shows the entrance of the new Mars Inc.production facility near Topeka, Kan. It's the company's first newNorth American production facility in 35 years. AP Photo/OrlinWagner)

21. Georg F. W.Schaeffler: $26.9B

Germany
INA Holding Schaeffler GmbH & Co. KG

Georg hails from Germany and owns 80 percent of the company thathis father and his father's brother started in 1946, which producesball bearings and other industrial components. Founded after theSecond World War was over, the company began selling handcarts andother wood products, and, in 1949, Georg's father developed theneedle roller bearing. Currently, Georg's mother, Maria-ElisabethSchaeffler, owns the other 20 percent of INA. Georg himselfreceived a law degree from Duke University.

Sources: INA.de, INA.de/management (ProprietorsMaria-Elisabeth Schaeffler, left, and her son Georg F.W. Schaefflerof Ina Holding Schaeffler KG talk during the celebrations markingthe 100th anniversary of German carmaker Audi, Thursday July 16,2009 in Ingolstadt, southern Germany. AP Photo/DanielKarmann)

20. SergeyBrin: $29.2B

United States
Google's cofounder

Born in Russia, Brin emigrated to the U.S. when he was six.Along with Larry Page, Brin founded tech giant Google in 1998,while they were both attending Stanford University for their Ph.D.on computer science. Currently, he directs special projects and hasbeen linked to the secretive wing of the Google corporation calledGoogle X, which researches and develops risky tech projects, suchas Google Glass and Google's self-driving car.

Sources: Forbes, Google,Inc., Research.Google.com, FastCompany (Googleco-founder Sergey Brin stands on stage during a bill signing byCalifornia Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., for driverless cars at Googleheadquarters in Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. APPhoto/Eric Risberg)

19. LarryPage: $29.7B

United States
Google's cofounder

Google's CEO and cofounder, Larry Page is tasked with managingthe long-term strategy for the search engine giant in Palo Alto.Page has been named a visionary and a great leader by many people,and has even been compared to Thomas Edison at GE.

Sources: Forbes, Google,Inc., Fortune (AP Photo/SethWenig)

18. SheldonAdelson: $31.4B

United States
Las Vegas Sands

Owner of the largest gaming company in the world, SheldonAdelson's story is one of rags to riches. He started his firstbusiness when he was 12: selling newspapers in a corner. Today,most of his fortune comes from his biggest market in Macau, on thewestern side of the Pearl River Delta in China.

Sources: Forbes. (APPhoto/John Locher)

17. LiKa-shing: $33.3B

Hong Kong
Cheung King (Holdings) Limited

His companies employ a small country of people, 280,000 to beexact. He is, after all, the richest man in Asia. Owner of CheungKing (Holdings) Limited (CKH), a multi-national company that dealswith property and real estate management, health related productsand other investments, Li Ka-shing is currently the chairman ofboth CKH and Hutchinson Whampoa Limited. He and his family fled toHong Kong when he was 12 years old, and by age 15 he had to providefor his family after his father's death. He worked 16 hour days ata plastics trading company until he was able to start his ownplastic manufacturing company in 1950, Cheung Kong Industries. Fromthere, he branched out into real estate investments.

Sources: Forbes, CKH (HongKong tycoon Li Ka-shing, chairman of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., andCheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd., gestures during a press conference toannounce his companies' annual results in Hong Kong Friday, Feb.28, 2014. AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

16. MarkZuckerberg: $33.4B

United States
Facebook cofounder

With the recent changes in advertising, it's no wonder that thesocial media giant increased its revenue 58 percent in 2014, plusit has 1.4 billion users worldwide. Oh, did I forget to mentionthat Facebook also owns former competitors WhatsApp and Instagram,as well as virtual reality headset maker Oculus VR.

Sources: Forbes, Facebook (FacebookCEO Mark Zuckerberg gestures while delivering the keynote addressat the f8 Facebook Developer Conference Wednesday, April 30, 2014,in San Francisco. AP Photo/Ben Margot)

15. JeffBezos: $34.8B

United States
Amazon.com founder

Can you imagine running a company that does $74 billion in salesand employs almost 120,000 people? That's what Bezos does everyday. He founded Amazon.com in 1994, after leaving hedge fund D.E.Shaw in New York City. What started originally as an onlineretailer has evolved into a tech company that sells all kinds ofgoods. The company focuses on offering great customer service,competitive prices, and soon, same-day delivery … maybe via creepyflying drones.

Sources: Forbes andthe Forbesbrands list. (In this June 16, 2014 file photo, AmazonCEO Jeff Bezos walks on stage for the launch of the new Amazon FirePhone, in Seattle. AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

14. MichaelBloomberg: $35.5B

United States
Bloomberg LP

New York City's former mayor, Bloomberg returned to run hismedia company this year. Originally from Boston, Bloomberg startedin an entry level job at an investment bank in 1966 on Wall Street.He rose through the ranks and became head of equity trading andthen head of information services at Salomon Brothers. In 1981, heand other investors founded Bloomberg LP. In 2014, he was appointedspecial envoy for cities and climate change by United Nations'secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon.

Sources: Forbes (FormerNew York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, addresses the audience atthe City Climate Leadership Awards, presented by C40 and Siemens,on Monday, Sept. 22, 2014 in New York City. Ed Rieker/AP Images forSiemens)

13. BernardArnault: $37.2B

France
Chairman and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy LouisVuitton

He's the second richest person in France and the59^th most powerful person in the world, accordingto Forbes. Arnault oversees luxury goods such as Dom Perignon,Bulgari, Fendi and Sephora, under the LVMH company, of which he hasbeen CEO since 1989. He is considered the “world's ultimatetastemaker” and sees himself as an ambassador of French heritageand culture. Arnault got his start as an engineer at a constructioncompany.

Sources: Forbes, LVMH (APPhoto/Francois Mori)

United States, the Wal-Mart heirs:

12. S. Robson (Rob) Walton: $39.1B

The eldest son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, S. Robson iscurrently chairman of the board at the company. He also has aventure capital firm, Madrone Capital Partners.

11. Alice Walton: $39.4B

Heiress, along with her brothers, to the Wal-Mart fortune, Alicehas dedicated herself to curating art and opening a museum in herhometown of Bentonville, Arkansas, which includes art by AndyWarhol, Norman Rockwell and Georgia O'Keeffe.

9. Jim Walton: $40.6B

Currently the chairman and CEO of Arvest Bank Group, Inc., agroup of banks operating in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahomaand chairman of Community Publishers, Inc. that has newspapers inAK, MI and OK too.

8. Christy Walton; the wealthiest woman in the world:$41.7B

For five of the last six years, Christy Walton has held thetitle of the richest woman in the world. She married John Walton,one of the Walton family heirs, and inherited his wealth when hedied in an airplane crash.

Sources: Forbes, Walmart (JimWalton, left, Alice Walton, center, and Robson Walton, right, greeteach other during the beginning of the Walmart Stores Inc.shareholders' meeting in Fayetteville, Ark., Friday, June 1, 2012.The three siblings are the children of the late Sam Walton, founderof Walmart. AP Photo/April L. Brown)

10. LilianeBettencourt: $40.1B

France
L'Oreal

Liliane Bettencourt is the daughter of L'Oreal founder EugeneSchueller. She is also the richest woman in France. She's 92 yearsold and suffers from dementia. Lately, her name has been on thenews because ten people are on trial to determine if they stolehundreds of millions of euros from her or if she generously gaveaway her fortune to her staff. The trial is known as theBettencourt affair in France and it rivals a soap opera'sstoryline. A verdict will be announced late May.

According to The New York Times, “the prosecutorssaid her advanced age, the beginnings of dementia and a dailymedical regimen of 56 pills, including antidepressants, alsoinvited exploitation. And investigators contend that the schemeswere so widespread that they included a political scandal involvinga former finance minister seeking cash for the 2007 presidentialcampaign of Nicolas Sarkozy.” Her former nurse who is on trial,Alain Thurin, attempted suicide the day before the trial was tobegin and is still in a coma.

Sources: Forbes, TheTelegraph, TheNew York Times (In this March 29, 2012 file photo,L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt leaves the L'Oreal-UNESCO prizefor the women in science, in Paris. AP Photo/Thibault Camus,File)

6 Tie. Charles and DavidKoch: $42.9B (each)

United States
Koch Industries

Between them, the Koch brothers own companies that run the gamutfrom Dixie Cup manufacturers to LYCRA makers. Charles, the oldest,is the CEO of Koch Industries; David is the executive vicepresident. Their company is the second largest private company inAmerica.

Sources: Forbes (Inthis Aug. 30, 2013, file photo, Americans for Prosperity FoundationChairman David Koch speaks in Orlando, Fla. AP Photo/Phelan M.Ebenhack, File)

5. LarryEllison: $54.3B

United States
Oracle's cofounder

The main backer of America's Cup winner Oracle Team USA, LarryEllison was raised by his great aunt in Chicago. In his beginnings,he built databases for the CIA and then founded what became thedatabase software firm Oracle in 1977. He stepped down as Oracle'sCEO last year, shocking Silicon Valley, but will stay on aschairman and chief technology office.

Sources: Forbes, Oracle (LarryEllison, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Oracle Corp.,waits to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the primeminister's official residence in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 8, 2014. (APPhoto/Kimimasa Mayama, Pool)

4. Amancio Ortega: $64.5B

Spain
Zara and Inditex Group

You have probably seen the fashionable clothes, shoes andaccessories that Spanish retailer Zara has in its stores located inmajor metropolitan areas across the U.S. It is owned by AmancioOrtega and managed through Inditex Group, which he founded in 1963.Known as the richest man in Spain, Ortega took Zara from a fewstores in Spain to thousands of stores worldwide. They own otherclothing brands like Bershka and Pull & Bear and even a homestore. Ortega current is a member of Inditex's board.

Sources: Forbes, Inditex.com (Photo:Zara store at Champs-Élysées in Paris, France.Inditex.com)

3. Warren Buffett: $72.7B

United States
Berkshire Hathaway

Of course the one and only Warren Buffett is on this list. Hiscompany, Berkshire Hathaway, has the most expensive stock of anypublic U.S. company, the Class A stock, valued at $217,000 pershare. Buffett owns a number of different subsidiaries, includingrailroads, insurance companies and $16 billion worth of Coca-Colashares.

Sources: Forbes, Fortune (Inthis file photo from May 5, 2014, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman andCEO Warren Buffett laughs in Omaha, Neb. AP Photo/NatiHarnik)

2. Carlos Slim Helu: $77.1B

Mexico
Telecom and other industries

A veteran of Forbes' world's richest people list, Carlos Slimhas previously claimed the No. 1 richest man in the world title.This time, he's the second richest person on the planet. He ownsthe largest Mexican telecom company America Movil, along with othercompanies in the construction, energy and automotive industries.Slim is also the largest shareholder of The New York Times withalmost 17 percent stake.

Source: Forbes (HonoreeMexican business magnate Carlos Slim attends The Friars FoundationGala at The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014, in NewYork. Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

1. Bill Gates: $79.2B

United States
Microsoft

Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates has been the world's richestperson 16 times out of the last 21 years, according to Forbes. Thehardware and software company that revolutionized how we interactwith computers and the digital world, Microsoft was founded in1975. Gates is also one of the world's top philantropists throughthe Melinda Gates foundation his wife founded. Watch this TED talkon why Gates and his wife are givingtheir fortune away here.

Sources: Forbes, GatesFoundation.org (Microsoftfounder Bill Gates arrives at the European Commission headquartersin Brussels on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015. AP Photo/Geert VandenWijngaert)

See also:

The 10 wealthiest people inAmerica

50 of the wealthiest people in America, bystate: Part 4

50 of the wealthiest people in America, bystate: Part 3

50 of the wealthiest people in America, bystate: Part 2

50 of the wealthiest people in America, bystate: Part 1