Net worth: $28.8 billion

Age: 76

Country: Brazil

Industry: Diversified investments

Source of wealth: Self-made; 3G Capital

Once dubbed "the world's most interesting billionaire" by Bloomberg, Jorge Lemann had previous lives as a journalist and professional tennis champion before turning to finance in 1971 with the purchase of a small Brazilian brokerage firm. He later went on to cofound investment company 3G Capital in 2004, through which Lemann has become best known for his affinity for mergers and acquisitions — especially with frequent deal partner Warren Buffett.

At the end of 2014, Lemann created a fast-food giant, with the help of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, by merging Burger King with Canadian brand Tim Hortons in a series of deals worth over $11 billion. In 2015, 3G and Berkshire Hathaway teamed up again to invest $10 billion into the megamerger of Kraft and Heinz, which created the fifth-largest food and beverage company in the world.

In November 2015, 3G's Anheuser-Busch InBev orchestrated a mammoth $108 billion deal to take over SABMiller, becoming the most dominant beer producer in the world. Earlier this year he initiated a takeover bid of food and household goods behemoth Unilever — a deal that would be worth some $250 billion.

His net worth has increased by $2.9 billion over the last year.