The number of Canadian billionaires on Forbes’ annual rich list remained nearly the same this year, even as 11 per cent of last year’s members fell off the annual list.

Forty-five Canadians made Forbes’ annual rankings of the world’s richest people, compared to 46 in 2018.

Meanwhile, Forbes said that there are 2,153 billionaires globally – 55 fewer than a year ago – and a record 46 per cent of those members are poorer than they were last year. Amid stock market weakness and global economic certainty, Forbes said the total wealth of its billionaires list declined about US$400 billion from 2018 to US$8.7 trillion.

David Thomson, chairman of media and publishing group Thomson Reuters Corp., is again the wealthiest Canadian and ranks 27th globally with a net worth of US$32.5 billion. Last year, Thomson ranked 32nd globally.

With a net worth of US$9.5 billion, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Vice Chairman and Co-Founder Joseph Tsai is the second wealthiest Canadian and 147th in the world. Taiwan-born Tsai holds a Canadian passport and owns 49 per cent of the Brooklyn Nets NBA team.

Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is again No.1 in the world with a net worth of US$131 billion, though terms of his divorce from wife MacKenzie have not been disclosed. Microsoft Corp. Co-Founder Bill Gates is the second-richest globally, with a net worth of US$96.5 billion. 

Here are the Canadians on Forbes’ latest list of the world’s richest people and where they rank:

27 – David Thomson & family

147 – Joseph Tsai

174 – Galen Weston & family

209 – James Irving

272 – Jim Pattison

298 – David Cheriton

343 – Emanuele (Lino) Saputo & family

413 – Garrett Camp

424 – Mark Scheinberg

568 – Alain Bouchard

597 – Chip Wilson

667 – Arthur Irving

715 – Huang Chulong

715 – Daryl Katz

745 – Bob Gaglardi

775 – Peter Gilgan

838 – Mitchell Goldhar

877 – Lawrence Stroll

962 – Jean Coutu

962 – Robert Miller

1008 – Charles Bronfman

1008 – Carlo Fidani

1227 – Serge Godin

1281 – Jacques D’Amours

1281 – Michael Lee-Chin

1349 – Marcel Adams & family

1349 – Hal Jackman

1349 – Pierre Karl Peladeau

1425 – Stephen Jarislowsky

1425 – Tobi Lutke

1425 – Gerald Schwartz

1511 – N. Murray Edwards

1605 – Brand Louie

1605 – Stephen Smith

1605 – Peter Szulczewski

1717 – Bruce Flatt

1717 – Dani Reiss

1818 – Terence Matthews

1818 – K. Rai Sahi

1941 – Jack Cockwell

1941 – Mark Leonard & family

2057 – Ronnen Harary

2057 – Guy Laliberte

2057 – Anton Rabie

2057 – Prem Watsa