Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has defended his title as richest man in the world yet again, meaning that he has now taken the Forbes’ top spot for four consecutive years.

Mr Gates, whose wealth is estimated to be around $86bn, beat second-placed Berkshire Hathaway chief executive Warren Buffett, whose fortune was cited to be around $75.6bn.

Others in the top ten, which is heavily dominated by Americans in the technology sector, were Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, at number five, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison at number seven and Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos.

Amancio Ortega, the Spanish business tycoon best known for owning the Zara fashion label, came in fourth, making him the highest ranking non-American with an estimated fortunate of $71.3bn.

In sixth spot was Carlos Slim Helu, with a fortune of $54.5bn. Mr Slim, who has in the past claimed the top spot, owns an array of conglomerates across a slew of sectors, including in mining, telecommunications, real estate, media and financial services.

US President Donald Trump dropped dramatically to 544th spot, according to Forbes.

Forbes said on Monday that the number of billionaires had jumped 13 per cent to 2,043 from 1,810 last year. That’s the first time the figure has cracked 2,000.

Their combined net worth rose by 18 per cent to $7.67 trillion— also representing a new record.

Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Show all 10 1 /10 Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Bill Gates - $75 bn The creator of Microsoft is worth $78 billion. He has topped the list for 17 out of the past 22 years - though his net worth shrank by $4.2bn (£3bn) to $75bn (£53.7bn). Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Amancio Ortega - $67 bn The Spanish business who set up the Zara chain of high-street shops is worth $67 billion. REUTERS/ AP Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Warren Buffet - $60.8 bn Warren buffet is the world's most successful investor. Forbes rates him as being worth $60.8 billion. Getty Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Carlos Slim Helu - $50 bn Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecom magnate, is this year’s biggest loser with a fortune of $50 billion, down from $77.1 billion last year. Getty Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Jeff Bezos - $45.2 bn Amazon’s Jeff Bezos moved up to the fifth from the fifteenth spot last year; his net worth increased to $45.2 billion. Getty Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Mark Zuckerberg - $44.6 bn The biggest gainer on the 2016 list is Mark Zuckerberg , whose fortune is up $11.2 billion for a total net worth of $44.6 billion. He is the sixth richest in the world. Getty Images Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Larry Ellison - $43.6 bn The American entrepreneur has a fortune of $43.6 billion Bloomberg Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Michael Bloomberg - $40 bn Michael Bloomberg, whose media and financial empire has created a personal fortune of $40 bn, is said to be willing to spend up to $1bn on a presidential campaign AP Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Charles Koch and David Koch - $39.6 bn Charles Koch, along with brother David Koch of Koch Industries are joint sixth and are valued at $39.6 billion. Forbes top 10 richest billionaires in the world Liliane Bettencourt - $36.1 bn Liliane Bettencourt is the heir to the L’Oreal empire Getty Images

The change in the number of billionaires -- up 233 since the 2016 list -- was the biggest jump in the list’s more than three decade history and Forbes said that gainers since last year’s list outnumbered losers by more than three to one.