There are four names on the annual Forbes Billionaires list that Ottawa residents might recognize.
Tobi Lütke, Bill Malhotra, Terry Matthews and Michael Andlauer were named in the magazine’s 2025 list, which identifies the richest people across the globe.
In an article about the list, Forbes said the number of billionaires worldwide has swelled since the publication started tracking them in 1987. In the first year, Forbes found 140 billionaires; this year, the list consists of 3,028 entrepreneurs, investors and heirs.
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“Not only are there more of them, but they’re richer than ever, worth $16.1 trillion in total — up nearly $2 trillion over 2024,” wrote Forbes. “The U.S. has a record 902 billionaires, followed by China (516, including Hong Kong) and India (205).”
The richest on the list are valued at hundreds of billions of dollars. This year’s top three are individually worth more than US$200 billion: Elon Musk (US$342 billion), Mark Zuckerberg (US$216 billion) and Jeff Bezos (US$215 billion).
Shopify CEO Lütke, who moved to Toronto in 2023, has ranked on the list since at least 2018, peaking at a net worth of US$9.8 billion in 2021. After a drop in 2022 and 2023, this year he’s climbed back up to a net worth of US$8.9 billion for 2025. The 44-year-old, whose e-commerce company went public in 2015, ranks 337th on the billionaires list, the highest valuation of any business leader with Ottawa ties.
Also on the list is Ottawa real estate leader Malhotra, with a reported net worth of US$2.2 billion, unchanged from the previous year. Malhotra is the CEO of Claridge Homes, one of the largest real estate developers in the city. The 75-year-old ranks 1,626th on the list, on which he first appeared in 2021.
Matthews, who made his fortune in the telecom industry with Mitel and Newbridge Networks, is worth a reported US$1.6 billion and has been since 2022, according to Forbes. The 82-year-old first made the list in 2005 with a net worth of US$1 billion and did not return again until 2017. Since then, he has ranked on the list every year. For 2025, he ranked 2,110th.
A relative newcomer to the list — and to Ottawa — is Andlauer, who purchased the NHL’s Ottawa Senators in 2023. The 60-year-old made his fortune in health-care logistics, as well as transportation, before getting involved in sports as an owner of the Hamilton Bulldogs and Montreal Canadiens.
He first made the Forbes list in 2024 with a net worth of US$1.1 billion. This year, his valuation increased to US$1.2 billion, ranking him 2,623rd among the world’s billionaires.
