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Think Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, and Bill Gates are the world’s richest? Think again!

King Charles III

King Charles III

When the will of Elizabeth II has been settled, then the new King of Great Britain, Charles III, will be without doubt one of the richest men on the planet. 

However, due to the extreme secrecy surrounding the wealth of the Royal Family, it is not public knowledge just how much he is worth.

Furthermore, under a royal decreethe late monarch's personal will was not due to be made public until 2112.

READ MORE: KING CHARLES’ STAFF TOLD THEY COULD LOSE JOBS DURING THE QUEEN’S MOURNING PERIOD

What we can know, though, is that King Charles will inherit the Queen's privately owned estates such as Balmoral and Sandringham, the Royal Studs and a collection of jewelry, art and rare stamps worth billions. 

The stamps alone are said to be valued at $100million plus adding in speculative figures for financial investments.

Forbes recently put the Queen's personal net at some $500m. 

King Charles the billionaire

By counting the assets he now owns (or by right of the crown), there are nine palaces, thirty castles and countless residences worth a total of $10 billion-plus (Buckingham Palace alone is valued at $4.9bn).

The Crown Jewels are said to be worth around $4bn. Group that with the Royal Art Collection with artworks from Rembrandt, Vermeer, Caravaggio and Leonardo Da Vinci) and you have a man who is likely worth more than Musk, Bezos, Buffet, and Gates combined.

The Crown Estate is worth $17 billion on its own

Then take the Crown Estate, a sprawling property portfolio with $17.5bn in net assets, including Regent Street, Ascot Racecourse and virtually the entire seabed of the UK up to 12 miles from the coast.

Officially the king doesn't own the Crown Estate.

He only draws an income from it of $100 million per annum (25 percent of its net profit). It also has the handy feature of being protected by law from decreasing in years when Crown Estate revenues decline.

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The Sovereign Grant 

This is another enormous income stream taken via a near 1,000-year-old fund known as the Duchy of Lancaster.

This is a large private estate that has belonged to the reigning monarch since 1399.

Today its holdings are worth $700 million, and include "Offshore wind farms" as well as 18,248 hectares of land. Last year the Queen received a payment known as the "Privy Purse" of $30m. 

Charles III inherited the Duchy of Lancaster and passed the larger Duchy of Cornwall to his heir, Prince William. 

King Charles does not pay inheritance taxes

Legally, the monarch is not obliged to pay any tax at all. There is no inheritance tax payable on any assets passed from the Queen to her son and successor.

However, if the Queen has left any private wealth to other members of her family they will likely be subject to inheritance tax. 

Slimming down the family

There have been rumors that King Charles may be looking to slim down the current Royal Family and reduce the headcount.

With that in mind there is every sign that Crown Estate revenues will keep rising.

Image: Carl Graph, Flickr

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