Despite the market volatility in January, there have not been significant changes in the rankings of the top ten billionaires globally according to Forbes. The spotlight has been on Elon Musk, who not only holds the title of the world’s richest person for the fifth time but has also seen his net worth soar to over $800 billion in February, widening the gap with the second-richest billionaire to nearly $600 billion.
This year, the number of global billionaires with assets exceeding $10 billion has surpassed 4,000, an increase of over 500 people from last year, marking the highest number in history. Many of these billionaires are mainly in the technology and AI fields, with the majority of multi-billionaires not even being on the list ten years ago, indicative of the significant shifts happening in the global wealth landscape.
In February alone, Musk made a whopping $64 billion, and his wealth has surged over $100 billion since the beginning of the year, once again breaking wealth records. In October last year, he became the first billionaire with a net worth exceeding $500 billion, and just two months later in December, his net worth successively crossed the $600 billion and $700 billion marks.
As of March 6 this year, Musk’s net worth is estimated at $841 billion, far surpassing the second-richest, Larry Page, co-founder of Google, by nearly $600 billion. Page’s current net worth is approximately $248.7 billion.
The main reason for Musk’s tremendous wealth growth comes from SpaceX’s acquisition of the AI startup xAI, which post-merger is valued at $1.25 trillion, with Musk holding about 43% of the shares. Additionally, Tesla shareholders have approved an unprecedented compensation plan for him, and the highest court in Delaware has also reinstated his stock options.
Despite the unpredictable market fluctuations, many are eagerly counting down to when Musk will become the first billionaire with a net worth exceeding $1 trillion globally. It is expected that SpaceX’s IPO at the end of this year will be a key driver in pushing his wealth past the trillion-dollar mark.
In contrast, several other tech giants faced headwinds in February. This was due to the decline in stock prices of Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Meta (Facebook’s parent company), Amazon, NVIDIA, and Oracle.
This led to decreases in the assets of Page, Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Jeff Bezos, and Larry Ellison by approximately $20 billion each. Bezos saw the most significant drop in net worth in a single month, with his current net worth at around $231 billion.
While Huang Renxun’s net worth took a hit due to the drop in NVIDIA’s stock price, this year marks his first entry into the global top ten billionaires list. He currently ranks 7th, with a net worth of around $158 billion.
Warren Buffett, known as the “Stock King,” ranks 9th on the list with a net worth of approximately $148.1 billion. Previously, Zara co-founder Amancio Ortega was in the top ten but has recently fallen to 13th place, with a net worth of around $138 billion. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates ranks 18th, with a net worth of approximately $107 billion.
The world’s richest woman is Alice Walton, heiress of Walmart, with a current net worth of around $130 billion, ranking 15th globally.
The founder of ByteDance, Zhang Yiming, has become the new richest person in China, currently ranked 24th on the Forbes billionaire list with a net worth of around $69.3 billion.
The net worth of Zhong Shanshan, founder of Nongfu Spring, Robin Zeng, chairman of CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited), and Ma Huateng, CEO of Tencent, is $65.8 billion, $54.6 billion, and $53.9 billion respectively. They are ranked 28th, 32nd, and 33rd on the Forbes billionaire list, and 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in China.
Additionally, William Ding from NetEase, the He Xiangjian family of Midea Group, Colin Huang from Pinduoduo, Chen Jianhua and his wife from the privately-owned petrochemical giant Hengli Group, Li Ka-shing from CK Hutchison Holdings, and Lei Jun from Xiaomi have secured the remaining top positions on China’s billionaire list.