The world’s richest people have achieved strong gains this year, and the top 10 people (in terms of the value of the increase in wealth) have recorded more than $460 billion since the beginning of 2023, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The top ten people’s wealth jumped from about $765 billion at the end of 2022 to $1.2 trillion so far, with rates of increase ranging between 20 and 200 percent.
The profits came mainly from a significant rise in the prices of technology company shares amid optimism about the end of the monetary tightening cycle (rising interest rates). Moreover, it was due to the possibility of lowering interest rates starting next year, which will support growth in stocks such as technology companies.
The top three
Among the ten highest-earning people this year, 9 are investors in the technology sector and one person is in the retail sector. Meanwhile, seven of them are on the list of the ten richest people in the world, while three are not among the ten richest people.
American billionaire Elon Musk (who is also the richest person in the world), owner of Tesla and formerly Twitter, topped the list with market gains of $93.9 billion. This raised his wealth by 68 percent to $231 billion.
Second came Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Meta (formerly Facebook). He also is the seventh richest person in the world, with gains of $75 billion (163 percent), bringing his wealth to $121 billion.
In third place came Jeff Bezos, founder of the e-commerce giant Amazon. His wealth increased by $65 billion (61 percent) to reach $172 billion, ranking him third richest in the world.
Billions in profits
Steve Ballmer, former CEO and shareholder of Microsoft ranked fourth on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His wealth increased by $40.8 billion (47 percent) to reach $127 billion, making him fifth among the world’s richest people.
Following him came Larry Page, former CEO of Google and co-founder of Google’s Alphabet Inc. Thus, his wealth increased by $37.1 billion (45 percent) to reach $120 billion, becoming the eighth richest person in the world.
In sixth place came Sergey Brin, former president of Google and co-founder of Google’s Alphabet Inc. His wealth increased by $34.6 billion (44 percent) to reach $114 billion, making him the tenth richest person in the world.
Amancio Ortega ranked seventh on the list. He owns an estimated 60 percent stake in Inditex, the largest clothing retail company in the world. He also owns Spain-based Arteixo, which is the parent company of Zara and seven other retail brands. His wealth increased by $30.8 billion (56 percent), reaching $85.4 billion. Therefore, he ranked 14th globally on the list of the richest people in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
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Tech companies take the lead
Jin Sun Hwang, CEO of semiconductor manufacturer Nvidia, was the eighth largest gainer. Thus, he recorded market gains of $29.2 billion (212 percent), raising his wealth to $43 billion. Moreover, he is the 29th richest person in the world.
Ninth came Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, who increased his wealth by $28.4 billion (26 percent) reaching $138 billion. He ranks fourth among the world’s richest people.
In tenth place in terms of gains came Michael Dell, CEO of Dell, after his wealth increased by $27.8 billion (57 percent) reaching $76.2 billion. He ranks 16th globally among the world’s richest people.
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