New Delhi: Elon Musk, the CEO of electric car maker Tesla and space exploration company SpaceX, has once again become the world’s richest man, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He reclaimed the top spot from Bernard Arnault, the French billionaire who heads the luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE.
The index, which tracks the daily changes in the net worth of the world’s 500 richest people, showed that Musk’s fortune increased by $95.4 billion in 2023, reaching $232 billion by the end of Thursday (December 28). This was a remarkable turnaround for Musk, who lost $138 billion in 2022, the biggest annual drop in the history of the index.
Musk’s wealth surge was driven by the success of his two companies, Tesla and SpaceX, which both achieved record-breaking milestones in 2023. Tesla delivered more than two million vehicles in 2023, up from 1.3 million in 2022, and became the first automaker to reach a market capitalization of $2 trillion. SpaceX launched more than 100 missions in 2023, including the first all-civilian orbital flight, and raised $10 billion in funding at a valuation of $200 billion.
Meanwhile, Arnault’s net worth declined by $50 billion in 2023, falling to $179 billion by the end of Thursday. He was affected by the global slowdown in demand for luxury products, which was exacerbated by the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Shares of LVMH, which owns brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Moët & Chandon, dropped by 15 percent in 2023, after rising by 40 percent in 2022.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index also revealed the names of the other richest men in the world They are:
- Jeff Bezos: The founder of e-commerce giant Amazon and space company Blue Origin added more than $70 billion to his account this year and is now tied with Arnault for second place with a net worth of $179 billion. Bezos benefited from the strong performance of Amazon, which saw its revenue grow by 25 percent in 2023, as well as the successful launch of his first crewed space flight in July.
- Bill Gates: The co-founder of Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation increased his wealth by more than $20 billion this year and is now in fourth place with a net worth of $141 billion. Gates gained from the rise in Microsoft’s stock price, which reached a new high of $400 per share in December, as well as his investments in various sectors, such as biotechnology, clean energy, and agriculture.
- Steve Ballmer: The former CEO of Microsoft and the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team boosted his fortune by more than $30 billion this year and is now in fifth place with a net worth of $131 billion. Ballmer, who owns about four percent of Microsoft, profited from the company’s growth, as well as the increase in the value of his sports franchise, which is estimated to be worth $3.5 billion.
- Mark Zuckerberg: The founder and CEO of Meta, formerly known as Facebook, added more than $80 billion to his wealth this year and is now in sixth place with a net worth of $130 billion. Zuckerberg, who owns about 13 percent of Meta, saw his company’s stock price soar by 60 percent in 2023, as he announced his vision to build the metaverse, a virtual reality platform that aims to connect billions of people online.
The collective net worth of the 500 richest individuals rose by $1.5 trillion in 2023
According to the index, the collective net worth of the 500 richest individuals is expected to increase by $1.5 trillion in 2023, completely recovering from last year’s loss of $1.4 trillion. The index noted that the wealth of the tech billionaires increased by 48 percent or $658 billion in 2023, due to the huge discussion about Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is seen as the next frontier of innovation and growth.
According to news agency IANS, some of the tech billionaires who saw their wealth skyrocket in 2023 include:
- Zhong Shanshan: The founder and chairman of Nongfu Spring, a bottled water company, and Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy, a vaccine maker, became the richest person in China and the seventh richest person in the world, with a net worth of $125 billion. He added more than $50 billion to his fortune in 2023, as his companies benefited from the high demand for water and vaccines amid the pandemic.
- Larry Page and Sergey Brin: The co-founders of Google and the co-CEOs of Alphabet, its parent company, increased their wealth by more than $40 billion each in 2023, reaching $115 billion and $112 billion respectively. They ranked eighth and ninth in the world, as their company dominated the online search and advertising market, as well as expanded its presence in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and self-driving cars.
- Brian Armstrong: The co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, became the richest person in the crypto industry and the 15th richest person in the world, with a net worth of $75 billion. He added more than $60 billion to his wealth in 2023, as his company’s stock price surged by 300 percent in 2023, following its public listing in April.
