The world’s 500 wealthiest individuals saw their fortunes soar in 2024, surpassing the $10 trillion mark, with tech billionaires leading the charge. Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang played a pivotal role in achieving this milestone, driven by an exceptional surge in US technology stocks. These tech billionaires have reshaped the wealth landscape.
Eight of the top tech titans, including Musk, Zuckerberg, Huang, Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, collectively added more than $600 billion to their wealth this year. Tech billionaires alone accounted for 43% of the $1.5 trillion wealth increase among the world’s 500 richest individuals, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Elon Musk’s Dominance
Elon Musk, who received significant backing for his business ventures from President-elect Donald Trump, dominated the rankings. Musk’s net worth surged to an unprecedented $442.1 billion in 2024, an increase of $213 billion. His close relationship with Trump helped boost the value of his companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, and his AI company, xAI. This solidified his position at the top, with a $237 billion gap between him and the second-wealthiest, Jeff Bezos, on Dec. 17—the largest gap ever recorded in the Bloomberg wealth index.
Stock Market Rally Drives Billionaire Gains
The overall wealth of the world’s richest people was fueled by a resilient US stock market. The S&P 500 Index climbed 24% through December, primarily driven by the “Magnificent Seven,” a group of major tech stocks that included Musk’s Tesla, Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms, and Huang’s Nvidia. These companies contributed to more than half of the index’s gains in 2024. Tech billionaires like Musk, Zuckerberg, and Huang saw significant increases in their fortunes.
The election of Donald Trump in November gave the stock market an additional boost, with the S&P 500 hitting a record high on Nov. 6. Billionaires gained a combined $505 billion in the five weeks following the election, accounting for 34% of their total annual gains.
Trump’s victory also spurred a rally in digital assets, with Bitcoin crossing the $100,000 mark for the first time. This especially benefited crypto billionaires like Binance’s Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong, whose fortunes surged 60% and 50%, respectively.
As of Dec. 31, the total wealth of the 500 richest individuals stood at $9.8 trillion, slightly below the Dec. 11 peak of $10.1 trillion after a brief post-Christmas market selloff. Their combined wealth is comparable to the gross domestic products of Germany, Japan, and Australia combined, based on data from the World Bank. Tech billionaires have significantly impacted global wealth distribution.
Biggest Winners of 2024
Several individuals stood out as major beneficiaries of 2024’s wealth surge:
- Donald Trump: The president-elect’s wealth hit new highs, driven by his majority stake in Trump Media & Technology Group, which gained 95% in value, despite a $19.2 million loss last quarter. The company’s current market value exceeds $7 billion.
- Jensen Huang: Nvidia’s CEO, Huang, benefited immensely from the AI boom, adding $76 billion to his net worth. Nvidia stock nearly tripled in 2024, and it briefly became the world’s most valuable company in June.
- Mark Zuckerberg: Despite facing a hefty $841 million antitrust fine from the EU and skepticism over Meta’s AI investments, Zuckerberg added $81 billion to his fortune, with Meta stock up nearly 70%.
- Chinese Billionaires: Key figures like Tencent’s Pony Ma, Xiaomi’s Lei Jun, and Cambricon Technologies’ Chen Tianshi saw their fortunes rise by 14%, reversing three years of losses driven by a property crisis and regulatory pressures.
- Billionaires Under 60: This younger demographic outpaced older billionaires, growing their wealth twice as fast. They now make up 27% of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Biggest Losers of 2024
However, not all billionaires enjoyed gains. Some saw significant losses:
- French Luxury Billionaires: Bernard Arnault, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, and Francois Pinault, whose wealth is tied to luxury brands, collectively lost $71 billion in 2024 due to sluggish sales in the Chinese market following a pandemic-fueled boom in luxury spending.
- Colin Huang: The founder of Temu saw his wealth fall by $18 billion, the steepest decline among Chinese billionaires. Temu’s disappointing earnings report caused its stock to plunge 29% in one day.
- Ricardo Salinas: The Mexican retail and banking magnate lost more than half of his fortune after his company, Grupo Elektra SAB, saw its stock plummet amid allegations that Salinas had been scammed by a financial adviser.
- Carlos Slim: The Mexican telecom giant experienced a $26 billion drop in his wealth, hit by a weakening peso and disappointing market conditions after leftist candidate Claudia Sheinbaum won Mexico’s presidential election.
- Pham Nhat Vuong: The Vietnamese tycoon lost nearly half his wealth after shares in his electric vehicle company, Vinfast Auto, tumbled 70%. While the stock has recovered somewhat, the decline still inflicted major losses on Vuong’s net worth.
