The world’s 500 wealthiest individuals saw significant growth in their fortunes this year, with a combined net worth of $10 trillion, the report states.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which provides a daily ranking of the world’s richest people, shows that tech entrepreneurs in particular enjoyed massive wealth gains. Collectively, they added $903 billion to their fortunes in 2024.
A major driver of these increases was the performance of U.S. technology stocks, which boosted the wealth of Musk, Zuckerberg, Huang, Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
These eight tech moguls alone saw their wealth rise by over $600 billion, accounting for 43% of the $1.5 trillion total gain among the 500 wealthiest individuals tracked by the Index this year.
Musk, whose companies include Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, saw his fortune soar to a record-breaking $442.1 billion—an increase of $213 billion from the start of 2024.
A key factor behind this rise was Musk’s close relationship with the incoming president, which helped drive up the value of his companies.
Additionally, the stock market’s performance following the election of former President Trump further contributed to the wealth surge.
The S&P 500, which had its best post-Election Day performance in history, hit an all-time high on November 6, and in the five weeks after the election, the wealth of those on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index grew by $505 billion, or 34% of the yearly total.
Trump’s victory also sparked a historic rally in digital assets, pushing Bitcoin above $100,000 for the first time, which benefitted crypto billionaires.
For instance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder of Binance, saw his wealth rise 60% to $55 billion, while Coinbase co-founder Brian Armstrong’s net worth climbed more than 50% to $11.1 billion.
The gap between Musk and second-ranked Bezos reached a record $237 billion on December 17, marking the largest-ever difference between the top two on the Bloomberg index.
The broader market also contributed to billionaire wealth, with the S&P 500 Index gaining 24% in 2024, driven in large part by the “Magnificent Seven” stocks—Tesla, Meta Platforms (Zuckerberg’s company), and Nvidia (Huang’s company), which accounted for more than half of the index’s performance.
As of December 31, the total value of the fortunes tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index stood at $9.8 trillion, slightly down from its peak of $10.1 trillion earlier in the month after a post-Christmas selloff.
Notable Losers and Winners of 2024
Losers:
- French Luxury Billionaires: The wealth of Bernard Arnault, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, and Francois Pinault took a significant hit due to a slowdown in luxury goods sales, particularly in China. This cost them a combined $71 billion.
- Colin Huang: The Chinese e-commerce mogul behind Temu saw his fortune drop by $18 billion after a poor earnings report sent his company’s stock plummeting 29% in a single day.
- Ricardo Salinas: The Mexican retail and banking magnate lost over half his wealth in a day after his company’s stock collapsed following his claims of being scammed by a former financial advisor.
- Carlos Slim: The Mexican telecom and energy magnate’s fortune fell by $26 billion, partly due to currency fluctuations and weaker markets following the election of a leftist president in Mexico.
- Pham Nhat Vuong: The Vietnamese mogul, whose holdings include Vinfast, saw his fortune drop sharply after the electric vehicle company’s stock plunged 70%. Though the stock has since recovered, the decline cost Vuong nearly half of his net worth.
Winners:
- Donald Trump: The president-elect’s fortune reached new heights, driven by the performance of his stake in Trump Media & Technology Group, which gained 95% in value this year.
- Jensen Huang: The CEO of Nvidia, a major beneficiary of the AI boom, added $76 billion to his wealth, with Nvidia’s stock nearly tripling in value, making it the world’s most valuable company at one point.
- Mark Zuckerberg: Despite facing an $841 million antitrust fine from the EU, Zuckerberg’s wealth grew by $81 billion as Meta’s stock surged nearly 70%, thanks to a strong push into AI.
- Chinese Billionaires: Notable Chinese billionaires like Tencent’s Pony Ma, Xiaomi’s Lei Jun, and Cambricon’s Chen Tianshi saw their fortunes grow by 14% this year, reversing several years of losses due to the property crisis and regulatory challenges.
- Billionaires under 60: Younger billionaires saw their wealth grow more than twice as quickly as their older counterparts, with those under 60 now representing 27% of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
In summary, 2024 was a year of remarkable wealth creation, particularly in the tech sector, with Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jensen Huang leading the charge.
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