10 Top Richest Man in the World
As 2024 approaches, the financial landscape of the richest people on the planet is still changing, with some notable changes seen among the top billionaires.
According to the most recent data, the wealth of seven out of the ten richest people have increased during December 2023, totaling a $30 billion gain. Interestingly, the biggest winner during this time was Mark Zuckerberg, who moved up from seventh to fifth place in the world, even overtaking the longtime leader, Bill Gates.
It is possible to follow the daily updates of these powerful people’s precise net worth. Many billionaires’ fortunes are directly correlated with changes in the stock values of the businesses they started or co-founded, which causes their total wealth to fluctuate dramatically.
The combined net worth of the top ten richest people in the world as of January 1, 2024, is an astounding $1.47 trillion, a significant rise from the previous month.
The list of 10 Top Richest Man in the World:
1. Elon Musk
With a net worth of $251 billion, Elon Musk continues to hold the title of richest person in the world. His wealth is mostly attributable to his positions as CEO of Tesla, shareholder of SpaceX, and owner of the social media platform X. With an estimated net worth of $200.7 billion, French luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault is ranked second, demonstrating the dynamic nature of the world’s wealthiest people.
The performance of the stock market for each of these billionaires’ enterprises is closely tied to their wealth, which causes their financial status to fluctuate often.
With a remarkable net worth of $251.3 billion, Elon Musk—a dominant presence in the IT and business landscape—is the proud owner of the title of richest person in the world. Elon Musk, 52, is the CEO of SpaceX, a rocket firm, Tesla, a massive electric car manufacturer, and X, a social networking platform that was once known as Twitter.
In 2000, Musk demonstrated his prowess as an entrepreneur when he co-founded X.com, an online bank. This firm later joined with another of Peter Thiel’s ventures to form PayPal, which eBay eventually purchased for $1.4 billion in 2002. Musk established SpaceX in El Segundo in 2002. In 2004, he became a chairman and investor in Tesla, and in 2008, he became the company’s CEO.
The market capitalization of Tesla had significant increase in 2020 and 2021, making Musk the richest person in the world in September 2021. In November 2021, his fortune peaked at $320 billion. Despite ups and downs, Musk’s wealth keeps growing. In December 2023, a 4% increase in Tesla’s share price helped him increase his wealth by about $6 billion.
2. Bernard Arnault
At the age of 74, Bernard Arnault, a titan of the luxury goods industry, is the second wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of $200.7 billion.
Arnault has skillfully developed the greatest luxury goods conglomerate, LVMH, as CEO and chairman. The company is home to around 70 prestigious fashion and cosmetics brands, including well-known names like Sephora, Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Moet & Chandon. Arnault made a calculated decision to purchase Christian Dior with $15 million from his father’s construction company to launch his entry into the world of luxury.
Arnault’s wealth has increased even though he lost his ranking as the richest person in the world on June 8, 2023, moving up to second place. Due to a significant rise in the price of LVMH shares, Arnault’s estimated net worth increased by $9.4 billion on January 1, 2024, compared to the previous month. Arnault is a significant participant on the world billionaire scene due to his lasting impact and financial prowess in the luxury industry.
3. Jeff Bezos
As the creator of the massive online retailer Amazon, creative businessman Jeff Bezos is worth a healthy $168.4 billion at the age of fifty-nine. Bezos, who founded Amazon in 1994 and was its CEO until July 2021 (he is now chairman), had a significant increase in his wealth in December 2023 of $5.8 billion, which he mostly attributed to the increase in Amazon shares.
The path that Bezos took to become the richest person in the world began in July 2017, when he overtook Bill Gates. This mutually beneficial relationship persisted, as Bezos was ranked first on Forbes’ list of the world’s billionaires from 2018 to 2021. Bezos made his way back into the top three, securing the third rank on January 25, 2023, after briefly falling to the second-richest spot in 2022.
Notably, Bezos’s divorce from his ex-wife MacKenzie in 2019 marked a dramatic shift in his personal life. MacKenzie received 4% of Amazon’s shares as a result of the settlement, while Bezos kept 12%. Bezos has spread his investments across a number of businesses, including well-known brands like Workday and Airbnb, through his Bezos Expeditions company. Along with wise investments and creative ideas, Bezos’s entrepreneurial path has cemented his long-lasting influence on the world of business.
4. Larry Ellison
The well-known computer magnate Larry Ellison, who is 79 years old, has a healthy net worth of $135.3 billion. Co-founder of the software behemoth Oracle in 1977, Ellison served as CEO until 2014 before assuming the positions of chairman and chief technology officer at this time. Oracle has made large acquisitions under Ellison’s direction, most notably the $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems in 2010.
In addition to his contributions to the software industry, Ellison gained notoriety in 2012 when he paid $300 million for the Hawaiian island of Lanai. Ellison had houses in California and Nevada even after moving to Lanai in 2020. Interestingly, Ellison engaged with Tesla and broadened his investment portfolio by joining the board of the automaker from 2018 until August 2022.
Due to an increase in Oracle’s share price, Ellison momentarily overtook Jeff Bezos as the third-richest person in the world in June 2023. But after that, the market moved, and he was able to return to fourth place. In December 2023, Ellison faced a financial blow as Oracle shares fell by 10%, resulting in a $11.2 billion decrease in his total wealth. Ellison’s legacy in the ever-changing corporate innovation landscape is being shaped by his strategic investments and acquisitions, in addition to his influence in the technology industry.
5. Mark Zuckerberg
At the age of 39, a software tycoon and CEO of Meta Platforms Mark Zuckerberg has a considerable net worth of $125.3 billion. In 2004, as a student at Harvard University, Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook, which was then known as Meta. This marked the beginning of his career in the tech industry. With 3.88 billion monthly members, Facebook has grown to become the largest social network in the world throughout time.
Under Zuckerberg’s direction, Meta grew and acquired platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp, which helped it gain more clout. Zuckerberg continues to play a significant role in directing the course of Meta as its CEO. He made Meta public in 2012 and still owns roughly 13% of the business. In an effort to further human potential, Zuckerberg and his spouse, Priscilla Chan, have pledged to donate 99% of their Meta stock to charitable causes.
Their aspirational charitable pursuits include funding the creation of instruments to treat and prevent diseases by the end of the century. Due to the increasing value of Meta’s shares, Zuckerberg made a comeback to the top 10 richest people in the world in the summer of 2023, having not done so since January 2022. Notably, Zuckerberg’s wealth rose by $9.4 billion in December 2023, coinciding with a 9% gain in Meta’s stock price.
6. Bill Gates
At the age of 68, software pioneer and philanthropist Bill Gates has a healthy net worth of $119.6 billion. When Gates was a teenager, his interest in computer programming took off, and in 1975, he dropped out of Harvard to co-found Microsoft with his friend Paul Allen.
It has produced one of the first software applications, which was significant for the developing personal computer business. Gates was Microsoft’s chief executive officer for twenty-five years, and he remained chairman until 2014. He continues to be active even after leaving the board in 2020, putting in about 10% of his time as a consultant for Microsoft teams.
Due in great part to Gates’ charitable activities, Jeff Bezos overtook him in 2018 as the richest person in the world. After settling for an estimated $10 billion after his divorce from Melinda French Gates in 2021, Gates’ wealth increased by $2 billion in December 2023, keeping him as the sixth richest person in the world as of January 1.
7. Warren Buffett
Known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffett is 93 years old and one of the wealthiest investors in history with a $118.6 billion net worth. As the head of Berkshire Hathaway, an investment conglomerate, Buffett is in charge of a varied portfolio that includes well-known companies like Geico, Duracell, and Dairy Queen. Buffett started trading at a young age, acquiring his first stock at the age of eleven and handling tax returns at the age of thirteen.
Buffett is widely acknowledged as the world’s most giving billionaire, and his charitable endeavors demonstrate his commitment to having a good influence. He generously donated $4.6 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway shares in mid-June. Even with a slight decline in the value of Berkshire Hathaway shares—a $700 million decline in December 2023—Buffett’s reputation as a humanitarian and financial icon endures.
8. Larry Page
With a net worth of $117.2 billion, Larry Page, a 50-year-old Stanford PhD student, has mostly accumulated his wealth from his crucial part in co-founding the ground-breaking search engine Google in 1998 with fellow Stanford student Sergey Brin. Of particular note is that Page was the company’s first CEO, holding the post from 1998 to 2001 and then again from 2011 to 2015.
He currently holds a sizable controlling share in Alphabet, the parent company of Google, and performs the duties of a board member. In addition to his contributions to the internet industry, Page made strategic investments. He was a founding investor in Planetary Resources, a pioneer in asteroid mining that ConsenSys later bought in 2018. A notable 15% increase in Alphabet’s share price in May 2023 drove Page’s rise into the top 10 richest people in the world.
His wealth increased by a respectable $5.5 billion between December 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024, as a result of the market’s vitality, and Alphabet’s shares increased by almost 6% during this time. Larry Page’s lasting impact in the technology and investing industries highlights his aptitude for spotting and seizing new trends, which has greatly bolstered his impressive financial position.
9. Sergey Brin
Sergey Brin, fifty years old, has amassed a considerable $112.4 billion in net worth, mostly due to his crucial contribution as Larry Page’s co-founder of Google in 1998. Even after leaving Google’s parent firm Alphabet as president in December 2019, Brin continues to wield significant roles as a board member and controlling shareholder. His ascent to fame started when he immigrated to the United States from Russia.
Brin’s pivotal involvement in the founding of Google, which signaled a paradigm shift in the development of online search and information retrieval, highlights the importance of his contributions to the computer industry. December 2023 saw a significant rise in Brin’s wealth of approximately $5.1 billion, driven by an almost 6% increase in the price of Alphabet shares. In addition to his business endeavors, Brin has proven his dedication to philanthropy, especially with regard to medical research.
More than a decade ago, he made public his increased risk of Parkinson’s disease. Since then, he has committed over $1.1 billion to research projects aimed at better understanding and treating this neurological illness. Sergey Brin’s contributions to technology and health research are numerous and varied, ranging from changing the digital environment to meaningful giving.
10. Steve Ballmer
Steve Ballmer, who is 67 years old, has a considerable net worth of $112.2 billion, which he mostly accumulated due to his close relationship with Microsoft. Accompanying his Harvard classmate Bill Gates, Ballmer became a key contributor to the computing powerhouse after joining as its thirty-first employee in 1980. His career path at Microsoft culminated in a position leading the company as CEO from 2000 to 2014, during which he guided it through exciting times of expansion and change.
Read More: Tamil Movie Free Download: Get A Complete Guide to download new Tamil Movie
FAQs
<strong>Who is the Richest man in the world?</strong>
Elon Musk
