The 10 Richest People in the World collected an additional 115 Billion Dollars in December
As of December 1st, the 10 richest people in the world are worth almost 115 billion dollars more than a month ago. One-quarter of that increase is due to the growth of Elon Musk’s wealth during November. The billionaires at the top of the Forbes list had a very good November, at least when it comes to the value of their shares. All the 10 richest people in the world are now richer than a month ago. Their fortunes jumped by nearly 115 billion dollars, a 9% jump, due to the rise in the value of stocks, from Tesla to Alphabet.
The Forbes Business magazine has been keeping track of the world’s billionaires since 1987. Earlier this year, they found 2.640 of them for their annual list. They update their wealth daily throughout the year. Many billionaires own most of their net worth in the stocks of companies they founded or co-founded. As the price of those stocks changes, so does their wealth.
According to the Forbes list, the world’s 10 richest people are worth a combined 1.44 trillion dollars as of midnight December 1st, up from 1.32 trillion dollars a month ago. The biggest gainer in the past month (in dollars) was Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, a jump of almost 17% in the price of Tesla shares during November raised his wealth by 28 billion dollars – to 245 billion dollars.
Bernard Arnault is still the second richest and is worth an estimated 191 billion dollars. This is an increase from almost 178 billion dollars at the beginning of November.
Software tycoon Larry Ellison of Oracle was the second-biggest gainer among the top 10, with his wealth increasing by 15.6 billion dollars during November, thanks to a nearly 10% jump in Oracle shares.
1. Elon Musk
Elon Musk is the CEO of the electric car company Tesla, the rocket company SpaceX, and the social media company X, formerly known as Twitter. He owns 23% of Tesla’s capital in the form of stocks and options but has put up some of his capital as collateral for loans. The car company accounts for roughly two-thirds of his fortune. He bought X for 44 billion dollars in October 2022 and owns an estimated 74% of the company, which is now worth less than half of what he paid for it.
Originally from South Africa, Musk moved to Canada before his 18th birthday, worked various jobs, enrolled at Queen’s University in Ontario, and then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics. In 2000, he merged the online bank he co-founded, X.com, with a similar company co-founded by Peter Thiel to form Paypal, which eBay bought in 2002 for 1.4 billion dollars. He founded SpaceX in 2002 in El Segundo, near Los Angeles. In 2004, he joined Tesla as an investor and chairman of the board, a year after it was founded; he was later granted the title of co-founder.
2. Bernard Arnault
Bernard Arnault is the CEO and chairman of LVMH, the largest luxury goods company in the world with around 70 fashion and cosmetics brands. Among the most famous are Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Moet & Chandon, and Sephora. In January 2021, LVMH bought the jewelry house Tiffany & Co. for 15.8 billion dollars. Arnault’s father made millions in the construction business. To start his career, Arnault used 15 million dollars of that fortune to buy Christian Dior. Arnault has five children, all of whom work in parts of the LVMH empire. In January 2023, Arnault appointed his daughter Delphine to run Dior, the group’s second-largest brand.
3. Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos stepped down as CEO of e-commerce giant Amazon in July 2021, but remained chairman; that same month he went into space on a rocket built by private rocket giant Blue Origin, which he founded and financed with billions of dollars. Between November 1st and December 1st, his fortune increased by 12.5 billion dollars due to the increase in the value of Amazon shares. Bezos founded the online retail company Amazon.com in his garage in Seattle in 1994, after leaving his job in New York. Amazon started as an online bookstore at a time when few people bought products online. The company grew into a leading cloud data storage company and expanded into the production of movies and series to meet the needs of the Amazon Prime video service., Forbes reports.
E.Dz.
