The year 2020 was good to the world’s richest people on the planet despite an era disrupted by one of the worst pandemics in human history.
The top five richest people in the world have a wealth valuation of at least $100 billion and unsurprisingly four of such rich individuals are from the technology sector.
Data retrieved from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index revealed such billionaires gained $270.35 billion in 2020.
READ: World’s richest people lose 2.1% of their wealth in a day
Jeff Bezos
Top on the list is Jeff Bezos, the CEO, and founder of Amazon.
- He is presently valued at about $190 billion, showing a gain of a whopping $75.4 billion.
- Coming from strong gains in his online retail company, now worth over $1.63 trillion, Amazon is the world’s largest retail cyber company site, in terms of market value.
READ: Jeff Bezos becomes first person to cross $200 billion net worth, as Zuckerberg crosses $100 billion
Elon Musk
Tech whiz kid, Elon Musk, who recently overtook the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, is ranked 2nd. He is now estimated to be worth about $170billion, showing a yearly gain not seen in modern history, of about $142 billion.
- He founded and leads top tech companies like Tesla, Space X, and Neuralink, which has shown admirable strides in the tech ecosystem.
- Tesla Stock surprisingly has returned about 650% in 2020 alone to investors and now has a market capitalization that stands at $669 billion (far bigger than Africa’s largest economy).
- He is within the striking distance of the present world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos.
READ: Elon Musk needs $20 billion wealth gain to clinch world’s richest man title
Bill Gates
In the third position is another popular tech founder, Bill Gates, the founder of the most valuable software company, Microsoft.
- Bill Gates made his wealth when he simplified the computer operating system by creating Microsoft Windows, the leading operating system in personal computers globally today.
- For many years, Gates had been the world’s richest man. He now has a wealth fortune of $132 billion with a yearly gain of about $18.6 billion.
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Bernard Arnault
Europe’s top entrepreneur and French celebrated fashion icon, Bernard Arnault, is fourth on the list with a fortune now estimated to be worth $114 billion, with a yearly gain of $9.15 billion.
- He is the only billionaire on the top 5 that isn’t from the tech ecosystem.
- The french-born billionaire got extremely wealthy through his flair for investing in leading luxury brand chains.
- Most of his wealth comes from his controlling stake of LVMH, which he controls through his holding known as Christian Dior.
READ: This billionaire made $39 billion in 2019, thanks to his luxury brands
READ: Top 5 richest people gain over $200 billion in 365 days
Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, is fifth on the list, with a fortune estimated to be worth $104 billion and a yearly gain of about $25.2 billion.
- He owns the biggest online social medial company, popularly referred to as Facebook, and other household tech brands including Instagram and WhatsApp.
READ: Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, worth $104 billion keeps $2.3 billion in cash
Bottom line
Through stock holdings and investments prevailing in the world’s biggest companies, their founders, major shareholders unsurprisingly made the list of 2020 top gainers amid an era that has seen the wealth of the middle-class earners erode globally due to rising inflation.
- Finally, as global jobs and social mobility go remote, tech brands are better positioned to gain in the near term, thereby printing more gains to their owners as seen above.