It was a good time to be a wealthy man for most of 2021. As the Covid-19 pandemic shook the globe for a second year, rising equity markets and rising valuations boosted the fortunes of the world’s 500 richest people by more than $1 trillion.
Tesla co-founder Elon Musk, who in a March regulatory filing changed his title from CEO to “Technoking of Tesla”, has seen his wealth increase considerably as a result of Tesla’s rapid growth.
The world’s richest man, Musk, now has a net worth of $273 billion. In 2021, he added $117 billion to his net worth – just shy of the $140 billion he added in 2020.
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Tesla shares have risen by 60% in 2021, and the company’s market value reached $1 trillion for the first time in October.
Musk has recently sold millions of shares of Tesla to pay a reported $12 billion tax bill associated with a package of stock options he received in 2012.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos came in second place, but his net worth did not increase by much. Despite adding just $4 billion, he remained in second place with a net worth of $194 billion.
Bernard Arnault took the third position with $177 billion (he added $62.7 billion in 2021). The luxury goods conglomerate that owns Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Givenchy is headed by Arnault.
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Philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ net worth soared to $138 billion in 2021, as he added $6.6 billion.
The co-founder of Google, Larry Page, with a net worth of $130 billion (and an additional $47 billion in 2021 due to Alphabet’s performance) is the fifth richest person on earth.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, had a net worth of $128 billion at the sixth position. During this time, his wealth increased by $24.9 billion. Zuckerberg owns more than 20% of Meta (formerly Facebook), whose value has risen by over 20% in 2021
The seventh-place is occupied by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, whose net worth is $125 billion.
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According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft and owner of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, added $40 billion in 2021 to reach a net worth of $121 billion.
In 9th place is legendary investor Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire-Hathaway, who finished with $109 billion net worth in 2021 and added $22 billion.
Larry Ellison, Oracle’s Chairman and Founder ranked tenth with $108 billion (and looking to add $29 billion by 2021)