The world’s ultra-rich crossed a historic threshold in 2024, with the 500 wealthiest billionaires amassing a combined fortune exceeding $10 trillion.
The rise in wealth was driven by a boom in technology stocks, which catapulted billionaires like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jensen Huang to new financial heights.
This year marked a watershed moment for the global elite, as the fortunes of tech magnates swelled in tandem with advancements in artificial intelligence and a soaring stock market.
Musk, already a dominant figure in the wealth rankings, solidified his status as the world’s richest person with an unparalleled $213 billion gain, thanks to the stellar performance of Tesla, SpaceX, and his AI venture, xAI.
Musk is not alone in reaping the benefits. Mark Zuckerberg of Meta Platforms and Jensen Huang of Nvidia were also among the year’s biggest winners. Nvidia’s stock nearly tripled in value as the AI boom reshaped the tech landscape, contributing $76 billion to Huang’s net worth. Zuckerberg, despite facing regulatory hurdles in the European Union, added $81 billion as Meta’s stock rallied nearly 70%.
The S&P 500 rose 24% in 2024, driven by a select group of stocks dubbed the “Magnificent Seven,” which includes Tesla, Meta, and Nvidia. This group accounted for over half of the index’s gains. Billionaires within the Bloomberg Billionaires Index collectively added $1.5 trillion to their fortunes, with tech moguls leading the charge.
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Trump’s victory further catalyzed wealth accumulation, particularly in digital assets. Bitcoin broke the $100,000 barrier, boosting the fortunes of crypto billionaires like Changpeng Zhao of Binance, whose net worth rose by 60% to $55 billion.
- While many billionaires thrived, some faced significant setbacks. French luxury tycoons Bernard Arnault and Francois Pinault suffered steep losses as weakening demand in China and slowing global sales hit the luxury sector hard. Arnault alone saw his wealth decline by $54 billion.
- In Asia, Colin Huang, the founder of e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, experienced the sharpest drop among Chinese billionaires, losing $18 billion after a disappointing earnings report.
- Latin American billionaires were not immune to volatility either. Carlos Slim, a titan of Mexican industry, saw his net worth plummet by $26 billion due to falling peso values and market headwinds following leftist candidate Claudia Sheinbaum’s presidential victory.
- As billionaires under the age of 60 added wealth at twice the pace of their older counterparts, questions about inequality loom large. The combined net worth of the 500 wealthiest individuals now rivals the GDPs of Germany, Japan, and Australia combined.
For Musk and others, 2024 went down as a historic year of wealth creation, but for those left behind in the wealth disparity, the milestone may serve as a sobering reminder of the widening gap in global economic fortunes.
