These billionaires got a lot richer in 2024

10/03/2024, 8:12 AM
fastcompany.com

Financially, 2024 has been a good year for plenty of people. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up nearly 19% by the end of November. The S&P 500 was up almost 28%. And Bitcoin jumped 117% this year.

The fortunes of the world’s top billionaires have fared well, too. As of the end of last week, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, had added some $114 billion to his net worth in 2024. To put that in perspective, in the past 11 months, he has gained just shy of the gross domestic product of Puerto Rico, which stood at $117.9 billion last year.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates Musk’s current worth at $343 billion—a figure that could increase considerably in the coming year as he embeds himself in Donald Trump’s second administration.

Musk is hardly the only billionaire who notched big gains in 2024. In fact, only one of the world’s 12 richest people saw their fortunes drop during this time period. LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, who runs the world’s largest luxury goods company, has lost more than $11 billion this year.

Arnault, who once famously said, “As long as I’m not the richest man in the world, I won’t really be happy,” saw the share price of his LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) stock tumble. Year to date, shares are down 20%, from a high of $190 in March to just $127 now.

Jeff Bezos might hold claim to the title of second-richest person on earth, but in terms of 2024 gains, he’s a bit further down the list. Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison have seen their fortunes rise more than $76 billion this year, as the stock price of their companies, Meta and Oracle, respectively, have both soared more than 70% year to date.

The big swings in certain stocks like Nvidia, Oracle, and Meta (among others) has led to something of a horse race in the ranking of the richest people, which is likely to continue for some time, especially as investors chase artificial intelligence plays. Nvidia founder Jensen Huang saw his net worth jump 175% in 2024 to $121 billion.

Here’s a look at how much the world’s richest people have seen their fortunes change in the past 11 months:

Elon Musk

CEO of Tesla, owner of SpaceX and X.com

Net worth at start of 2024: $229 billion

Current net worth: $343 billion

YTD change: +$114 billion

Jeff Bezos

Founder of Amazon and Blue Origin

Net worth at start of 2024: $177 billion

Current net worth: $229 billion

YTD change: +$51 billion

Mark Zuckerberg