According to the latest Forbes list of the top 10 billionaires with the most growing wealth in 2023, Elon Musk ranks first with his two companies, Tesla and SpaceX. Musk has achieved a wealth growth of $108.4 billion in 2023 and is currently worth $254.9 billion.
This huge growth is mainly due to the success of Tesla and SpaceX. Tesla's stock price has risen by more than 100% this year, with a market capitalization of $802.8 billion. Separately, SpaceX has successfully carried out more than 90 launches this year, and the company's valuation soared to $150 billion in July this year.
In addition to Musk, there are other tech tycoons on the list, with a total of 7 people. These include well-known tech tycoons such as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google founder Larry Page, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, and Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang.
Fueled by the AI boom, these tech billionaires have seen phenomenal wealth growth. As of December 15, 2023, the combined wealth of these ten billionaires has increased by $490 billion.
Mark Zuckerberg is in second place with a wealth increase of $74.8 billion, and his current net worth is $118.6 billion. Zuckerberg had a rough time in 2022, but in 2023 he achieved a wealth growth of about $75 billion. Meta, Facebook's parent company, is up 178% this year and is on track to be its best year.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is in third place, with a wealth increase of $65 billion, and his current net worth is $172.3 billion. Bezos made large donations and worked to solve social problems, and Amazon's stock price was 79% higher. In addition, he was given a superyacht and engaged to Lauren Sanchez.
Peng Yunpeng ranked fourth with a wealth increase of $47.9 billion, and his current net worth is $52.8 billion. As an Indonesian tycoon, Peng has amassed a lot of wealth in the timber and petrochemical industries. One of his coal mining companies went public in March this year, and another renewable energy company, which owns Indonesia's largest geothermal producer, is also listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange.
Google founder Larry Page is fifth with a wealth growth of $34.4 billion and a current net worth of $111.7 billion. Alphabet's share price is up 50% as investors look forward to the upcoming launch of the artificial intelligence software Gemini. In addition, Alphabet launched its AI chatbot Bard in March this year.
Spanish fast fashion pioneer Amancio Ortega ranked sixth with a wealth increase of $33.2 billion, and is now worth $97.4 billion. Its brand ZARA, drove Inditex's share price** to a record high. This is good news for Ortega, as he owns about 60% of the shares and sits on the company's board of directors with his daughter Marta Ortega Pérez, who has been non-executive chairman since 2022.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin is seventh with a wealth increase of $33 billion and is currently worth $107.3 billion. Brin retired from Google's day-to-day operations in 2019, but returned to the company in 2023 to work on AI R&D.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates is in eighth place with a wealth increase of $32.4 billion, and is currently worth $110.9 billion. His investments in the NBA, Los Angeles Clippers, and Microsoft Corporation have excelled. Microsoft's stock price is up 55%, thanks in large part to a $10 billion investment in OpenAI, the developer of Chat GPT.
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison ranked ninth with a wealth growth of $30.8 billion, with a current net worth of $133.2 billion. Oracle's share price is up 26% in 2023, driven by demand for data center services driven by generative AI.
Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang ranked tenth with a wealth increase of $29.8 billion and is now worth $43.6 billion. Nvidia has designed more AI SoCs than other companies, and its stock price has soared by more than 230% in 2023, bringing Nvidia's market capitalization to 1$2 trillion.
These billionaires have become some of the most profitable people by virtue of their success in their respective fields, especially in the fields of technology and artificial intelligence.