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Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg Top 2024 World’s Richest Billionaires Ranking
Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jensen Huang are leading the group of billionaires in 2024, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The world’s 500 richest people became considerably richer in 2024, with a combined $10 trillion net worth, according to the report.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world’s richest people.
The tech billionaires collectively saw their wealth increase by an impressive $903 billion.
US technology stocks played a key role in turbocharging the trio’s wealth, as well as the fortunes of Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
The eight tech entrepreneurs alone gained more than $600 billion this year, 43% of the $1.5 trillion increase among the 500 richest people tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Musk’s close relationship with the incoming president helped increase the value of his companies, including Tesla Inc., SpaceX and xAI. The development report boosted his fortune to an unprecedented $442.1 billion, up $213 billion from the beginning of the year.
Trump’s election win, Bloomberg said it added to the gains as the S&P 500 hit a then all-time high on Nov. 6 in its best post-Election Day performance in history. The billionaires represented on the index gained a combined $505 billion in the five weeks following the election, 34% of the yearly total.
Trump’s victory also sparked a historic rally for digital assets, pushing Bitcoin above $100,000 for the first time. That especially boosted crypto billionaires, Binance Holdings’ Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, saw his wealth surge 60% to $55 billion. The net worth of Coinbase Global Inc. co-founder Brian Armstrong rose more than 50% to $11.1 billion.
The $237 billion gap between Musk and Bezos on Dec. 17 was the largest ever recorded between the first- and second-ranked names on Bloomberg’s wealth index.
“Across the board, the world’s wealthiest benefited from a stock market that defied expectations in 2024. The S&P 500 Index gained 24% through Monday, powered by the small group of stocks dubbed the “Magnificent Seven,” including Musk’s Tesla, Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms Inc. and Huang’s Nvidia Corp., which accounted for more than half of the stock benchmark’s performance.”
The total value of the fortunes tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index was $9.8 trillion at Monday’s close, down slightly from a Dec. 11 peak of $10.1 trillion following a post-Christmas selloff.
Here are some of this year’s biggest losers and winners as ranked by the BBI:
Losers
French luxury billionaires: The fortunes of Bernard Arnault, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers and Francois Pinault, whose wealth comes from holdings in the luxury goods sector, took big losses in 2024. After years of pandemic-fueled gains, when luxury shopping supplanted spending on dining and entertainment, slowing sales — especially in the key Chinese market — cost the three billionaires a total of $71 billion.
Colin Huang: Huang had the biggest wealth decline among Chinese billionaires. The e-commerce mogul behind Temu briefly became China’s richest person in August, but ended the year down $18 billion after a lackluster earnings report sent his company’s shares plummeting 29% in a single day.
Ricardo Salinas: The chairman of Grupo Elektra SAB, a Mexican retail and banking conglomerate, lost more than half of his net worth in a single day after his company’s stock tanked following Salinas’ claims that he was scammed by a former financial adviser. Salinas announced he would be taking the company private last week.
Carlos Slim: Slim, who has major stakes in Latin American businesses across the telecom, banking, construction and energy sectors, saw his net worth decline by $26 billion in 2024. His wealth was hurt by exchange rates — the peso fell about 20% after years of relative strength — and flagging markets after leftist candidate Claudia Sheinbaum’s June victory in Mexico’s presidential election.
Pham Nhat Vuong: The Vietnamese mogul, who has holdings in property development, retail and health care, saw shares in his electric vehicle company Vinfast Auto Ltd. fall about 70% early in the year after losses widened and the market soured on its aggressive expansion plans. The stock has since recovered some ground, but the decline cost Vuong nearly half of his fortune.
Winners
Donald Trump: The president-elect’s fortune soared to record highs this year, boosted by the performance of his majority stake in Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. Despite reporting a $19.2 million loss last quarter, DJT, as the social-media company is known, gained 95% this year, to a current market value of over $7 billion.
Jensen Huang: Nvidia CEO Huang has been one of the biggest individual winners of the AI boom so far, adding $76 billion to his net worth this year. Nvidia’s stock nearly tripled in 2024, and it became the world’s most valuable company for the first time in June.
Mark Zuckerberg: Despite a blockbuster $841 million antitrust fine from the EU and early-year hesitation from investors about the company’s multibillion-dollar AI push, the Meta CEO added $81 billion to his net worth this year as Meta stock gained nearly 70%.
Chinese billionaires: Chinese billionaires, including Tencent Holdings Ltd. CEO Pony Ma, Xiaomi Corp. Chairman Lei Jun and Cambricon Technologies Corp. co-founder Chen Tianshi, added 14% to their fortunes in 2024. Their gains reversed three straight years of losses spurred by an ongoing property crisis and government clampdowns on powerful tech firms.
Billionaires under age 60: The younger billionaires on the list grew their wealth more than twice as much as their older counterparts this year. Billionaires under 60 make up 27% of the index.
Channels
The Anambra Government has imposed a one-month sanction on Blossom Fount School, Awka, for allegedly selling the position of head prefect during a student election.
This was disclosed in a statement on Saturday by the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh.
According to the commissioner, the school reportedly demanded N5,000 from each pupil aspiring to become head prefect in the primary section.
Chuma-Udeh condemned the act, describing it as an attempt to “sell the psyche of the children to the highest bidder from the cradle.”
According to her, such practices are unacceptable under the administration of Gov. Chukwuma Soludo.
She said that an investigation was ongoing to examine the school’s broader management practices, with the possibility of further actions based on the findings.
Former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has criticised the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for the arrest and continued detention of former House of Representatives member, Muhammad Kazaure, describing it as a violation of due process.
In a statement shared on his official X (formerly Twitter) account on Saturday, Atiku said Kazaure’s detention reflects a brazen disregard for the rule of law, accusing the anti-graft agency of operating beyond the limits of the Nigerian Constitution.
Atiku alleged that the EFCC is increasingly becoming a tool for political repression, citing what he called a troubling pattern of lawlessness under the current administration.
He said, “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has once again plunged headlong into its well-worn pattern of lawlessness, arresting and detaining citizens with brazen disregard for due process and without offering any justification for its actions.”
Atiku also referenced the recent arrest of social commentator Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, whose release followed intense public pressure. He suggested that Kazaure’s case fits into a broader trend of state institutions being used to silence dissenting voices.
“We witnessed this same abuse in the unlawful arrest and detention of Mr. Martins Vincent Otse, widely known as VeryDarkMan, whose release was only secured after massive public outrage and pressure.
“Now, the EFCC has targeted Hon. Muhammad Kazaure, a former member of the House of Representatives and an unapologetic critic of the gross misgovernance and failings of the Tinubu administration.
“Abducted in Kano and whisked away to Abuja, Kazaure is presently being held incommunicado, with no formal charge or explanation offered to his family, legal team, or the Nigerian people.
“Let it be stated without equivocation: even if there were legitimate grounds for arresting any citizen, such action must adhere strictly to the rule of law. The EFCC is duty-bound to publicly disclose the reasons for any arrest and must not detain individuals indefinitely under the guise of investigation.
“The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is unequivocal on this matter—every detainee must be promptly charged to court or released. By once again trampling on the fundamental rights of a Nigerian citizen, the EFCC is entrenching itself deeper into the mire of impunity and constitutional delinquency.
“It’s deafening silence regarding the arrest of Hon. Kazaure, a man who represented the good people of Kazaure, Roni, Gwiwa, and Yankwashi federal constituency, lays bare the agency’s contempt for transparency and justice.
Suspended Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has ignited social media buzz after posting a 15-second TikTok video set to the trending song Omo Ologo — a track closely linked with President Bola Tinubu.
The video, shared on her TikTok page on May 8, shows the embattled lawmaker smiling and playfully interacting with the camera. Captioned, “Just for fun, song choked,” the post has drawn mixed reactions online, with some interpreting it as a light-hearted moment, while others suspect a deeper political undertone.
The video comes just days after the song Omo Ologo was performed live by Kano-based singer Dauda Kahutu Rarara during a dinner in Katsina State held in honour of President Tinubu, who was on a two-day working visit to assess security in the region.
The song, which blends Hausa and Yoruba, praises Tinubu as a victorious leader who has outlasted his critics.
Akpoti-Uduaghan’s TikTok post follows a series of dramatic exchanges between her and Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The senator was suspended from the upper legislative chamber in March after accusing Akpabio of sexual harassment — an allegation that triggered heated debate in the National Assembly.
In what appeared to be a bold response to her suspension, Akpoti-Uduaghan recently posted a sarcastic apology video to Akpabio on Facebook, in which she claimed she was sorry “for the crime of maintaining dignity and self-respect.”
The post was accompanied by a short video, further fueling controversy.
Akpabio’s legal team has since approached a federal high court in Abuja, seeking an order compelling the senator to delete the post from her social media pages.
In a counter-affidavit filed by her lawyer, Jubril Okutepa (SAN), Akpoti-Uduaghan’s camp described the motion as an attempt to silence and intimidate her.
The court is expected to rule on the matter on May 12.