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- Elon Musk topped Forbes’ 39th World’s Billionaires list
- Zuckerberg, Bezos, Ellison, and Arnault are on the top five list with a collective $1.143 trillion net worth
- Forbes said there are 3,028 billionaires in the world, and they are collectively worth $16.1 trillion
Elon Musk has taken the top spot on Forbes’ 39th annual World’s Billionaires list following a surge in his net worth, which skyrocketed by 75 per cent to $342 billion.
This is according to a statement released by Forbes on its website on Tuesday, April 1, which showed that Musk surpassed French luxury mogul, Bernard Arnault, to clinch the top spot.
The increase in Musk’s net worth is driven by rising valuations of xAI, SpaceX and a strong performance by Tesla stock over the past year.
Forbes’ latest World Billionaires list showed that Musk remains the first person to surpass $300 billion in wealth despite a recent market dip.
Forbes said there are 3,028 billionaires in the world
The rankings show a record 3,028 billionaires worldwide, the highest since the list began in 1987.
Forbes disclosed that the world’s billionaires are collectively worth $16.1 trillion, $2 trillion more than a year ago.
It also stated that the United States of America (USA) remains the country with the highest number of billionaires, with 902 billionaires, followed by mainland China (450), India (205), and Germany (171).
According to Forbes’ Senior Editor for Wealth, Chase Peterson-Withorn, the world’s billionaires saw record-breaking increases despite financial uncertainties and geopolitical tensions.
“It’s another record-breaking year for the world’s richest people, despite financial uncertainty for many and geopolitical tensions on the rise.
“And, from Elon Musk to Howard Lutnick and the other billionaires taking over the US government, they’re growing more and more powerful,” Peterson-Withorn said.
World’s top five billionaires are collectively worth $1.143 trillion
An analysis of the wealth of the top five billionaires in the world showed that they are collectively worth $1.143 trillion.
While Elon Musk is worth $342 billion as the world’s richest man, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg is the second richest man in the world, worth $216 billion.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos closely follows at the third spot with $215 billion. Larry Ellison, Oracle Corp co-founder, occupies the fourth position with $192 billion.
Bernard Arnault & family fell to fifth place in the latest ranking, his lowest rank since 2017, with $178 billion.
President Donald Trump’s net worth more than doubled
The ranking also showed that the net worth of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, more than doubled to $5.1 billion.
It stated that the growth comes from his Trump Media & Technology Group shares and profits from recent crypto ventures.
Elon Musk’s net worth hits $447 billion
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that Elon Musk’s net worth climbed to $447 billion, fuelled by the success of his numerous ventures, including electric vehicles, space exploration, Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, and tunnelling technologies.
Musk’s wealth increased by $62.8 billion in 2024 alone, according to Bloomberg, largely due to the increasing valuation of SpaceX, his privately held aerospace company.
