The top ten billionaires with the fastest rise in wealth in 2024

Source: Forbes

This year, billionaires have had a bountiful harvest. Especially for these lucky few, their total wealth has increased by over $700 billion. Tesla and SpaceX co-founder, and owner of X company (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk, became the world's richest man in mid-2024 and reached a new wealth milestone by the end of the year.

For billionaires, this year has been astonishing. With the market booming, more than half of the 2,800 billionaires globally became even wealthier in 2024, with some seeing their fortunes grow by tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars.

According to Forbes' estimates, as of December 13th, the wealth of the top ten billionaires in terms of wealth increase this year has increased by 730 billion US dollars. The richest person in the world, Elon Musk, had the largest increase: after the valuation of his rocket company SpaceX reached 350 billion US dollars, he became the first billionaire to surpass the 400 billion US dollar mark. Musk was once the billionaire who suffered the most severe shrinkage in wealth in 2022, but he made a strong comeback in 2023 and 2024, with his wealth increase far exceeding others.

Seven of the top ten winners with the largest increase in wealth this year come from the technology industry. The leaders behind tech giants such as Meta, Alphabet, Oracle, Amazon, Nvidia, and Dell have become the biggest winners this year. All ten of these winners are US citizens.

The following are the top 10 billionaires with the greatest wealth growth in 2024 (data as of December 13, 2024):

01 Elon Musk

Source of wealth: Tesla, SpaceX

Net worth: $439.0 billion

(Increase of $188.1 billion in 2024)

Image Source: Getty Images

At the beginning of this month, Musk's net worth surpassed the $400 billion mark, creating history and breaking the record of tracking global billionaires by Forbes for nearly 40 years. By the end of 2024, his wealth had increased by $188 billion from the beginning of the year (this astonishing increase alone would rank him among the top five richest people in the world). The stock price of the electric car manufacturer Tesla rose by more than 68% in 2024; the artificial intelligence startup xAI reportedly raised financing at a valuation of $50 billion in November; earlier this month, the rocket company SpaceX repurchased shares from insiders, with a company valuation of $350 billion, a more than 60% increase compared to the previous tender offer (when the company was valued at $210 billion). SpaceX is now the most valuable private company in the world.

At the same time, Musk's political influence is also growing. After donating at least $200 million to Donald Trump's reelection campaign, he has become an important member of Trump's inner circle and has been appointed as the co-chair of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory committee established by Trump.

02 Mark Zuckerberg

Source of wealth: Facebook

Net Worth: $214.4 billion

(Increase of $918 billion)

Image source: Getty Images

Zuckerberg became the fourth billionaire with a net worth exceeding $200 billion this year due to the 67% increase in the stock prices of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, making history and achieving a remarkable comeback. In 2022, Meta's stock price plummeted by about 64%, and Zuckerberg became one of the billionaires with the largest decline in wealth.

03 Larry Ellison

Source of wealth: software

Net Worth: $218.3 billion

(an increase of $845 billion)

Image source: JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES

With the fluctuations of the stock prices of Oracle Corporation and Jeff Bezos' Amazon.com, this chairman, CTO, and co-founder of Oracle Corporation has repeatedly ranked as the world's second richest man in September. Although he is currently about $30 billion behind Bezos, he is still one of the wealthiest people with the highest increase in wealth this year, with a fortune increase of nearly $86 billion by 2024. Driven by investors' enthusiasm for artificial intelligence, Oracle's stock price has risen by more than 68%; Ellison owns about 1.1 billion shares of Oracle stock.

04 HUANG Renxun

Source of Wealth: NVIDIA

Net Worth: $117.2 billion

(Increase of $743 billion)

Image source: PHOTO BY MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Jensen Huang founded the graphics chip design company NVIDIA in 1993 and has since served as CEO and president, even tattooing the NVIDIA logo on his arm. He currently holds about 3% of NVIDIA's shares. This year, the stock price of this darling of artificial intelligence soared by 185%, propelling him into the ranks of the world's top ten richest people for the first time.

05 Jeff Bezos

Source of Wealth: Amazon

Net Worth: $241.2 billion

(an increase of $68.9 billion)

Image Source: MICHAEL PRINCE FOR FORBES

In 1994, Bezos founded the e-commerce giant Amazon in his garage in Seattle. He is currently the second richest person in the world, with his wealth increasing by nearly $70 billion this year due to a 53% rise in Amazon's stock. He sold stocks when Amazon's stock price was high and has sold $13.6 billion worth of stocks by 2024, more than any other American billionaire. Additionally, by moving to Florida, he may have saved approximately $1 billion in taxes from selling stocks.

06 Michael Dell

Source of wealth: Dell Technologies, Broadcom

Net Worth: $115.3 billion

(an increase of $46.6 billion)

Image source: PHOTO BY MICHAEL PRINCE FOR FORBES

Due to the rise in Broadcom's stock price, Dell briefly entered the top ten richest people in the world this month. In 2023, VMWare (a company spun off from Dell Technologies) will merge with AI chip manufacturer Broadcom, giving Dell approximately 210 million shares of Broadcom. Dell Technologies' stock has also risen by over 50%.

07 Rob Walton

Source of wealth: Walmart

Net Worth: $112.5 billion

(Increase of $465 billion)

Image source: PHOTO BY COURTESY OF WALMART

08 Jim Walton

Source of wealth: Walmart

Net Worth: $111.3 billion

(an increase of $44.5 billion)

Image source: PHOTO BY RICK T. WILKING/GETTY IMAGES

09 Alice Walton

Source of wealth: Walmart

Net Worth: $103.5 billion (an increase of $41.7 billion)

Image Source: PHOTO BY RICK T. WILKING/GETTY IMAGES

Sam Walton, one of the founders of Walmart (died in 1992), and his three children and other heirs collectively own about 45% of the shares of this retail giant. With the growth of e-commerce sales and the decline in consumer prices, Walmart's stock price has risen by nearly 80%, making it a fruitful year for the three. The eldest son, Rob, stepped down as chairman in 2015; Jim runs the family's Arvest Bank and served on the Walmart board until 2016.

Sam's only daughter, Alice, surpassed L'Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers in September this year, becoming the world's richest woman.

10 Larry Page

Source of wealth: Google

Net Worth: $156.6 billion (an increase of $40.5 billion)

Pei and Sergey Brin, who were studying for a PhD at Stanford University, co-founded Google in 1998 and currently serve as board members and controlling shareholders of Google's parent company, Alphabet.

Despite facing antitrust allegations, Google's stock price has still climbed over 30% this year, adding $40 billion to Page's wealth.