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
Founder of Meta
Net worth at start of 2024: $128 billion
Current net worth: $203 billion
YTD change: +$75 billion
Larry Ellison
Cofounder of Oracle
Net worth at start of 2024: $123 billion
Current net worth: $200 billion
YTD change: +$77 billion
Bernard Arnault
Founder of LVMH
Net worth at start of 2024: $179 billion
Current net worth: $168 billion
YTD change: -$11 billion
Bill Gates
Cofounder of Microsoft
Net worth at start of 2024: $141 billion
Current net worth: $164 billion
YTD change: +$23 billion
Larry Page
Cofounder of Google
Net worth at start of 2024: $126 billion
Current net worth: $153 billion
YTD change: +$27 billion
Warren Buffett
Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
Net worth at start of 2024: $120 billion
Current net worth: $151 billion
YTD change: +$31 billion
Steve Ballmer
Former CEO of Microsoft, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers
Net worth at start of 2024: $131 billion
Current net worth: $147 billion
YTD change: +$16 billion
Sergey Brin
Cofounder of Google
Net worth at start of 2024: $120 billion
Current net worth: $144 billion
YTD change: +$24 billion
Jensen Huang
Founder and CEO of Nvidia
Net worth at start of 2024: $44 billion
Current net worth: $121 billion
YTD change: +$77 billion
Jim Walton
Heir to the Walmart fortune
Net worth at start of 2024: $72.6 billion
Current net worth: $115 billion
YTD change: +$42 billion
