Musk And The Magnificent 9: How World's 10 Richest People Bagged $400B In 2023

The rich have gotten richer in 2023 and Elon Musk is once again the richest person in the world after briefly being passed in 2022 and a portion of 2023.

Here's a look at how much the top ten billionaires are currently worth and how their wealth has increased in 2023.

What Happened: Elon Musk was passed by LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault for the title of the richest person in the world briefly in 2022 and 2023 before the Tesla Inc TSLA CEO reclaimed the title in May 2023.

So far this year, the top 10 richest people in the world have all gotten richer thanks to a surge in stock prices. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, which tracks the S&P 500 Index, is up 19% year-to-date and the stocks associated with the 10 wealthiest people in the world are all up on the year.

Here's a look at the 10 richest people (as reported by Bloomberg) in the world and how much their wealth has increased in 2023.

1. Elon Musk: $220 billion, +$82.8 billion
2. Bernard Arnault: $172 billion, +$10.3 billion
3. Jeff Bezos: $170 billion, +$63.1 billion
4. Bill Gates: $134 billion, +$24.3 billion
5. Larry Ellison: $131 billion, +$38.9 billion
6. Steve Ballmer: $130 billion, +$44.2 billion
7. Mark Zuckerberg: $123 billion, +$77.5 billion
8. Larry Page: $123 billion, +$40.0 billion
9. Warren Buffett: $121 billion, +$13.4 billion
10. Sergey Brin: $117 billion, +$37.3 billion

Together, the 10 richest people in the world are worth a combined $1.44 trillion, or nearly the market capitalization of Amazon.com Inc AMZN.

Related Link: 52 Facts And Figures About Billionaire Elon Musk

Why It's Important: The 10 billionaires have added $431.8 billion to their wealth in 2023 to date, for an average gain of $43.2 billion. This gain of wealth for the 10 individuals is more than the entire market capitalization of retail giant Walmart Inc WMT, which is valued at $420 billion, or the entire market capitalization of oil giant ExxonMobil Corp XOM.

The surge in wealth comes with the stock market rebounding from 2022. A look at the Bloomberg Billionaires Index reveals that the top 18 people on the list have all added to their wealth in 2023.

Musk's wealth has increased thanks to a rise in the valuation of electric vehicle company Tesla, which has shares up 124% year-to-date in 2023.

Arnault ranks second on the list, but his $10.3 billion gained is the smallest of the ten richest individuals and comes with LVMH LVMUY LVMHF shares up only 4% year-to-date.

Bezos ranks third on the list and is nearing second place. The Amazon founder has posted the third-biggest gain year-to-date of the 10 richest individuals, which comes with Amazon stock up 67% year-to-date.

The 55% year-to-date rise in Microsoft Corporation MSFT shares has helped both co-founder Gates and former CEO Ballmer, who are up $24.3 billion and $44.2 billion respectively.

Ellison has moved up the top 10 list in 2023 with shares of Oracle Corporation ORCL up 39% year-to-date.

Outside of Musk, the biggest gainer on the top ten list is Meta Platforms META co-founder and CEO Zuckerberg. A rise of 171% in the price of Meta's stock has helped him add $77.5 billion to his wealth in 2023.

Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL co-founders Page and Brin have added $40.0 billion and $37.3 billion respectively to their wealth, with Alphabet shares up 59% year-to-date.

Legendary investor Buffett ranks ninth on the list, gaining $13.4 billion in 2023. The move comes with Berkshire Hathaway Inc BRKBRK shares up 17% year-to-date in 2023.

Read Next: Elon Musk Has So Much Money That Printing $1 Million A Day Since 1440 Can't Catch Him

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