Zinger Key Points
- The 10 richest people in the world saw their wealth get a boost from the recent U.S./China tariff news.
- Five months into 2025, the wealth gains have not been as big as they were for the world's richest in 2024.
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A new 90-day pause and lowered tariff amounts between the United States and China have helped send the stock market higher with the S&P 500 drifting back into positive territory for 2025.
The stock market gains have also helped the richest people in the world get richer. Here's a look at how the top 10 billionaires list is shaping up this year.
What Happened: The 10 richest people in the world added $518 billion to their wealth in 2024, ending the year worth a combined $2.02 trillion.
After the stock market’s strong 2024, the wealth of the world's richest has been significantly different in 2025.
As of May 13, only four of the world’s ten richest individuals have posted gains in 2025. That’s up from just three in late March, and the group’s total combined wealth is inching closer to positive for the year after sharp declines in March and April.
Here are the current top 10 richest people in the world, with their 2025 gain or loss, as reported by Bloomberg:
- Elon Musk: $370 billion, -$62.6 billion
- Jeff Bezos: $232 billion, -$6.9 billion
- Mark Zuckerberg: $231 billion, +$24.2 billion
- Larry Ellison: $187 billion, -$5.6 billion
- Bill Gates: $170 billion, +$11.3 billion
- Bernard Arnault: $165 billion, -$10.9 billion
- Warren Buffett: $160 billion, +$17.9 billion
- Steve Ballmer: $156 billion, +$9.2 billion
- Larry Page: $146 billion, -$22.6 billion
- Sergey Brin: $137 billion, -$21.0 billion
Together the top 10 richest people in the world are worth $1.95 trillion and have lost $67 billion in 2025. The names on the top 10 list are all the same with only their placements changing from the end of 2024.
The top four are the same, with Gates moving up two places, Arnault dropping one place, Buffett moving up three places, Ballmer moving down one place, Page moving down three places and Brin moving down two places.
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Why It's Important: Many of the world's richest have wealth tied to technology stocks, a sector hit hard by tariffs on China. With the 90-day pause and lower tariff amount, technology stocks have rebounded and helped boost the wealth of many people.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, which tracks the S&P 500, is up 0.6% year-to-date in 2025 after spending months in the red.
While Musk’s wealth dropped significantly in 2025, it could be getting closer to returning to the more than $400 billion figure he had in December 2024, when Tesla Inc TSLA stock hit all-time highs.
Tesla stock is up 37% over the last month and shares are currently down 8.1% year-to-date in 2025, reversing trends from being down double digits on the year. Musk's wealth was $320 billion in late March and $310 billion in late April.
With five months complete in 2025, more than half the year remains to see if the 10 richest people in the world end with a positive wealth gain or if factors like tariffs and macroeconomic concerns send stocks lower again.
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