The world's wealthiest individuals saw their net worths recover in 2023 following a difficult bear market the previous year.
The combined net worth of the 500 richest people rose by $1.5 trillion U.S. in 2023, according to data compiled for the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Much of the gains were due to a sharp rise in technology stocks. Tech billionaires saw their net worth increase by nearly 50%, or $658 billion U.S., driven by the hype surrounding artificial intelligence (A.I.).
Elon Musk recaptured the title of “world's richest person” from French luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault. Musk, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Tesla (TSLA), saw his wealth rise by $95.4 billion U.S.
Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos added about $70 billion U.S. to his net worth, while Meta Platforms (META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg's personal fortune increased by $80 billion U.S.
Canadian crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao, known as “CZ,” the 46-year-old founder of Binance, the world's biggest crypto exchange, saw his wealth grow by $25 billion U.S. in 2023.
The net worth of CZ grew despite him pleading guilty to money laundering in the U.S. and facing jail time in the year ahead.
