One Indonesian moneybag increased his income sevenfold
Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and most of the rest of the world's richest people became richer in 2023. The fortunes of 38 of the top 50 richest people and 385 of the top 500 have grown this year — in one case by as much as seven times.
The cost of living crisis has left many around the world struggling to put together food for the Christmas table, but for American tech billionaires and For Russian oligarchs, the festive period has become “solid gravy”, says The Guardian.
From Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg at the top to relatively small fry such as Britain's James Dyson and Jim Ratcliffe, the new Manchester United shareholder, the world's richest people mostly got richer in 2023, the figures show.
Even a small circle of Russian oligarchs have managed to continue to increase their fortunes, at least on paper, while ignoring the impact of economic sanctions imposed on them in many jurisdictions in response to the Ukrainian conflict, The Guardian notes.
Of the world's 50 richest people, only 12 lost money in 2023, while the rest saw their wealth rise, albeit not adjusted for inflation. Of the top 500, 77% are richer, some by almost unimaginable amounts.
Elon Musk tops the table with a net worth of $235 billion, according to daily wealth data of the world's top 500 billionaires compiled by Bloomberg.
Despite reports that his stake in Company X, formerly known as Twitter, fell by more than half after he paid $44 billion for it in 2022, the South African-born billionaire's Tesla business has come to the rescue. The electric vehicle company's shares have more than doubled this year, giving it a notional market value of nearly $816 billion and helping Musk, Tesla's largest shareholder, increase his overall wealth by nearly $98 billion. This increase exceeds Angola's annual GDP, The Guardian compares.
Musk's wealth increased in the most obvious way, but he did not achieve the largest increase in percentage terms, the publication notes.
One of the biggest winners by this indicator was his rival Mark Zuckerberg, with whom Elon Musk was supposed to fight in a duel in the cage earlier this year before the couple changed their minds. The fortune of the founder of perhaps the world's most famous social network jumped by 184%, from $45 billion to $128 billion.
But Zuckerberg’s successes in 2023 were not the fastest among the top 50 billionaires. Indonesian conglomerate owner Prajogo Pangestu has increased his wealth roughly sevenfold thanks to a big bet on geothermal energy, landing him on the list of the world's 50 billionaires with a net worth of $31.5 billion.
There were also notable losers. While all 14 of the largest companies increased their wealth, the fortune of the 15th – Indian billionaire Gautam Adani — decreased by $36 billion to $84.3 billion. The value of the Adani family's companies collapsed after an activist investor accused Gautam of «the biggest fraud in corporate history.» The Adani Group has denied the allegations.
The list of billionaires is dominated by American men. Of the top 10 richest people, Frenchman Bernard Arnault is the only representative from the rest of the world with a fortune of $179 billion, which grew by $17.2 billion thanks to the activities of his luxury group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
France also features the top-ranked woman on the list, businesswoman and L'Oréal beauty empire heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, who is ranked 12th after a $316 million increase, bringing her net worth to 99. $1 billion.
Many Russians hit by sanctions have only become richer, raising questions about the impact of measures aimed at restricting their financial freedom by the US, UK and EU, The Guardian states.
The UK produced 17 of the top 500 billionaires, compared with 189 from the US and 52 from China. Dyson was the richest Briton, ranked 95th in the world with a fortune of $19.9 billion after rising by $5 billion.
Not far behind, in 97th place, was Ratcliffe, a petrochemical magnate from Monaco, who increased his wealth by $8.55 billion to $19.4 billion. This figure now includes a stake in Manchester United worth £1bn after he bought 25% of the club in a deal that closed this week.