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- Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos have topped a list of billionaires who saw the biggest wealth increases in 2023.
- The top 10 gainers have added almost $400 billion to their combined net worth so far this year, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
- Other notable winners include Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
As the final quarter of 2023 draws near, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos are leading a list of 10 mega-billionaires who have seen the biggest wealth surges this year, supercharged by a stock-market rally that steamrolled recession calls.
The top 10 wealth gainers of 2023 added a stunning $397 billion to their combined fortunes year-to-date, according to Insider calculations based on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Musk saw the steepest jump in net worth with a $99 billion increase to $236 billion, cementing his position as the world's richest person. That corresponded with a 107% surge in the stock price of his electric car company Tesla.
The billionaire owns around 13% of the EV maker and holds over 300 million exercisable options – as such, his personal fortune is inextricably tied to the stock-market performance of the firm.
Zuckerberg ranked No. 2 on the list of wealth gainers, with a $61.9 billion increase in his riches to $108 billion. The increase was fueled by a 151% year-to-date rally in the stock of his firm, Meta Platforms.
Jeff Bezos came third, adding $46.5 billion. Also on the list were Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Oracle's Larry Ellison, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Michael Dell and Spanish tycoon Amancio Ortega.
Interestingly, nine of the 10 billionaires were from the tech sector - underscoring how the biggest wealth-creating theme of 2023 has been the rally in technology stocks fueled by the investor exuberance over the rise of artificial intelligence. Ortega, founder of the Inditex fashion group, was the only exception to this.
Nvidia CEO Huang's wealth surged by $22.2 billion in 2023 as the chipmaker's stock rocketed 187%, outperforming every other stock in the S&P 500 index.