The year 2023 seemed to have inched up the wealth of the mega rich as their net worth soared much higher during the period.

According to global business magazine Forbes, about half of the world’s billionaires saw their wealth increase significantly on the back of rallying stock markets.

The reputable magazine said that while most billionaires during the period gained more wealth than others, a majority of them became wealthier than they were at the start of January 2022.

According to its [Forbes] estimates, the 10 biggest gainers added a combined $490 billion to their wealth as of December 15, 2023.

Out of the 10-man list compiled by Forbes, seven of them were technology billionaires who made significant gains in 2023 – outpacing the market - despite a turbulent 2022 period for most of them.

Leading the pack of the list is Tesla Co-Founder, Elon Musk, who began 2023 as the second most richest person in the world with a net worth of around $146.5 billion after losing more money in 2022 than anyone else.

Despite the huge losses made in 2022, Elon Musk added more than $108 billion to his net worth after making a remarkable U-turn in Tesla stock on the market. Elon Musk’s net worth is now estimated at $254.9 billion.

He is followed by Meta Founder, Mark Zuckerberg who added $74.8 billion to his total net worth of $118.6 billion according to Forbes estimates.

See the full list compiled by Forbes below:

1. Elon Musk
Source of wealth: Tesla, SpaceX
Net worth: $254.9 billion (+$108.4 billion in 2023)

2. Mark Zuckerberg
Source of wealth: Facebook
Net worth: $118.6 billion (+$74.8 billion in 2023)

3. Jeff Bezos
Source of wealth: Amazon
Net worth: $172.3 billion (+$65 billion in 2023)

4. Prajogo Pangestu
Source of wealth: Diversified
Net worth: $52.8 billion (+$47.9 billion in 2023)

5. Larry Page
Source of wealth: Google
Net worth: $111.7 billion (+$34.4 billion in 2023)

6. Amancio Ortega
Source of wealth: Zara
Net worth: $97.4 billion (+$33.2 billion in 2023)

7. Sergey Brin
Source of wealth: Google
Net worth: $107.3 billion (+$33 billion in 2023)

8. Steve Ballmer
Source of wealth: Microsoft
Net worth: $110.9 billion (+$32.4 billion in 2023)

9. Larry Ellison
Source of wealth: Oracle
Net worth: $133.2 billion (+$30.8 billion in 2023)

10. Jensen Huang
Source of wealth: Nvidia
Net worth: $43.6 billion (+$29.8 billion in 2023)

With additional files from Forbes magazine

MA/NOQ

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