Top 10 Billionaires with the Fastest Wealth Growth in 2024

Source: Forbes

This year has been a great year for billionaires. These lucky few in particular have collectively added more than $700 billion to their wealth. Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of Company X (formerly Twitter), became the world's richest man in mid-2024 and reached a new wealth milestone at the end of the year.

It has been an amazing year for billionaires. As the market boomed, more than half of the world's more than 2,800 billionaires became richer in 2024, with some adding billions or even tens of billions of dollars.

As of December 13, Forbes estimates that the top ten billionaires who gained the most money this year have added a total of $730 billion. The world's richest man, Elon Musk, saw the biggest increase: he became the first billionaire to break the $400 billion mark after his rocket company SpaceX was valued at $350 billion. Musk was the billionaire with the most severe wealth loss in 2022, but he made a strong comeback in 2023 and 2024, with his wealth increasing far more than others.

Seven of the ten winners with the largest wealth increase this year are from the technology industry. The helmsmen behind technology giants such as Meta, Alphabet, Oracle, Amazon, Nvidia and Dell have become the biggest winners this year. All ten big winners are American citizens.

The following are the 10 billionaires with the largest increase in wealth in 2024 (data as of December 13, 2024):

01 Elon Musk

Source of wealth: Tesla, SpaceX

Net worth: US$439 billion

(an increase of US$188.1 billion in 2024)

Image source: Getty Images

Earlier this month, Musk's net worth broke through the US$400 billion mark, making history and breaking Forbes' nearly 40 years of tracking the world's billionaires. By the end of 2024, his wealth had increased by $188 billion from the beginning of the year (an astonishing increase that alone would have made him one of the top five richest people in the world). Shares of electric car maker Tesla have risen more than 68% in 2024; artificial intelligence startup xAI reportedly raised funds in November at a valuation of $50 billion; and earlier this month, rocket company SpaceX bought back insiders' shares at a valuation of $350 billion, a more than 60% increase from its previous tender offer (when the company was valued at $210 billion). SpaceX is now the world's most valuable private company.

Meanwhile, Musk's political influence has grown. After donating at least $200 million to Donald Trump's re-election campaign, he has become a key member of Trump's inner circle, having been named co-chair of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory committee Trump plans to establish.

02 Mark Zuckerberg

Source of wealth: Facebook

Net worth: $214.4 billion

(up $91.8 billion)

Image source: Getty Images

Zuckerberg became the fourth billionaire with a net worth of more than $200 billion this year due to a 67% increase in the share price of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, making history and a beautiful comeback. In 2022, Meta's share price plummeted by about 64%, making Zuckerberg one of the richest people with the largest decline in wealth.

03 ​​Larry Ellison

Source of wealth: software

Net worth: $218.3 billion

(up $84.5 billion)

Image source: JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES

With the ups and downs of Oracle and Jeff Bezos' Amazon stock prices, the chairman, chief technology officer and co-founder of Oracle has temporarily occupied the throne of the world's second richest man several times in September. Although he is currently about $30 billion behind Bezos, he is still one of the richest people with the largest increase in wealth this year, with a wealth increase of nearly $86 billion in 2024. Oracle's stock price rose more than 68%, driven by investors' enthusiasm for artificial intelligence; Ellison holds about 1.1 billion Oracle shares.

04 Huang Renxun

Source of wealth: Nvidia

Net worth: $117.2 billion

(up $74.3 billion)

Image source: PHOTO BY MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Huang Renxun founded graphics processing chip design company Nvidia in 1993 and has served as CEO and president since then, and has also tattooed the Nvidia logo on his arm. He currently holds about 3% of Nvidia's shares. This year, the artificial intelligence darling's stock price soared 185%, helping him to enter the world's top 10 richest people for the first time.

05 Jeff Bezos

Source of wealth: Amazon

Net worth: $241.2 billion

(up $68.9 billion)

Image source: MICHAEL PRINCE FOR FORBES

In 1994, Bezos founded the e-commerce giant Amazon in his garage in Seattle. He is currently the world's second richest person, and his wealth has increased by nearly $70 billion this year as Amazon's stock rose 53%. He sold Amazon shares when the stock price was high, and has sold $13.6 billion of shares by 2024, more than any other American billionaire. In addition, by moving to Florida, he may have saved about $1 billion in taxes on the sale of stocks.

06 Michael Dell

Source of wealth: Dell Technologies, Broadcom

Net worth: $115.3 billion

(up $46.6 billion)

Image source: PHOTO BY MICHAEL PRINCE FOR FORBES

Dell briefly became one of the world's top 10 richest people this month due to a rise in Broadcom shares. In 2023, VMWare (a company spun off from Dell Technologies) merged with artificial intelligence chip maker Broadcom, giving Dell about 210 million shares of Broadcom. Dell Technologies shares also rose more than 50%.

07 Rob Walton

Source of wealth: Wal-Mart

Net worth: $112.5 billion

(an increase of $46.5 billion)

Image source: PHOTO BY COURTESY OF WALMART

08 Jim Walton

Source of wealth: Wal-Mart

Net worth: $111.3 billion

(an increase of $44.5 billion)

Photo source: PHOTO BY RICK T. WILKING/GETTY IMAGES

09 Alice Walton

Source of wealth: Wal-Mart

Net worth: $103.5 billion (up $41.7 billion)

Photo source: PHOTO BY RICK T. WILKING/GETTY IMAGES

The three children and other heirs of Wal-Mart co-founder Sam Walton (who died in 1992) own a total of about 45% of the retail giant's stock. Wal-Mart's stock price has risen nearly 80% as e-commerce sales grow and consumer prices fall, making this a good year for the three. Eldest son Rob stepped down as chairman in 2015; Jim runs the family's Arvest bank and served on the Walmart board until 2016.

Sam's only daughter Alice surpassed L'Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers in September this year to become the world's richest woman.

10 Larry Page

Source of wealth: Google

Net worth: $156.6 billion (up $40.5 billion)

Page co-founded Google in 1998 with Sergey Brin, who was also pursuing a doctorate at Stanford University, and currently serves on the board of directors and controlling shareholder of Google's parent company Alphabet.

Although Google's suspected monopoly has prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to recommend its split, Alphabet's stock price has climbed more than 30% this year, adding $40 billion to Page's wealth.