It's been a comeback year for the world's richest people.
No one did better than Elon Musk, who reclaimed the title of the world's richest man from French luxury magnate Bernard Arnault. The CEO of Tesla Inc. earned an additional $95.4 billion by Thursday's close, boosted by the success of Tesla and SpaceX, after losing $138 billion in 2022. His net worth is now more than $50 billion higher than Arnaud's after a global slowdown in luxury demand sent shares of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE lower.
The combined net worth of the 500 richest people increased by $1.5 trillion in 2023, fully recovering from a $1.4 trillion loss the previous year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Once again, their fortunes have been closely linked to the performance of technology stocks, which have hit new highs this year despite fears of a recession, lingering inflation, high interest rates and geopolitical turmoil. The wealth of tech billionaires increased by 48% or $658 billion, thanks to the strong buzz around artificial intelligence. /BGNES
