The wealth of the world's 500 richest people has reached a new record.

The strong rise in U.S. technology stocks has not only increased the wealth of figures like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates, but it has also significantly contributed to the fortunes of Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The $600 billion gained by the eight major tech giants this year accounts for 43% of the total $1.5 trillion increase among the 500 richest people in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

TRUMP BOOSTS MUSK'S FORTUNE

In 2024, the person who experienced the largest increase in wealth was Elon Musk, who drew attention for his support of Donald Trump's re-election campaign. Due to his close relationship with Trump, Musk helped increase the value of his companies, such as Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, raising his fortune by $213 billion since the beginning of the year to reach $442.1 billion. On December 17, the $237 billion gap between Musk and Bezos was recorded as the largest difference between the first and second richest individuals in Bloomberg's wealth index.

HISTORIC RISE IN TECHNOLOGY STOCKS AND DIGITAL ASSETS

The world's richest individuals gained significant profits from the historic rise observed in the stock market in 2024. Stocks referred to as the "Fabulous Seven," such as Musk's Tesla, Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms, and Huang's Nvidia, contributed to a 24% increase in the S&P 500 Index, making up more than half of the index's performance.

Trump's victory positively affected not only stocks but also digital assets. Bitcoin experienced a historic rise, surpassing the $100,000 level for the first time. This situation increased the fortunes of crypto billionaires; Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao's wealth rose by 60% to $55 billion, while Coinbase co-founder Brian Armstrong's wealth increased by more than 50% to $11.1 billion.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the total wealth of the world's 500 richest individuals reached $9.8 trillion. This figure represents a value close to the total gross domestic products of Germany, Japan, and Australia from the previous year.