The riches person in the world

A.M. EDT
Billionaires at the top of the Forbes list had a pretty good December—at least in terms of their stockholdings. As of January 1, 2024, seven of the world’s top 10 richest people are wealthier than they were a month ago. Their fortunes collectively rose by $30 billion during December—a much smaller jump than the $115 billion rise during November 2023. One of the biggest gainers —Mark Zuckerberg—leaped into the No. 5 spot, up from No. 7 richest in the world on December 1. He now ranks ahead of Bill Gates, who for years was the world’s richest person.

Forbes has been keeping track of the world’s billionaires since 1987. Earlier this year, we found 2,640 of them for our annual list. Throughout the year, we update their fortunes on a daily basis. Many billionaires hold much of their net worth in the stock of the company they founded or cofounded. As that stock price moves, their fortune moves along with it.

Together the world’s 10 richest people, according to Forbes, are worth $1.47 trillion as of the strike of midnight on January 1—up from $1.44 trillion a month ago. The two biggest gainers in the past month (in dollar terms) were Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault; each is up $9.4 billion compared with December 1 due to increases in the share price of their respective companies.

Elon Musk is still the world’s richest person, worth $251 billion. The CEO of electric carmaker Tesla, Musk also owns stakes in privately held rocket firm SpaceX and social media company X, formerly known as Twitter.

For most of the first half of 2023, French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault was the world’s richest person, per Forbes—but that changed on June 8, 2023, when Musk overtook Arnault to become No. 1 in the world again. As of January 1, Arnault still ranks No. 2 richest, worth an estimated $200.7 billion. Arnault, the CEO and chairman of LVMH, has built the company into a giant with more than 70 brands, from Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior to Tiffany & Co. and Sephora.

Software tycoon Larry Ellison of Oracle was the biggest loser of the top ten; his fortune fell by $11.2 billion during December as Oracle’s stock fell 10%. Ellison still ranks No. 4, worth $135.3 billion.