Richest Man In The World Today 2024
Billionaires play an outsized role in shaping the global economy, politics, and philanthropy. Forbes puts the number of billionaires in the world at 2,755. The wealthiest among them belong to an even more exclusive club and wield still more power. Many of these billionaires are founders of technology giants, with much of their wealth still invested in the companies they started.
They can, however, still borrow against that wealth to avoid selling stock, deferring (or eliminating for heirs) taxes on unrealized capital gains in the process. Multi-billionaires can also take advantage of a panoply of tax deductions to offset reported income, leaving some on this list paying no income tax in recent years.
With so much of their wealth in publicly traded stocks, the net worth of the richest can fluctuate with market valuations. For example, Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla Inc. (TSLA) and the richest person in the world as of Feb. 12, 2022, saw his net worth surge in 2021 thanks to the increase in the share price of Tesla (where he currently owns 18% of the company)—with Tesla shares rising more than 32% in 2021.
In contrast, Meta Platforms Inc. (FB) founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg fell out of the top 10 on Feb. 3, 2022, when Meta’s share price plunged 26% after a disappointing earnings report. Zuckerberg’s net worth was down $42.4 billion, or 34%, in 2022 as of Feb. 12.1 Below are the 10 wealthiest people on the planet as of the same date, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Elon Musk Profile
Age: 50
Residence: Texas
Co-founder and CEO: Tesla
Net Worth: $224 billion
Tesla Ownership Stake: 18% ($153 billion)
Other Assets: Space Exploration Technologies ($40.3 billion private asset), $3.9 billion in cash
Elon Musk was born in South Africa and attended a university in Canada before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in physics and economics. Two days after enrolling in a graduate physics program at Stanford University, Musk deferred attendance to launch Zip2, one of the earliest online navigation services. He reinvested a portion of the proceeds from this startup to create X.com, the online payment system that was sold to eBay Inc. (EBAY) and ultimately became PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL).
In 2004, Musk became a major funder of Tesla Motors (now Tesla), which led to his current position as CEO of the electric vehicle company. In addition to its line of electric automobiles, Tesla also produces energy storage devices, automobile accessories, and, through its acquisition of SolarCity in 2016, solar power systems. Musk is also CEO and chief engineer of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), a developer of space launch rockets.
In 2020, Tesla shares soared 740% to propel Musk to the top of wealth rankings. In December 2020, Tesla joined the S&P 500, becoming the largest company added.
In 2020, Tesla shares soared 740% to propel Musk to the top of wealth rankings. In December 2020, Tesla joined the S&P 500, becoming the largest company added.
In a Nov. 6, 2021 tweet, Musk asked his Twitter audience whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock, framing the issue as a response to criticism of unrealized capital gains as a means of avoiding taxes. He proceeded to sell shares worth $16.4 billion over the remainder of 2021.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, has cited a media report that Musk paid no income tax for 2018 to argue for the adoption of a wealth tax. “And if you opened your eyes for 2 seconds, you would realize I will pay more taxes than any American in history this year,” Musk responded on Twitter.
Thanks to the surge in Tesla shares through October 2021 and private transactions that month that boosted the reported valuation of SpaceX, Musk’s lead in the global wealth rankings continued to grow. As of Feb. 12, 2022, Musk’s net worth had increased by $29 billion in a year.