
Elon Musk kicks off the new year not only as the world’s richest person, but also the only billionaire Forbes has tracked in nearly four decades to be worth more than $400 billion.
According to Forbes, Musk began the new year with an estimated value worth $421.2 billion, with a $91 billion increase since December 1. The rise in his fortune came after SpaceX agreed to buy back insiders’ shares in a deal valuing the rocket company at $350 billion–a deal first reported by Bloomberg.
The company had previously been worth $210 billion. Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, runs it as the CEO, and owns an estimated 42% stake in the company. The new valuation made SpaceX the most valuable private company in the world, more than TikTok parent ByteDance, payments firm Stripe or ChatGPT creator OpenAI. Musk also runs EV maker Tesla, and owns stakes in social media firm X, AI firm xAI and tunnel company Boring Co.
Musk, who started 2024 worth an estimated $251 billion, has gained extra media attention since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election in November. Trump named Musk the co-head of a new advisory body, the Department of Government Efficiency (or DOGE), set to reduce government spending and increase efficiency.
Jeff Bezos comes in as the world’s No. 2 richest, up from No. 3 at the start of December 2024. The Amazon founder and chairman, who owns about 9% of the company, got about $10 billion richer in the past month as shares of the e-commerce giant rose about 5%. He starts off 2025 worth an estimated $233.5 billion— about $188 billion less than Musk.
Nvidia CEO and cofounder Jensen Huang joins the top 10 richest for the first time at the start of the month. He’s ranked No. 10 and worth an estimated $118 billion, mostly due to his stake in the chip designer, whose shares rose 171% in 2024. Nvidia ended the year with a market capitalization of $3.28 trillion, making it more valuable than Microsoft (but not as valuable as Apple).
Huang overtook Spain’s Amancio Ortega, founder of clothing retailer Zara and its publicly traded parent company, Inditex; shares of Inditex weakened in the past month.
Together, the world’s 10 richest people are worth $1.9 trillion, up from $1.8 trillion on December 1. Seven of the ten are richer than they were a month ago.
The biggest loser of this group was Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison, whose fortune fell by $17.2 billion during the month to an estimated nearly $210 billion. Ellison fell to No. 3 richest in the world from No. 2 at the start of December.
Forbes has been keeping track of the world’s billionaires since 1987.
Here are the 10 richest people on earth as of January 1, 2025, according to Forbes.
Stock prices fluctuate routinely, so these net worths may change on a daily basis.
Elon Musk is the richest person in the world, a title he reclaimed in late May 2024. His fortune rocketed up by $91 billion over the past month.
One Of The Richest Women In The World Donates $2 Billion to Charity
Jeff Bezos became the world’s No. 2 richest, overtaking Larry Ellison, who was the second richest at the start of December.
Bill Gates dropped out of the top 10 richest on October 1 after Forbes obtained new information about a significant contraction in his fortune.
9/10 of the richest people in the world are Americans, including Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett and Steve Ballmer.
All of the top ten richest people as of January 1 are men. Each of them is worth $120 billion or more.
The top 10 richest people in the world?
- Elon Musk
- Jeff Bezos
- Larry Ellison
- Mark Zuckerberg
- Bernard Arnault
- Larry Page
- Sergey Brin
- Warren Buffett
- Steve Ballmer
- Jensen Huang
Worth:
• Elon Musk
Net worth: $421.2 billion
• Jeff Bezos
Net worth: $233.5 billion
• Larry Ellison
Net worth: $209.7 billion
• Mark Zuckerberg
Net worth: $202.5 billion
• Bernard Arnault
Net worth: $168.8 billion
• Larry Page
Net worth: $156 billion
• Sergey Brin
Net worth: $149 billion
• Warren Buffett
Net worth: $141.7 billion
• Steve Ballmer
Net worth: $124.3 billion
• Jensen Huang
Net worth: $117.2 billion
Credit: Forbes