The Richest People in the World in 2023
After witnessing record gains in wealth, ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) lost a combined $10 trillion last year.
A lagging stock market dented these fortunes against high interest rates, energy shocks, and economic uncertainty. But in 2023, some of the world’s billionaires have flourished, posting sky-high revenues in spite of inflationary pressures.
With data from Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List, we feature a snapshot of the richest people in the world in 2023.
Elon Musk at the Top
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and the company’s largest shareholder, is the wealthiest person in the world. Musk’s net worth stands at over $245 billion.
In November, Tesla launched its Cybertruck, its first new passenger vehicle in three years. Musk called it the company’s “best product ever.” The event drew mixed responses, with some complaining that cheaper models had jumped $20,000 from previous price targets.
In the table below, we show the world’s 10 richest people with data as of November 30, 2023:
| Rank | Name | Source | Net Worth Dec 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elon Musk | Tesla, SpaceX | $245B |
| 2 | Bernard Arnault & family | LVMH | $191B |
| 3 | Jeff Bezos | Amazon | $168B |
| 4 | Larry Ellison | Oracle | $147B |
| 5 | Warren Buffett | Berkshire Hathaway | $119B |
| 6 | Bill Gates | Microsoft | $118B |
| 7 | Mark Zuckerberg | Meta (Facebook) | $116B |
| 8 | Steve Ballmer | Microsoft | $113B |
| 9 | Larry Page | $112B | |
| 10 | Sergey Brin | $107B |
The second-richest person in the world is France’s Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH. With 75 brands, the luxury conglomerate owns Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Tiffany.
Third on the list is Jeff Bezos, followed by Oracle founder Larry Ellison. Oracle, a multi-billion dollar cloud provider, is partnering with Nvidia in its artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputing platform designed for enterprises across multiple industries.
Fifth on the list is Warren Buffett. In his 2022 annual letter to shareholders, he discussed how Berkshire Hathaway reported record operating profits despite economic headwinds. The company outperformed the S&P 500 Index by about 22% in 2022.
How Fortunes Have Changed
Given multiple economic crosscurrents, billionaire wealth has diverged over the last year. Zuckerberg’s wealth has soared the fastest, at 57%, followed by Ellison at 43%.
In its “year of efficiency,” Meta has laid off over 10,000 employees this year on top of 11,000 in November of 2022. Meanwhile, online advertising has bounced back in 2023, and the company posted better-than-expected revenues in the third quarter.
Bill Gates has seen his wealth decline 9%, or $11 billion, the most across the top 10 richest.
So far this year, AI market euphoria has led fortunes in big tech to rebound, although not all have fully recovered. In 2022, the top 10 tech billionaires lost almost $500 billion in combined wealth.
Taylor Swift Reaches Billionaire Status
Thanks to the stunning success of the Eras Tour, Taylor Swift became one of the newest members of the Forbes list in October, with a $1.1 billion net worth.
The tour has added an estimated $4.3 billion to U.S. GDP.
Swift’s music sales have generated the majority of her fortune, at $400 million since 2019. This is followed by ticket sales and merchandise ($370 million), streaming earnings ($120 million), and the value of her five personal properties ($110 million).
