The global ultra-rich club now includes 15 people with assets of more than $100 billion – the highest number ever – and they are riding the trends of artificial intelligence, luxury goods and geopolitical change.
Their combined net worth has risen 13% this year to $2.2 trillion, outpacing inflation and the broader stock market, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. They control nearly a quarter of the wealth of the world's 500 richest people.
While the 15 have previously topped $100 billion, this is the first time they have all had that much at the same time. L'Oreal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim have all reached that level within the past five months, and some have hovered around it or exceeded it multiple times.
Bettencourt Myers became the first woman to make a 12-figure fortune in December after the luxury cosmetics company's shares hit their highest price since 1998. Bettencourt Myers, 70, ranks 14th on the index with a net worth of $101 billion.
Dell, 59, also recently surpassed the $100 billion mark after demand for AI-related equipment sent shares of Dell Technologies to an all-time high. He is now worth $113 billion, putting him 11th on the Bloomberg Wealth Index.
Among the newcomers is 84-year-old Slim, who came in at No. 13 with $106 billion. The richest man in Latin America added about $28 billion to his net worth in 2023 as a surge in the Mexican peso boosted share prices for companies in his business empire, which ranges from construction to restaurant and shop ownership.
There are also some old names returning to the club. Gautam Adani, 61, recently returned to the elite group after losing more money than anyone else in 2023 to short-seller attacks. Shares in his flagship company, Adani Enterprises, have risen as investors around the world turn their attention to Indian companies.
Topping the list is LVMH founder and CEO Bernard Arnault, 75, with a net worth of $222 billion, most of whose wealth comes from shares in the world's largest luxury goods company.
Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos (60), owner of the world's largest online retailer, ranks second with a net worth of $208 billion. Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk (52) ranks third in the index with a net worth of $187 billion. Musk's fortune, which has fallen by more than $40 billion this year, is made up mostly of shares in the world's most valuable automaker.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
(Disclaimer: New Delhi TV is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group company.)
