United States – Geopolitical tensions in the world did not affect the wealth flows of the wealthy people included in the Forbes list, or in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
While global markets welcomed the year 2024 with much fear regarding the hypothesis of a rise in global interest rates, the return of rising inflation, and the possibility of the American economy entering a recession, events were contrary to expectations.
What the markets also feared was the escalation of geopolitical tensions, whether in Eastern Europe between Russia and Ukraine, or between China and the West, or the existing tensions in the Middle East as a result of the genocide committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip, its aggression against Lebanon, and the conflict with Iran.
The adoption of artificial intelligence technologies by major international companies has led to an increase in the market value of many companies working in the field, with NVIDIA leading the way in the semi-transportation industry.
Because of artificial intelligence and indicators of falling US and global interest rates, the market values of the world’s largest listed companies have grown, specifically those listed on Wall Street.
**Billion numbers
With this prosperity, the 25 richest people in the world became richer over the past twelve months, ending last September.
In total, the top 25 billionaires on the Forbes 400 list are worth a combined $2.5 trillion; That is, they own nearly half of the total wealth of $5.4 trillion for all 400 billionaires.
In numbers, Forbes magazine’s billionaires list data indicates that the wealth of the 25 richest people on the list increased by $471 billion at the end of last September, compared to the figures for the end of 2023, which then recorded $2.029 trillion.
On average, their wealth increased by 31 percent compared to the end of 2023, an increase greater than the approximately 27 percent recorded in the returns of the S&P 500 index during the current year.
** Biggest winners
In comparing the billionaires who have grown the most in the value of their wealth, Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg came first by adding $75 billion to his net worth thanks to the recovery in Meta stock.
As of the end of last September, Meta’s market value reached $1.5 trillion, and it ranks seventh in the world as the largest listed company, according to Wall Street data, reviewed by Anadolu.
While Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, followed Zuckerberg in second place, who rode the wave of artificial intelligence and whose wealth increased by $63.3 billion during the first nine months of this year.
Nvidia, the largest company on Wall Street, achieved an increase in its share price during the first nine months of this year, by 175 percent, bringing its market value to $3.26 trillion, and ranking second in the world as the largest company after Apple.
**Adult list
According to Forbes magazine’s list, American billionaire Warren Buffett is ranked fifth as the richest man in the world, with a net worth of $150 billion. He is the founder and president of Berkshire Hathaway, the first non-technology company in America to reach one trillion dollars in market value.
Buffett is 94 years old, and he stated earlier this year that the vast majority of his wealth would go to a charitable fund managed by his three children.
While in fourth place was Larry Ellison, co-founder and chief technology officer of Oracle, with a net worth of $175 billion, at the age of 80, amid the growth of the company’s stock due to its widespread adoption of artificial intelligence systems.
As for third place, billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta, came with a total wealth of $181 billion, and he is 40 years old.
During the current year, Meta’s stock rose 75 percent, driven by an improvement in its financial and operational data during the first half of 2024, while the markets await the release of its data for the third quarter of 2024.
American billionaire Jeff Bezos comes in second place as the richest man in the world, with a total wealth of $197 billion. He is 60 years old, and he is the founder and CEO of Amazon.
In first place is billionaire Elon Musk, with a net worth of $244 billion. He is the CEO of Tesla, the owner of the X platform, and the CEO of SpaceX, its satellite Internet arm, Starlink, and other companies.
Anatolia
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