Forbes reported that Elon Musk, the renowned CEO of Tesla, saw a substantial decrease in his
net worth compared to other billionaires worldwide in the first half of the year. Despite the overall
positive stock market trend benefiting the ultra-rich, Musk’s wealth took a hit—though a sizable
bonus from Tesla could potentially help offset this decline.
Main Points:
- Between December 31, 2023, and June 28, 2024, Musk’s net worth dropped from
$251.3 billion to $221.4 billion, marking the largest decrease among billionaires tracked
by Forbes. However, he still holds the title of the wealthiest individual globally. - This decline can largely be attributed to a ruling by a Delaware judge in January that
invalidated Musk’s $51 billion compensation package from Tesla, causing Forbes to
reevaluate the worth of the package. Despite the shareholders’ approval of the package
again on June 13, Forbes maintains the reduction due to the expected prolonged legal
process. - In addition, Musk’s 13% ownership in Tesla decreased by approximately $20 billion as
the company experienced a 20% drop in share value due to lower earnings and car
deliveries. On the flip side, Musk’s stake in his AI startup, xAI, increased to $14.4 billion,
alongside his substantial investments in SpaceX ($75 billion), X ($7 billion), and
Neuralink.
The first half of 2024 proved to be profitable for many of the world’s richest individuals, as the
combined net worth of Forbes’ top ten billionaires rose from $1.47 trillion at the end of 2023 to
$1.66 trillion by June. However, Musk and several other prominent billionaires observed a
decline in their fortunes: - Bernard Arnault (Europe’s wealthiest individual): Net worth decreased from $200.7 billion
to $193.8 billion. - Carlos Slim Helu (Mexico’s richest person): Fortune dropped from $105.3 billion to $91.4
billion. - Phil Knight (Co-founder of Nike): Net worth declined from $42.9 billion to $33.7 billion.
- Mackenzie Scott: Witnessed a $4.7 billion downturn mostly due to charitable
contributions, despite Amazon’s stock performing well.
Top Losses Among Billionaires in the First Half of 2024:
- Elon Musk: -$29.9 billion
- Dieter Schwarz: -$15.4 billion
- Carlos Slim Helu & family: -$13.9 billion
- Zhong Shanshan: -$11.3 billion
- Andrew Forrest & family: -$9.5 billion
- Francoise Bettencourt Meyers & family: -$9.4 billion
- Phil Knight & family: -$9.2 billion
- James Ratcliffe: -$7.5 billion
- Bernard Arnault & family: -$6.9 billion
- Low Tuck Kwong: -$6.7 billion
Top Gains Among Billionaires in 2024:
Many billionaires capitalized on the record highs of global stock indexes like the S&P 500, Stoxx 600, Nikkei 225, and Nifty 50. The CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, emerged as the biggest winner, gaining $64.1 billion and ascending from the 27th richest person in the world to the 14th. Other beneficiaries of the AI surge include:
- Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, saw an increase of $61.5 billion in his net worth.
- Michael Dell, CEO of Dell, experienced a rise of $35.8 billion.
- Larry Ellison, the chairman of Oracle, gained $37.7 billion.
- Larry Page, co-founder of Google, added $33.1 billion to his wealth.
- Mukesh Ambani emerged as Asia’s biggest gainer with a $22.4 billion increase.
- Amancio Ortega was the top winner in Europe, with a rise of $10.7 billion.
- Eduardo Saverin saw a significant increase of $8.1 billion, making him the biggest gainer
in South America. - Aliko Dangote experienced a growth of $3.9 billion, becoming Africa’s top profit.
Notable Insights:
- Elon Musk’s current net worth is now $99 billion lower than his peak of approximately
$320 billion in November 2021. This decline coincided with Tesla’s stock dropping by
over 50%, while the S&P 500 saw a gain of about 22%. - On average, the 25 wealthiest individuals, excluding Musk, saw their net worth increase
by $14.4 billion from the end of 2023 to mid-2024.
