The Number of Billionaires Reaches a Record High, Raising Concerns about Global Economic Inequality
According to Forbes, the number of billionaires has reached 2,781, an increase of 141 from last year, with a total net worth of $14.2 trillion. This exorbitant level of wealth raises growing concerns about global economic inequality. In fact, the fortune of the top 10 richest individuals surpasses the GDP of many countries, including Tunisia, which had a nominal GDP of $54.71 billion in 2024, according to the IMF. So, who are the individuals holding all this wealth? Here is the list of the top 10 richest individuals in 2024:
- Elon Musk: CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and CTO and executive president of X, with a net worth of $250.5 billion.
- Jeff Bezos: Founder and executive president of Amazon, founder of Blue Origin, and owner of The Washington Post, with a net worth of $198 billion.
- Larry Ellison: Co-founder of Oracle Corporation, with a net worth of $191 billion.
- Mark Zuckerberg: Head of Meta Group, with a net worth of $174.9 billion.
- Bernard Arnault and his family: CEO of luxury group LVMH, with a net worth of $172.3 billion.
- Warren Buffett: CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, with a net worth of $144.3 billion.
- Bill Gates: Microsoft, with a net worth of $137.2 billion.
- Larry Page: Co-founder of Google, with a net worth of $124.6 billion.
- Steve Ballmer: Former CEO of Microsoft (2000-2014), with a net worth of $121.9 billion.
- Sergey Brin: Co-founder of Google, with a net worth of $119.5 billion.
It's worth noting that the list is dominated by Americans, with the only exception being Bernard Arnault, who is French. This is not surprising, given that the United States has a GDP of over $28.78 trillion in 2024, firmly maintaining its position as the world's largest economy from 1960 to 2024.
Furthermore, the United States has a record number of 813 billionaires, followed by China with 473 billionaires, and India in third place with 200 billionaires.
