Top 10 World’s Richest People Massively Grew Their Wealth In 2021, Here’s Which Billionaires Increased Their Net Worth Most

Written by Paul Sacca on updated
Elon Musk became the third person ever to amass a fortune worth $200 billion, according to Forbes, surpassing Amazon founder and rival space billionaire Jeff Bezos in the process. Reached for comment by Forbes, Musk took a celebratory crack at Bezos. “I’m sending a giant statue of the digit ‘2’ to Jeffrey B., along with a silver medal,” Musk wrote in a short email.

While 2021 has been difficult for many, the world’s richest people enjoyed extraordinary financial success. The top wealthiest people in the world – including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett – all have a net worth of $100 billion, and they all increased their net worth in 2021, according to data from Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.

All-in-all, the top 10 world’s wealthiest individuals increased their net worths by a whopping $402.17 billion in 2021, according to CNBC.

1. Elon Musk: $277 billion (+$121 billion)

The Tesla founder experienced one of the most successful years of his life in 2021. In October, rental car company Hertz announced that it intends on purchasing 100,000 Tesla Model 3 sedan vehicles for its fleet of cars. The partnership sent Tesla’s stock surging nearly 13%. The massive deal added $36.2 billion to Musk’s net worth – the largest single-day gain that Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index has ever recorded. Tesla’s stock is up nearly 52% in the past year.

2. Jeff Bezos: $195 billion (+$5 billion)

The Amazon founder didn’t have the banner year as Musk did, but he still pocketed $5 billion. Bezos stepped down as Amazon’s CEO in July, exactly 27 years to the day when he started the e-commerce behemoth in a garage in West Bellevue, Washington.

3. Bernard Arnault: $176 billion (+$61 billion)

Arnault is the 72-year-old CEO of French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, which owns 70 luxurious brands such as Moët, Givenchy, Hennessy, Christian Dior, and Louis Vuitton.

4. Bill Gates: $139 billion (+$7 billion)

Despite making $7 billion, the founder of Microsoft said this month that 2021 was the hardest year of his life as a result of his divorce from his ex-wife Melinda French Gates.

5. Larry Page: $130 billion (+$47 billion)

Between May until July, the Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have sold more than $1 billion worth of stock combined.

6. Mark Zuckerberg: $128 billion (+$24 billion)

Zuckerberg owns a 13% stake in Meta Platforms, Inc., also known as Meta and formerly known as Facebook, Inc. Meta has grown by 26% in the past year.

7. Sergey Brin: $125 billion (+$45 billion)

Meanwhile, Google founders – Larry Page and Sergey Brin – joined the $100 billion club in April after a spike in the price of the tech firm’s parent company Alphabet.

8. Steve Ballmer: $122 billion (+$41 billion)

Ballmer – who stepped down as Microsoft’s CEO in 2014 and now owns the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers – saw his net worth grow by $41 billion thanks to Microsoft stock surging 52% in 2021.

9. Larry Ellison: $109 billion (+$29 billion)

The executive chairman of Oracle saw his wealth increase thanks to shares of the computer technology corporation jumping 36% in the past year.

10. Warren Buffett: $109 billion (+$21 billion)

The value of Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio spiked from $281 billion in 2020 to a staggering $343 billion. For example, Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway experienced huge returns in American Express (33%), Apple (32%), Bank of America (45%), and Bank of New York Mellon (37%), as of Dec. 15.