Tech billionaires gain $845 billion as the rest of the world's richest lose ground

Elon Musk remained first on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a net worth of $977 billion after his personal fortune grew by $310 billion through September. His gain was close to two-fifths of the index’s entire increase.

Musk was the largest beneficiary of a striking divide over the first nine months of the year. Roughly 100 technology billionaires among the world’s 500 richest people added a combined $845 billion through 30 September, the biggest gain recorded for that period by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Billionaires whose fortunes come from industries outside technology collectively lost $62 billion over the same stretch.

The advance was driven primarily by the artificial intelligence boom and a rise in US technology stocks. Americans accounted for 94% of the index’s net gains.

Michael Dell’s wealth rose 81% to $254 billion as Dell Technologies expanded data center sales. Mark Zuckerberg added $23 billion after Meta Platforms shares rose 27% in September, following the debut of the company’s Muse personal AI assistant.

The gains also created new fortunes. Anthropic’s seven co-founders crossed the billionaire threshold in June after a financing round valued the AI company at $965 billion. Lin Tsung-chi, who founded Taiwanese data-center equipment manufacturer King Slide roughly four decades ago, holds a $9.5 billion fortune. Wang Xin, chair of Guangdong Dtech Technology, also entered the billionaire index.

Technology fortunes now total $4.6 trillion, or 36% of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index’s overall wealth. Technology billionaires account for only about a fifth of the world’s 500 richest people.

The concentration is also increasingly American at the very top. Since 10 September, all 10 of the world’s richest people have been from the US, the first time that has happened since Bloomberg began tracking billionaires in 2012.

The broader billionaire total has moved in the other direction since the middle of the year. Combined wealth peaked at $13.4 trillion in mid-June before falling 6% to $12.6 trillion by the end of the measurement period. Larry Ellison’s net worth has fallen $196 billion from its peak.