WEB DESK: In latest billionaire rankings by Forbes, Elon Musk became the first person to reach a net worth of $400 billion
Elon Musk begins 2025 as the world’s wealthiest individual, according to Forbes, with a net worth of 400 billion USD, Musk saw an incredible 91 billion USD increase since December 1, largely fueled by SpaceX’s new valuation of 350 billion USD. The company’s valuation leap has positioned SpaceX as the most valuable private company globally. Musk, who founded SpaceX in 2002 and serves as its CEO, also heads Tesla and holds stakes in social media platform X, AI company xAI, and tunneling firm Boring Co.
The second richest person in the World Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994, starting as an online bookstore before expanding into cloud computing, entertainment, and more. He led Amazon as CEO until 2021 but remains chairman. Bezos also owns Blue Origin, a private space company he founded and has invested billions in. Amazon’s stock rose by 5% in December 2024, adding around 10 billion USD to his fortune.
Bezos was the world’s richest person from 2018 to 2021 but dropped to second in 2022 and third in 2024. In 2019, he divorced his wife, MacKenzie, who received 4% of Amazon’s shares. Bezos has since sold or donated a significant portion of his stake, owning just under 10% of Amazon. Through Bezos Expeditions, he has also invested in companies like Airbnb and Workday.
Mark Zuckerberg overtakes Larry Ellison as world’s third wealthiest person , Mark Zuckerberg cofounded Facebook, now Meta Platforms, in 2004 while at Harvard University. Meta has become the world’s largest social network, owning Instagram and WhatsApp, which it acquired and expanded. Zuckerberg remains CEO and owns about 13% of the company.
His net worth rose by 3.8 billion USD in December 2024, driven by a 1.9% increase in Meta shares.
