New York: Elon Musk has been named the wealthiest individual in history, with an estimated net worth of $839 billion, according to Forbes. This comes as a record 3,428 billionaires worldwide saw their combined fortunes rise to $20.1 trillion.
Musk tops the Forbes World’s Billionaires list for the second consecutive year, after his wealth increased by roughly $500 billion over the past year, fueled by rising valuations at Tesla and SpaceX, which is planning a public offering in 2026.
He is the first person to surpass $800 billion, putting him on track to become the world’s first trillionaire.
“It’s the year of the billionaire,” said Chase Peterson-Withorn, Forbes Senior Editor, Wealth. “More than one billionaire was added per day over the past twelve months as the AI-driven stock market boom pushed fortunes to unprecedented levels.”
The Forbes list shows Larry Page in second place with $257 billion, followed by Sergey Brin at $237 billion. Jeff Bezos ranks fourth with $224 billion, while Mark Zuckerberg rounds out the top five at $222 billion.
Forbes also highlighted that Donald Trump saw his fortune rise by 27% to $6.5 billion, largely due to cryptocurrency gains and a dismissed New York fraud penalty, ranking him 645th worldwide.
