Tech giants Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have led a total of $852 billion surge in fortune among the 500 richest people in the world in the first half of 2023.
The data compiled by Bloomberg shows that Musk, Tesla CEO was a top gainer on the list of Bloomberg billionaires index with an added net worth of $96.6 billion while Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO followed up with $58.9 billion.
According to the data, each member of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index made an average of $14 million daily over the past six months, making it the best half-year for billionaires since the economy rebounded from the COVID-19 slump in 2020.
Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison and Bernanald Arnault followed the list with an added net worth of $47.4 billion, $40.8 billion and $36.2 billion respectively.
“The gains coincided with a broad stock market rally, as investors brushed off the effects of central bank interest rate hikes, the ongoing war in Ukraine and a crisis in regional banks. The S&P 500 rose 16 percent and the Nasdaq 100 surged 39 percent for its best-ever first half as investor mania over artificial intelligence boosted tech stocks,” Bloomberg stated.
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However, Gautam Adani, the chairman of Adani Group net worth dropped the most in the six-month period, losing $60.2 billion. Adani posted the biggest daily loss of any billionaire, losing about $20.8 billion on 27, January 2023, after Hindenburg Research accused his corporation of accounting fraud and stock manipulation, a claim which he denied.
Hindenburg, a U.S.-based investment research firm founded by Nate Anderson, also knocked down the net worth of Carl Icahn with his Icahn Enterprises LP having the highest one-day drop of $13.4 billion representing 57 percent of its network. This came after Hindenburg disclosed it was shorting the shares and stating that the stock was significantly overvalued relative to its holdings.
The drop according to Bloomberg represents the largest percentage drop of any member of its Billionaires Index in the period.
For Musk, the wealth gains spilled over into July as Tesla shares climbed 6.9 percent on Monday in New York, tacking on an additional $13 billion to his fortune.
Meanwhile, Musk and Zuckerberg had earlier disclosed their willingness to engage in a cage fight in a viral post which made the rounds on social media the previous week.
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