Bernard Arnault lost more money than any other billionaire this year, while Elon Musk’s fortune nearly doubled.Chesnot/Getty Images; Marc Piasecki/Getty Images
In 2024, the rich got largely richer as tech stocks soared and markets experienced a post-election surge.
However, some luxury titans lost billions amid an industry slowdown.
Here are the biggest billionaire winners and losers of the year, based on their net worth.
2024 was a good year to be a billionaire.
The S&P 500 gained 25% this year, while the Nasdaq rose 33%. The super-rich, many of whom invest in companies in each index, benefited greatly.
The five billionaires who gained the most wealth in 2024 saw their net worth collectively increase by $542 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of Dec. 27.
These billionaires all come from the tech sector, where AI fever and a post-election rally drove many stocks to all-time highs.
However, there were those who saw their fortunes affected. Some billionaires whose money comes from luxury retail, which struggled this year, lost double-digit billions.
These are the billionaires who gained and lost the most this year and how much their fortunes changed as of December 27.
The biggest winners of the year are…
Elon Musk: $239 billion richer
Musk, who supported Donald Trump’s campaign, has become $200 billion richer since the election.fake images
Elon Musk, who is worth $468 billion, nearly doubled his net worth in 2024, due in large part to the stock market rally following Donald Trump’s election victory. Since Election Day, he has become richer by more than $200 billion.
His fortune is mainly made up of Tesla and SpaceX shares. Although electric vehicle sales have slowed, Tesla’s stock price is up more than 70% this year. Meanwhile, SpaceX has doubled in value in the last year and is now worth $350 billion.
Musk, who donated more than $200 million to Trump’s re-election efforts, has become an adviser to the president-elect, who appointed him and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead his newly created Department of Government Efficiency. Investors believe his relationship with the commander in chief will benefit their companies.
Mark Zuckerberg: $85 billion richer
Zuckerberg, Meta’s largest individual shareholder, saw his fortune thanks to a good year for the company.@zuck via Instagram
Mark Zuckerberg depends on the success of Meta’s good year. The CEO, who is worth $213 billion, owns about 13% of the company’s shares, making him its largest individual shareholder.
Meta’s share price is up more than 70% this year thanks to its strong advertising business and its push into AI. The company announced its first dividend in February and its shares have hit all-time highs several times this year.
Jensen Huang: $78 billion richer
Huang, a newly minted centibillionaire, has become one of the best-known figures in the burgeoning artificial intelligence industry.I-hwa Cheng/Getty
The rise of AI generated a new centibillionaire this year: Jensen Huang, whose value amounts to $122 billion.
The Nvidia CEO and co-founder owns about 3.5% of the company, whose share price has risen more than 175% so far this year thanks to his dominance in the AI chip industry.
Larry Ellison: $70 billion richer
Larry Ellison, the billionaire founder of Oracle.Phillip Faraone/Getty Images
Larry Ellison, who is worth $193 billion, is the founder and chief technology officer of Oracle.
Shares of the database software company, which makes up the majority of his net worth, have risen more than 60% so far this year thanks to its cloud applications and infrastructure, which can be used to train the AI.
Ellison also owns more than 1% of Tesla shares, which are worth $20 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Jeff Bezos: $69 billion richer
Jeff Bezos remains Amazon’s largest shareholder and has benefited from the company’s rebound in 2024.Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for The New York Times
Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos remains the company’s largest individual shareholder, owning nearly 9% of the $2.4 trillion company. His stake in the retail and technology giant represents more than 80% of his $246 billion fortune.
Amazon shares, which are up more than 45% so far this year, surged after Trump’s election. The company has also benefited from its leadership in e-commerce and cloud computing.
Meanwhile, some billionaires took hits to their fortunes.
Bernard Arnault: 31 billion dollars poorer
According to the numbers, Arnault is the biggest billionaire loser of the year.Tefano Rellandini/Getty Images
This year was one of the worst years for luxury in recent memory, and Bernard Arnault has an 11-figure loss to prove it.
The CEO of LVMH, which is worth $176 billion, has a 48% stake in the company, which owns brands such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior. Luxury brands have struggled this year, particularly in China, which has experienced a housing crisis and high youth unemployment.
Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers’ net worth is derived from her involvement in L’Oréal.Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images
Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, heiress to the L’Oréal fortune, is the second richest woman in the world with a fortune of $75 billion.
The cosmetics company has struggled this year as sales in China took a hit. Its share price is down more than 26% so far this year.
Carlos Slim: $23 billion poorer
Carlos Slim has a diversified fortune, with stakes in many public companies in Latin America.AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, worth $82 billion, saw his fortune wipe out this year with shares of telecommunications giant América Móvil.
Colin Huang: $17 billion poorer
Colin Huang’s fortune comes from Temu, the fast fashion retailer he founded.VCG/Getty Images
Almost all of Colin Huang’s $35 billion fortune lies in his stake in Pinduoduo, the parent company of fast fashion retailer Temu, whose shares have fallen more than 30% this year.
In August, Temu announced that it expected profits to fall in the future due to increasing competition and changing consumer sentiment. The company took another hit after Trump’s victory, given uncertainty about how future tariffs could affect sales.
Francois Pinault: 14 billion dollars poorer
Francois Pinault founded the luxury group Kering, whose shares plummeted this year.REUTERS/Charles Platiau
Francois Pinault’s fortune is another victim of this year’s luxury crisis.
He founded the Kering luxury group, which includes brands such as Balenciaga, Gucci and Saint Laurent, and most of his $22 billion net worth is invested in the company, whose shares are down more than 40% so far this year. anus.
