Elon Musk re-establishes the throne of the world’s richest person, who falls in rank?

May 2025 began with many fluctuations in the world billionaire rankings. Most of the technology giants got richer despite the US stock market’s turmoil. Leading the way was Elon Musk – who just pocketed an additional $46 billion in just one month.
Elon Musk continued to hold the title of the world’s richest person with an estimated fortune of $386.5 billion, according to Forbes. Although Tesla had its weakest quarterly financial report since 2021, its shares still increased by 7% in April, contributing to the sharp increase in Musk’s assets.

In addition to Tesla, Musk also owns SpaceX, social network X (formerly Twitter) and artificial intelligence company xAI. In particular, xAI’s acquisition of X at a valuation of $45 billion also raised confidence in the financial future of this South African-born boss.

With a 12% stake in Tesla and a pending decision on a nearly $50 billion stock award, Musk could be even richer if he gets his benefits back in the coming months.

In addition to Elon Musk, Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega, the owner of Zara, was also a big winner in April. Inditex shares rose slightly by 2%, combined with a stronger euro, helping his fortune increase by nearly $9 billion to $123.3 billion.

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin added $3.4 billion and $3.3 billion, respectively, thanks to Alphabet’s rising stock price. Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, added $4.4 billion thanks to Microsoft’s rising stock.

Even Warren Buffett, the oldest person in the top 10 (94), saw his fortune increase slightly by $500 million, although the increase was not significant for him.

The wealth gains at the top of the billionaires’ list came as the Nasdaq rose 0.7% over the past month, while the S&P 500 fell 1.1%.

Who lost the most money in April?

The three biggest losers were Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Bernard Arnault. Zuckerberg lost $9.3 billion as Meta shares fell 5% in April. Bezos lost $5.3 billion as Amazon shares fell 4%.

Luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault saw his fortune drop by nearly $15 billion – the biggest drop – as LVMH reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue. The conglomerate’s shares fell more than 15%, driven by a sharp decline in sales in the US and Asia (excluding Japan).

Arnault still holds the sixth spot on the rich list.

In total, the 10 richest people on the planet now own $1.77 trillion – up $40 billion from early April 2025. This comes despite volatile US stock markets: the Nasdaq index rose slightly by 0.7% while the S&P 500 fell by 1.1%.

The fluctuations in billionaires’ wealth are largely tied to the stock prices of the corporations they own, in a context where global investors are reacting cautiously to the US government’s tariff plans and fearing the risk of an economic recession.

List of the 10 richest people in the world today

According to Forbes statistics as of 0:00 on May 1, 2025 (New York time), the top 10 richest billionaires in the world include:

Elon Musk – 386.5 billion USD (Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, X)

Jeff Bezos – 201.6 billion USD (Amazon)

Mark Zuckerberg – 190 billion USD (Meta)

Larry Ellison – 176.9 billion USD (Oracle)

Warren Buffett – 166.4 billion USD (Berkshire Hathaway)

Bernard Arnault – 146.5 billion USD (LVMH)

Larry Page – 132.7 billion USD (Google)

Sergey Brin – 127.2 billion USD (Google)

Amancio Ortega – 114.4 billion USD (Inditex)

Steve Ballmer – 114.1 billion USD (Microsoft, investment)

Note: Asset values ​​may change daily due to stock market fluctuations.