It was a comeback year for the world’s wealthiest.

The combined net worth of the 500 richest people surged by US$1.5 trillion in 2023, fully rebounding from the US$1.4 trillion lost the year prior, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Once again, their fortunes were closely correlated to the performance of tech stocks, which rose to fresh records this year despite recession fears, lingering inflation, lofty interest rates and geopolitical turmoil. Tech billionaires saw their wealth grow by 48 per cent or US$658 billion, propelled by intense hype around artificial intelligence.

No one did better than Elon Musk, who recaptured the title of world’s richest person from French luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault. The Tesla Inc. chief executive netted an additional US$95.4 billion through Dec. 28’s close, bolstered by the success of Tesla and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., after losing US$138 billion in 2022. His net worth is now more than US$50 billion above Arnault’s after a global slowdown in demand for luxury goods dented shares of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE.

billionaires wealth index

Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos added more than US$70 billion to his wallet this year and is now neck-and-neck with Arnault for second place, while Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune jumped by more than US$80 billion.

The rising tide left some boats behind. Indian billionaire Gautam Adani lost US$21 billion on Jan. 27 alone — and US$37.3 billion across the whole year — after short-seller Hindenburg Research tanked the value of the Adani Group. Nevertheless, he still possesses an 11-figure fortune.