Top 500 Global Billionaires Earn 1,948 Trillion Won More This Year... Musk Ranks 1st, Lee Jae-yong 228th

Bloomberg "Assets Rebounded This Year After Declining Last Year"
Notable Asset Growth Including L'Oreal Founder’s Granddaughter

This year, the net worth of the world's top 500 billionaires increased by a total of $1.5 trillion (approximately 1,947.75 trillion KRW). The person who increased their wealth the most this year was Elon Musk, the world's richest person and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. In South Korea, Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics, was the only individual to make the list of the top 500 billionaires.

Bloomberg reported on the 29th (local time) through its "Billionaires Index" that the total net worth of the world's top 500 billionaires had decreased by about $1.4 trillion (approximately 1,817.9 trillion KRW) last year but fully rebounded this year, recovering the losses from the previous year.

Among the billionaires who notably increased their wealth this year was Fran?oise Bettencourt Meyers (70), granddaughter of the founder of L'Or?al, which owns global cosmetics brands such as Kiehl's, Lanc?me, and Maybelline New York. Meyers' net worth rose by 40% ($28.6 billion) as L'Or?al's stock hit an all-time high this year, reaching a net worth of $100 billion (approximately 129.85 trillion KRW). As a result, Meyers ranked as the 12th richest person in the world and the wealthiest woman on the planet, becoming the first woman to hold assets worth $100 billion.

The granddaughter of the founder of L'Or?al, Fran?oise Bettencourt Meyers (left), who has significantly increased her wealth this year [Image source=Yonhap News]

Conversely, among those who lost significant wealth this year was Son Jeong-ui (66), chairman of SoftBank. Son's net worth currently stands at $11.4 billion (approximately 14.8 trillion KRW), ranking 184th. He lost $1.1 billion (approximately 1.43 trillion KRW) this year due to the bankruptcy of WeWork, a shared office company heavily invested in by SoftBank. Bloomberg forecasted that Son's business would continue to face challenges next year, though it added, "He has previously bounced back from deeper setbacks, such as the dot-com crash, which caused losses of hundreds of billions of dollars."

On the other hand, Zhao Changpeng (46), founder of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, saw his assets significantly increase despite facing various difficulties. Although he underwent intense investigations in the U.S. this year and pleaded guilty to money laundering violations, paying hefty fines, his assets grew as cryptocurrency prices rebounded. His net worth this year was estimated at $37.4 billion (approximately 48.56 trillion KRW), an increase of $24.8 billion (approximately 32.2 trillion KRW) from last year, ranking 35th overall.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who lost the title of the world's richest person last year but regained it this year [Image source=Yonhap News]

Fueled by the intense interest surrounding artificial intelligence (AI), the stock prices of related companies surged dramatically, resulting in a 48% annual increase ($658 billion, approximately 854.11 trillion KRW) in the total net worth of billionaires in the technology sector. Bloomberg analyzed, "Despite concerns about recession, inflation, high interest rates, and geopolitical turmoil, the wealth of the rich grew significantly thanks to record-breaking rallies in tech stocks."

Among them, Musk, the world's richest person, was the individual who increased his wealth the most this year. As of the previous day's market close, his net worth rose by $95.4 billion (approximately 123.88 trillion KRW) annually, reaching a total of $232 billion (approximately 301.25 trillion KRW). Tesla's stock price doubled compared to the beginning of the year, rising 101% annually, and the valuation of SpaceX, a private company, was highly rated due to the success of its satellite internet Starlink business. Musk had lost about $138 billion (179.19 trillion KRW) in net worth last year, ceding the title of the world's richest person to Bernard Arnault, chairman of Louis Vuitton Mo?t Hennessy (LVMH), but reclaimed it this year.

Due to a decline in demand for luxury goods and a drop in LVMH's stock price, Arnault, ranked second richest with a total net worth of $179 billion, has about $53 billion (approximately 68.82 trillion KRW) less than Musk. Following him is Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, who added $71.3 billion (approximately 92.58 trillion KRW) to his net worth this year, totaling $178 billion (approximately 231.13 trillion KRW).

Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, the only Korean listed in the world's top 500 richest people [Image source=Yonhap News]

Among Koreans, Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics, was the only person included in the list of the world's top 500 billionaires, ranking 228th. His net worth increased by $3.38 billion (approximately 4.39 trillion KRW) this year, reaching $9.9 billion (approximately 12.86 trillion KRW).

Meanwhile, according to the 2023 global billionaire statistics compiled by the U.S. economic magazine Forbes, the country with the most billionaires is the United States, with 735 registered. China (562) ranks second, and India (169) third. Mukesh Ambani, chairman of India's Reliance Industries, ranked 9th overall with a net worth of $83.2 billion, making him the richest person in Asia.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.