Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg help boost world’s wealthiest by $1 trillion, Bloomberg billionaires index finds
The world’s wealthiest people added a collective $1 trillion to their riches in 2017, with Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos making the greatest gains off the back of a standout year for the technology and retail giant.
And the rich are getting richer, gaining four times more than they did in 2016, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, as stock markets boomed. Their wealth now stands at $5.3 trillion, up from $4.4 trillion a year earlier.
Read more: Wealth of the world’s top tech entrepreneurs surpasses $1 trillion
Bezos added $34.2bn to his wealth in a year when he overtook Microsoft founder Bill Gates as the richest person in the world. Even with promises of giving away his wealth to charitable projects, Gates still added $8.9bn to his wealth.
Behind Bezos, the chair of Chinese property developer China Evergrande Group Hui Ka Yan was the second biggest gainer, bagging $25.9bn.
Luxury magnate Bernard Arnault, head of LVMH, added $23.6bn to his wealth, while another tech entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg, added $22.6bn.
Top 10 richest people who gained the most wealth in 2017
Billionaire
Wealth added in 2017
Total worth
Overall ranking
Jeff Bezos
$34.2bn
$99.6bn
1
Hui Ka Yan
$25.9bn
$33.3bn
26
Bernard Arnault
$23.6bn
$62.8bn
6
Mark Zuckerberg
$22.6bn
$72.6bn
5
Pony Ma
$20.1bn
$41bn
19
Mukesh Ambani
$17.7bn
$40.5bn
20
Yang Huiyan
$14.1bn
$21.2bn
40
Larry Page
$12.9bn
$52.9bn
9
Wang Wei
$12.7bn
$17.4bn
61
Rob Walton
$12.3bn
$46.7bn
14
Sergey Brin
$12.3bn
$51.5bn
11