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Elon Musk is now the wealthiest person in recorded history. Forbes released its 40th annual World's Billionaires list this week, and Musk topped it for the second consecutive year with an estimated net worth of $839 billion, making him the first person ever to surpass the $800 billion mark. He is widely seen as the frontrunner to become the world's first trillionaire.
His fortune swelled by roughly $500 billion over the past 12 months, driven by rising valuations at Tesla and SpaceX, which is targeting a public offering in 2026.
"It's the year of the billionaire," said Chase Peterson-Withorn, Forbes senior editor for wealth.
The list now features 3,428 billionaires, the most in its 39-year history, with a combined net worth of $20.1 trillion, up $4 trillion from last year's total.
Musk's wealth is more than three times that of the next person on the list. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin ranked second and third, with fortunes of $257 billion and $237 billion respectively. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos came in fourth at $224 billion, followed by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg at $222 billion. Larry Ellison, Bernard Arnault, Jensen Huang, Warren Buffett and Amancio Ortega round out the top 10.
University of Maryland researcher David Kirsch noted that estimates of Musk's wealth are inevitably "highly speculative" since much of it rests on private company valuations. "If you were to measure the actual assets, it wouldn't be $800 billion. It might be a third of that, which would still be more than the next person," Kirsch said.
The United States leads all countries with 989 billionaires holding a combined $8.4 trillion in wealth. China, including Hong Kong, follows with 610 billionaires, and India has 229.
Twenty individuals now have net worths climbing into 12-figure territory, a group collectively worth $3.8 trillion. No one was in that club as recently as 2017, according to Forbes.
Among notable newcomers to the list are rapper Dr. Dre, singer Beyonce and tennis legend Roger Federer. James Cameron and Musk's brother Kimbal also debuted this year. President Donald Trump climbed to 645th place from 700th a year ago, with Forbes estimating his fortune at $6.5 billion, up $1.4 billion, boosted partly by cryptocurrency holdings he has promoted.
On the African continent, Nigeria's Aliko Dangote remains the undisputed leader at $28.5 billion, built on cement and sugar production, landing him at 86th globally. He is trailed by South Africa's Johann Rupert at $16.1 billion, whose wealth flows through luxury goods and retail investments. Nigeria's Abdulsamad Rabiu holds $11.2 billion, also in cement and sugar. South Africa's Nicky Oppenheimer sits at $10.6 billion from diamonds and mining, Egypt's Nassef Sawiris at $9.6 billion from construction and investments, and Eswatini's Nathan Kirsh at $9.1 billion from retail and real estate.
Nigeria's Mike Adenuga, South Africa's Patrice Motsepe, Egypt's Mohamed Mansour and South Africa's Michiel Le Roux also feature, with fortunes ranging from $3.8 billion to $6.5 billion across telecoms, mining, banking and diversified holdings. Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt collectively account for the bulk of Africa's billionaire wealth, according to Forbes.
Africa's rise on the list is gradual, grounded in traditional industries rather than the tech-driven windfalls that have turbocharged fortunes elsewhere. Analysts say sectors like fintech, green energy and logistics could eventually shift that equation, but the continent's heavyweights are still building from a base that leans heavily on commodities, construction and consumer goods.
AI and surging stock markets have been the primary engines behind this year's unprecedented wealth accumulation globally, with Musk's fortune benefiting directly from Tesla's rebound and the blockbuster potential of SpaceX heading into a possible IPO later this year.
