TECH billionaire Elon Musk has topped the Forbes rich list for the third consecutive year despite becoming $7 billion poorer, while almost all 25 richest Americans have grown their fortunes.

 

The Tesla and Space X founder — who has an estimated fortune of $244 billion — has remained the nation’s richest man since 2022 when his stocks jumped 11%.

 

 

 

 

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the country’s second richest person with an estimated wealth of $197 billion.

 

Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg jumped five spots up to No. 3 thanks to rebounding Meta stock, adding $75 billion to his net worth in the past year. He is now worth $181 billion.

 

But Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who held the top stop for nearly two decades, has fallen to his lowest rank in nearly 25 years.

 

While he still holds a fortune of $107 billion, the software mogul slipped to No. 9 down from No. 6 a year ago.

 

This comes after his 2021 divorce from Melinda French Gates, with Forbes nearly tripling its estimation of the divorce settlement.

 

The new figures are according to the newly released annual Forbes 400 list, analyzing the wealthiest people in America and across the world.

 

Google executives Larry Page and Sergey Brin have grown their wealth sitting in No. 6 and No. 7th spot respectively.

 

But pop superstar Taylor Swift is too poor to make the list despite amassing over $1 billion in wealth since October 2023.

 

Jeff Bezos’s ex-wife Mackenzie Scott has slipped from the top 25, as she continues to give away her wealth.

 

Just three of the top 25 rich listers got poorer over the past year including Musk whose wealth dropped by $7 billion and Gates.

 

Nike founder Phil Knight has also suffered from the downturn in the sports brand’s stock price.

 

The top 25 billionaires on the Forbes 400 list are collectively worth $2.5 trillion, holding nearly half of the $5.4 trillion in total wealth of the entire list.

 

According to Forbes, this group is $471 billion richer than 2023, with the top 25 names up 31%.

 

RICH GETTING RICHER

 

Many of the top 25 rich listers are the same from last year, but three stand out names are Walmart’s Lukas Walton who has jumped from 31st place to No. 25 in 2024.

 

This is off the back of Walmart’s rising stock price.

 

Trader’s Jeff Yass and Thomas Peterffy have also jumped up the list ranking 18 and 23 respectively.

 

Forbes ranked Musk and Larry Ellison the top two most philanthropic billionaires, followed by Bezos and Zuckerberg.

 

BILLIONAIRES BY STATE

 

California is home to the highest number of billionaires per state in the country, with a whopping 82 people who live there.

 

The Golden State, famous for the riches of Silicon Valley, is followed by New York and Florida which each have 57 billionaires.

 

Texas holds the third most number of billionaires with 43 rich listers.

 

Across the globe, the world’s billionaires are now richer than ever, worth $14.2 trillion in aggregate up by $2 trillion in 2023.

 

Two thirds of the world’s richest are worth more than they were a year ago, and only one fourth are poorer.

 

The US boasts a record 813 billionaires worth a combined $5.7 trillion.

 

This is followed by China which remains second with 473 billionaires worth $1.7 trillion.