The world’s four richest people are off to a roaring start in 2026. In just over three weeks, they’ve together added $100 billion to their fortunes — more than Nike, Robinhood, or UPS are worth.
Musk has captured the lion’s share. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s net worth has soared by $70 billion since the start of January, hitting $690 billion at Thursday’s close, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows.
If Musk’s year-to-date wealth gain was someone’s entire net worth, they would rank among the world’s 25 richest people, just behind industrialist Charles Koch on $71 billion.
Musk’s fortune has ballooned this year primarily because of his stake in xAI; the maker of AI chatbot Grok was valued at $250 billion earlier this month.
Tesla stock also rallied 4% on Thursday, leaving it roughly flat year to date, following positive updates about the EV maker’s robotaxis and Optimus robots. That fueled a $13 billion increase in Musk’s wealth on Thursday.
The second- and third-richest people on the planet, Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, have added around $13 billion to their respective fortunes this year.
That’s because fresh buzz around Alphabet’s Gemini AI has boosted shares of Google’s parent company by about 6% this year, lifting Page and Brin to $283 billion and $263 billion each.
Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, rounds out the quartet of wealth winners. His fortune has grown by about $3 billion this year, reaching $257 billion at Thursday’s close.
Other tech titans have seen their net worths shrink this year as the buzz around their companies has cooled.
A nearly 9% drop in Oracle’s stock price this month has knocked $16 billion off cofounder and tech chief Larry Ellison’s net worth, cutting it to $231 billion.
Similarly, an almost 7% slide in Microsoft stock has reduced former CEO Steve Ballmer’s fortune by $11 billion to $158 billion.
New year, same story?
Musk, Page, and Brin have started 2026 with plenty of momentum after a stellar 12 months for mega-billionaires.
The world’s 10 richest people together gained $579 billion last year, propelling their combined wealth past $2.5 trillion — roughly what Amazon is worth.
Musk led the pack with an $187 billion increase in net worth, thanks to Tesla stock gaining 11% and SpaceX’s valuation leaping from $350 billion to $800 billion over the course of the year.
Page and Brin were the next-biggest gainers last year, notching wealth increases of $101 billion and $92 billion each as Alphabet shares rose 65%. Bezos gained a more modest $15 billion.
The four men could be in for another winning year if this month’s trend holds.
