Tech moguls Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg spearheaded a significant surge in fortune among the 500 wealthiest individuals globally in the first half of 2023, totaling a staggering $852 billion, as reported by Bloomberg.
Musk, CEO of Tesla, emerged as the top gainer on the Bloomberg billionaires index, accumulating an additional net worth of $96.6 billion, closely followed by Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook), with an increase of $58.9 billion.
The data reveals that members of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index experienced an average daily wealth growth of $14 million each over the past six months, marking the most prosperous half-year for billionaires since the global economy rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic slump in 2020.
Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, and Bernard Arnault ranked next on the list, with respective net worth additions of $47.4 billion, $40.8 billion, and $36.2 billion.
Bloomberg attributed these gains to a widespread rally in the stock market, as investors disregarded the impact of central bank interest rate hikes, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and a crisis in regional banks.
The S&P 500 index rose by 16 percent, while the Nasdaq 100 surged by 39 percent, achieving its best-ever performance in the first half of a year, propelled by investor enthusiasm for advancements in artificial intelligence, which bolstered the tech sector.
