After a 2022 in which most of the world’s richest people saw their fortunes decline, to a greater or lesser degree, 2023 was a good year for billionaires.

Their fortunes have grown by hundreds of millions of dollars, largely thanks to strong stock market performances, especially for technology companies. This year, the world’s 20 richest people do not include anyone from China, after Zhong Shanshan – who was in 14th place in 2022 – fell off the list, according to Bloomberg data updated on December 29.

The biggest change this year compared to last year is that Elon Musk reclaimed the title of richest man in the world. The founder of Tesla and SpaceX dropped to No. 2 in 2022, a year that saw a lot of controversy and poor results from Tesla. In 2023, Musk continued to be embroiled in controversy, but the electric car company’s stock prices soared 107%. As a result, Elon Musk’s net worth increased from $138.3 billion to $232.4 billion, an amount that still falls short of the $277.3 billion he recorded in 2021!

Second place is hotly contested, but it eventually “went” to Bernard Arnault, with $179 billion. The chief executive of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) – who dethroned Musk in 2022 – saw his net worth rise by $14.5 billion, despite LVMH no longer being the most valuable company in Europe. That title now belongs to the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, which makes the anti-obesity drugs Wegovy and Ozempic.

A close third is Jeff Bezos, with a net worth of $178.3 billion. He moved up from 6th place in 2022, when his fortune was $107.2 billion. He is one of the billionaires who have benefited from the strong performance of technology companies. The company he founded, Amazon, had a net profit of $19.8 billion in the first nine months of the year.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates remains in fourth place, where he has been for the past two years. His net worth rose from $109.5 billion last year to $140.5 billion — a fortune he repeatedly says he plans to give away through the foundation he created with his ex-wife Melinda Gates.

In fifth place, behind Gates, is former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who climbed four spots from 2022. His net worth rose from $86.2 billion to $130.5 billion.

But it was Mark Zuckerberg who saw the biggest rise of the world’s 20 richest people. In 2022, he dropped to 25th place due to Meta Platform’s stock market crash, which saw his fortune drop to $44.8 billion. It now sits in sixth place, with $129.6 billion, after Meta – the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – made a series of cuts. The market reacted positively to the measure…

Gates

In seventh place is Larry Page, who was in 10th place in 2022. The Google co-founder is worth $126.8 billion, up from $83.1 billion in 2022. He has also benefited from gains in the technology sector in 2023 , a year marked by the advancement of Artificial Intelligence. So is Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who is in ninth place with $120.3 billion, up from $79.5 billion in 2022, when he was in 11th place. In eighth place is Larry Ellison, the founder of software giant Oracle, who rose one place, with his fortune increasing from $91.5 billion to $123.8 billion.

Warren Buffett, who has been in the list of the 20 richest people in the world for years, is in 10th place. He fell five places from 2022, even as his fortune increased from $107.7 billion to $120.3 billion. The end of the year brought sad news for the billionaire: on November 28, his right-hand man, Charlie Munger, died at the age of 99.

The biggest drop was recorded by Gautam Adani, who fell from No. 3 to No. 15, with his fortune falling from $121.1 billion to $83 billion. In just one week in February, the founder of the Adani group – which includes everything from mines to ports and food conglomerates – lost almost half his fortune after allegations of accounting fraud by investment firm Hindenburg Research. In November, an inquiry commissioned by India’s Supreme Court concluded that the allegations were not credible. As a result, the company’s fortune increased and with it Adani’s net worth.

In the 16th place comes Michael Dell, founder of the technology company Dell. His total net worth increased to $78.5 billion, up from $48.4 billion in 2022.

Rounding out the list is Julia Flesher Koch and her family, ranked 16th in 2022. The widow of David Koch, co-owner of an oil and pipeline conglomerate, saw her net worth drop slightly from $67.3 billion in 2022 to $66.6 billion this year. She and Adani are the only two on the list to see their fortunes decline in 2023.