May 2025 begins with many fluctuations in the world billionaire rankings. Most of the tech giants are getting richer despite the wobbly U.S. stock market. Leading the way is Elon Musk – who has just pocketed an additional $46 billion in just one month.

Elon Musk continues to hold on to his position as the richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of $386.5 billion, according to Forbes. Despite Tesla’s weakest quarterly financial report since 2021, its shares still rose 7% in April, contributing to a sharp rise in Musk’s assets.

In addition to Tesla, Musk also holds SpaceX, social network X (formerly Twitter) and artificial intelligence company xAI. In particular, xAI’s acquisition of X at a valuation of $45 billion also raises confidence in the financial future of this South African-born boss.

With holding a 12% stake in Tesla and awaiting a verdict on a nearly $50 billion stock bonus package, Musk could be even richer if he is re-granted this right in the coming months.

Besides Elon Musk, Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega – fashion tycoon Zara – was also a big beneficiary in April. Inditex’s stock price rose slightly by 2%, combined with a stronger euro that helped his fortune rise by nearly $9 billion, reaching $123.3 billion.

Google’s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, added $3.4 billion and $3.3 billion, respectively, thanks to rising Alphabet shares. Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, also got $4.4 billion richer thanks to the rise in Microsoft stocks.

Even Warren Buffett, the oldest person in the top 10 (94 years old), recorded a slight increase in wealth by $500 million, although this increase is not significant for him.

Sự gia tăng tài sản của những người đứng đầu bảng xếp hạng tỷ phú diễn ra khi Nasdaq tăng 0,7% trong tháng qua trong khi S&P 500 giảm 1,1%. 

 

The rise in the wealth of billionaire leaders comes as the Nasdaq rose 0.7% over the past month while the S&P 500 fell 1.1%.

Who lost the most money in April?

The three notable losers are Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Bernard Arnault. Zuckerberg lost up to $9.3 billion due to Meta shares falling 5% in April. Bezos also fell $5.3 billion when Amazon shares lost 4% of their value.

Luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault alone saw his assets “evaporate” nearly $15 billion – the sharpest drop – when LVMH announced lower-than-expected quarterly revenue. The group’s shares fell more than 15%, especially due to a deep decline in sales in the US and Asia (excluding Japan).

Even so, Arnault still holds the 6th position in the ranking of the rich.

In total, the 10 richest people on the planet currently own $1,770 billion – an increase of $40 billion compared to the beginning of April 2025. This comes despite the volatility of the U.S. stock market: the Nasdaq rose slightly by 0.7 percent and the S&P 500 fell by 1.1 percent.

The volatility of billionaires’ assets is largely tied to the stock prices of the corporations they own, amid global investors reacting cautiously to the U.S. administration’s tariff plans and fears of a recession.

List of the 10 richest people in the world today

According to Forbes statistics until 0:00 on May 1, 2025 (New York time), the top 10 richest billionaires in the world include:

Elon Musk – $386.5 billion (Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, X)

Jeff Bezos – $201.6 billion (Amazon)

Mark Zuckerberg – $190 billion (Meta)

Larry Ellison – 176,9 tỷ USD (Oracle)

Warren Buffett – 166,4 tỷ USD (Berkshire Hathaway)

Bernard Arnault – $146.5 billion (LVMH)

Larry Page – $132.7 billion (Google)

Sergey Brin – $127.2 billion (Google)

Amancio Ortega – $114.4 billion (Inditex)

Steve Ballmer – $114.1 billion (Microsoft, investment)