World’s richest become $1 trillion richer in 2017
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos enjoyed the greatest jump, with his wealth surging by $34.2bn during the year
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The richest people on the planet added $1 trillion to their collective wealth in 2017 – more than four times the previous year’s gains – thanks to a surge in stock prices.
Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index showed that the 500 richest individuals increased their wealth by 23 per cent over the course of the past year, helped by a near 20 per cent rise in the benchmark MSCI World Index and the S&P 500.
Amazon boss Jeff Bezos enjoyed the greatest jump. His wealth surged by $34.2bn, according to Bloomberg, an achievement that in autumn helped him to leapfrog Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to become the world’s richest person. Currently, Mr Bezos’s wealth is estimated to be a fraction below $100bn.
Shares in Amazon, of which Mr Bezos still owns a large chunk, have surged by around 50 per cent in value over the last 12 months, to well over $1,000 apiece.
Bloomberg said that by the time stock markets closed in the US on 26 December, the world’s 500 richest people controlled a total of $5.3 trillion, which was up from around $4.4 trillion at the same point in 2016.
Veteran financier Warren Buffett is currently listed by Bloomberg as the world’s third richest person, with an estimated wealth of around $85bn, ahead of Spanish business tycoon Amancio Ortega, at $75.5bn, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at $72.6bn.
By country, Bloomberg said that Chinese billionaires made the greatest gains in 2017. Among the greatest losers was French telecommunications billionaire Patrick Drahi, whose wealth fell by $4.1bn to $6.3bn – a 39 per cent drop, according to Bloomberg.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments