The World’s 10 Richest People Lost Nearly $50 Billion In October
Together, the world’s 10 richest people, according to Forbes, are worth $1.32 trillion as of November 1—but that’s nearly $50 billion less than a month ago. Led by a $35 billion decline in Elon Musk’s fortune during October, half of the ten richest are worth less on November 1 than they were at the start of October.
Nonetheless, the trend this year has been for the fortunes at the top of the list to grow. All of the top ten richest are worth $100 billion or more as of November 1, a change from March, when only six of the top ten had fortunes that exceeded $100 billion and the top ten were worth a combined $1.17 trillion.
For most of the first half of 2023, French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault was the world’s richest person, per Forbes—but that changed on June 8, 2023, when Tesla CEO Elon Musk overtook Arnault to become No. 1 in the world again. As of November 1, 2023, Musk is still the world’s richest person—a position he also held for much of 2022—but his fortune has shrunk by 14% in the past month, the result of a 20% decline in the share price of electric vehicle maker Tesla.
Nonetheless, the trend this year has been for the fortunes at the top of the list to grow. All of the top ten richest are worth $100 billion or more as of November 1, a change from March, when only six of the top ten had fortunes that exceeded $100 billion and the top ten were worth a combined $1.17 trillion.
For most of the first half of 2023, French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault was the world’s richest person, per Forbes—but that changed on June 8, 2023, when Tesla CEO Elon Musk overtook Arnault to become No. 1 in the world again. As of November 1, 2023, Musk is still the world’s richest person—a position he also held for much of 2022—but his fortune has shrunk by 14% in the past month, the result of a 20% decline in the share price of electric vehicle maker Tesla.
Transcript
00:00 The world's 10 richest people, according to Forbes, are worth nearly $50 billion less
00:04 than they were a month ago, as of November 1st.
00:07 More than two-thirds of that decline is due to the drop in one person's fortune.
00:11 Elon Musk, though he's still the richest person in the world, dropped by $35 billion in net
00:16 worth during the month of October, as shares of Tesla, the electric car maker he runs,
00:20 slid by 20%.
00:22 Altogether, the world's top 10 richest are worth an estimated $1.32 trillion, up from
00:28 $1.17 trillion when we published our annual billionaires list, with a total of 2,640 billionaires
00:34 in April this year.
00:36 Many billionaires hold much of their fortunes in the stock of the company they founded.
00:40 As that stock price moves, their fortune moves along with it.
00:44 Forbes updates billionaire fortunes on a daily basis.
00:46 Here are the five richest billionaires in the world as of November 1st, 2023.
00:51 At number five, Warren Buffett.
00:54 The Oracle of Omaha is the most generous billionaire on the planet.
00:57 He topped Forbes' list of the biggest givers in January and gave away another $4.6 billion
01:02 worth of his Berkshire Hathaway shares in mid-June.
01:05 Between October 1st and November 1st, his fortune fell by $3 billion due to a slight
01:09 drop in the price of Berkshire Hathaway stock.
01:12 At number four, Larry Ellison.
01:14 The software tycoon behind Oracle has a smaller fortune than a month ago as well.
01:18 Though he's held onto his rank at number four, a 3% decline in Oracle's shares during October
01:23 shaped $5 billion from his fortune.
01:26 Forbes now pegs Ellison's net worth at nearly $131 billion.
01:31 At number three, Jeff Bezos.
01:33 The founder, chairman, and former CEO of Amazon.
01:36 The only billionaire in the world's top five whose net worth rose in October.
01:41 Between October 1st, 2023 and November 1st of this year, he got $5.9 billion richer as
01:46 a result of an uptick in Amazon shares.
01:49 At number two, Bernard Arnault, who still ranks as the number two richest person in
01:52 the world, though he's worth about $10 billion less than a month ago due to a 5% drop in
01:57 the price of his luxury goods conglomerate, LVMH.
02:00 Arnault is the CEO and chairman of LVMH, a behemoth with more than 70 brands from Louis
02:04 Vuitton and Christian Dior to Tiffany & Co and Sephora.
02:08 At number one, Elon Musk.
02:10 The Tesla CEO has been the richest person in the world since June, but October wasn't
02:14 a great month for his electric car company.
02:16 The drop in Tesla's share price reduced his fortune by 14%.
02:20 Tesla missed both earnings and revenue expectations in quarterly earnings reported on October
02:25 18th, and Musk expressed concern about the high interest rate environment and the need
02:29 to lower the price of Tesla's cars.
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