The volatile value of tech stocks reshuffled the ranking of the world’s 10 wealthiest people last month.
Tesla CEO and combative X owner Elon Musk maintained his grip on the No. 1 spot with an estimated fortune of $243.7 billion, as more than half of the others swapped places for a second consecutive month, Forbes reported.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos held onto the No. 2 spot despite seeing his riches decline by $7.8 billion, to $197 billion, as the company’s stock price dipped about 2.4%.
LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, who was the world’s richest person from February through May, remained in third place with an estimated net worth of $189.7 billion, up $10.2 billion thanks to a 3% increase in his company’s stock price.
But Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg traded places with Oracle co-founder and chairman Larry Ellison for the No. 4 spot after shares in Facebook’s parent company rose 9% in August.
Zuckerberg and Ellison, now ranked fifth, have estimated fortunes of $180.5 billion and $174.7 billion, respectively.
The “Oracle of Omaha,” investor Warren Buffett, jumped one spot to No. 6, as Class A shares of his Berkshire Hathaway holding company rose by 8.5%, pushing his net worth to $149.9 billion.
The No. 7 spot was grabbed by Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, whose wealth increased by an estimated $6.3 billion, to $137.2 billion, and moved him up two spots from No. 9.
A 5% decline in Alphabet shares bumped Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin down to eighth and ninth place as their respective fortunes fell to $136.1 billion and $130.4 billion.
Former Microsoft CEO and Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer held onto the still-enviable position at the bottom of the list with a net worth of $122.5 billion, down $1.5 billion due to a slight dip in Microsoft shares.
Combined, the 10 men were worth a staggering $1.66 trillion, up $31 billion from July.
Forbes’ most recent annual list of billionaires, released in April, tallied a record 2,781, of whom 224 each had fortunes of $10 billion or more.
