Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has entered the list of the world’s top three richest people for the first time, with a net worth of $242 billion. According to the Hurun Global Rich List 2025, the 40-year-old’s wealth grew by 53% (or $84 billion), mainly due to Meta’s investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and new technology.
Zuckerberg was the second-biggest wealth gainer of the year, just behind Elon Musk. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO increased his net worth by $189 billion and took the top spot on the list.
Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Researcher of Hurun Report, said that 2024 was a great year for entertainment industry leaders like Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Zhang Yiming of ByteDance, and Pony Ma of Tencent.
Elon Musk remains the world’s richest person with a net worth of $420 billion, holding the top spot for the fourth time in five years. Jeff Bezos secured second place with $266 billion, thanks to Amazon’s stock surge driven by AI and cloud services. Mark Zuckerberg ranked third, followed by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison in fourth with $203 billion, an increase of $59 billion.
At 94, Warren Buffett held onto fifth place with $167 billion, gaining $23 billion over the year. Larry Page climbed to sixth with $164 billion, boosted by a 33% rise in Alphabet’s stock. Bernard Arnault dropped to seventh with $157 billion, losing $18 billion due to challenges faced by LVMH, including China’s economic slowdown and lower luxury demand. Steve Ballmer remained eighth with $156 billion, growing by 10%. Sergey Brin rose to ninth with $148 billion, thanks to Alphabet’s stock surge.
Bill Gates rounded out the top 10 with $143 billion, maintaining his position with a 4% increase.The Hurun Global Rich List 2025 ranked 3,442 billionaires from 2,524 companies across 71 countries, showing a 5% increase in the number of billionaires from last year.
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