1. Elon Musk
This year has been rather challenging for Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. For instance, Tesla stock saw a brutal sell-off. The Twitter saga became a pain in the neck. Musk also was accused of harassment. Despite all the twists and turns, the Tesla chief was able to significantly increase his fortune. Compared to last year, the 51-year-old businessman's wealth multiplied by $60.5 billion. Musk has a net worth of about $250 billion, which makes him the richest billionaire.
2. Jeff Bezos
The founder of Amazon has topped the Forbes rating for 5 years in a row. This year, Jeff Bezos took only second place. His fortune is estimated at over $150 billion. Over the year, it decreased by $50 billion due to a considerable drop in Amazon shares. Compared to last year, the company's stock dwindled by 20%. Apart from that, the businessman has recently experienced plenty of fiascos, e.g. the loud scandal around his new superyacht or Blue Origin's rocket that crashed back to earth.
3. Bill Gates
Bill Gates, on the contrary, managed to climb one place above on the Forbes list this year despite the fact that his net worth dropped by almost $30 billion over the year. However, most of these funds the billionaire gave to charity. Last summer, he donated $20 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. According to recent estimates, Bill Gates' net worth stands at $106 billion.
4. Larry Ellison
For the co-founder and ex-director of Oracle Corporation, Larry Ellison, this year also turned out to be not entirely successful in terms of finance. The entrepreneur’s net worth shrank by $17 billion, amounting to more than $100 billion. Most of his profit comes from Oracle shares. Importantly, Oracle is one of the leading software manufacturers in the United States.
5. Warren Buffett
This year, legendary investor Warren Buffett has returned to the top five wealthiest people in America. In 2021, he was only in eighth place on the Forbes list. However, like most tycoons who got into the rating, the businessman did not increase his capital significantly over the year but was able to avoid huge losses. Buffett's fortune declined by only $5 billion despite the fact that he donated $4 billion to charity. Now, his net worth totals $97 billion.
6. Larry Page
US programmer and developer Larry Page stepped down from his high-ranking position at Google, which he founded together with Sergey Brin. However, his main source of income comes from Google shares. As the company is currently going through hard times with its stock falling by more than 27%, it also affected Page’s fortune. Over the year, it dropped by $30 billion to $93 billion.
7. Sergey Brin
Like his former colleague, businessman Sergey Brin also incurred losses due to a significant decline in Google shares. This year, his wealth dwindled by $29.5 billion. According to recent estimates, it amounts to $89 billion. Hence, Brin dropped one place in the ranking of the richest Americans compared to last year.
8. Steve Ballmer
Steve Ballmer has been the CEO of Microsoft Corporation for 14 years. Although he stepped down a long time ago, he remains one of the largest shareholders of the company. His stake totals 4.7%. This year, Microsoft shares have been mostly down due to strong bearish sentiment on Wall Street. It negatively impacted Ballmer’s net worth. Overall, he has lost $13.5 billion. Now, his fortune is estimated at $83 billion.
9. Michael Bloomberg
Media mogul Michael Bloomberg gives mind-boggling sums to charity. In the spring, he announced that he was going to donate $100 million to each school in Boston, which is his hometown. In the summer, the Mayor's Fund joined the campaign to protect the oceans from climate change. According to media reports, Bloomberg donated several hundred million dollars. It is hardly surprising that his fortune has decreased by more than $6 billion to almost $77 billion this year.
10. Jim Walton
Jim Walton, one of the heirs of the Walmart retail empire, closes the top ten of the Forbes rating. His fortune totals almost $58 billion, down by $10 billion from a year ago due to a fall in the shares. Over the year, Walmart stock sank by 11%.
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