Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair
At the close of 2024 there were 813 billionaires in the United States with a combined total wealth of $6.72 trillion, according to an analysis of the Forbes wealth data.
The total number of billionaires has remained constant since the outlet published its 38th annual World’s Billionaire List on April 2, 2024. But the combined wealth of the nine-figure club increased by $1 trillion over the last 9 months, from $5.7 trillion at the beginning of April to $6.72 trillion at the end of 2024.
The top five billionaires and their individual wealth are:
1. Elon Musk of Tesla/X and SpaceX with $428 billion (up from $252.5 billion in September 2024).
2. Jeff Bezos of Amazon with $235.2 billion.
3. Larry Ellison of Oracle fame moving into number three spot with $210.5 billion, surpassing Marc Zuckerberg.
4. Mark Zuckerberg of Meta with $204.4 billion.
5. Larry Page of Google, with $157.6 billion.
There are now 15 U.S. billionaires with more than $100 billion each. Their combined wealth totals $2.4 trillion.
When Forbes started tracking wealth in 1982, there were only 13 billionaires on the list of America’s 400 wealthiest individuals. A person had to have a mere $75 million to join that exclusive list of 400 — today, that number has spiked to $3.2 billion.
Dynastic families closed 2024 huge pools of wealth:
+ Walton: Seven members of the Walton Family with a combined wealth of $404.3 billion.
+ Mars: Six members of the Mars family with a combined wealth of $130.4 billion.
+ Koch: Two members of the Koch family have a combined wealth of $121.1 billion.
Many top billionaires have seen their wealth surge since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
On March 18, 2020, Elon Musk had wealth valued just under $25 billion. By 2024 year’s end, his wealth soared to an unfathomable $428 billion.
Jeff Bezos saw his wealth rise from $113 billion on March 18, 2020 to $235.2 billion in the Dec 31, 2024 on the back of Amazon’s ravenous growth.
Three Walton family members — Jim, Alice and Rob — saw their combined assets increase from $161.1 billion on March 18, 2020 to $317 billion in the September 13, 2024 survey.
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