September was a windfall month for the world’s wealthiest. Driven by surging tech stocks and fresh investor enthusiasm around AI, the top 10 billionaires collectively added more than $200 billion to their fortunes. Together, this elite group now controls a staggering $2.3 trillion as of October 1, 2025.
Tesla’s Elon Musk and Oracle’s Larry Ellison dominated the gains, while Nvidia’s Jensen Huang climbed the rankings thanks to the unstoppable rise of AI chips. However, not everyone saw their wealth climb. Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Warren Buffett ended the month with slightly lighter pockets.
Here’s a look at the 10 richest people on earth right now, what drives their fortunes, and how much they’re worth.
1. Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who recently became the first person worth $500 billion, remains the world’s richest person, boosted by Tesla shares that jumped 33 percent in September. Investor excitement around AI and robotics, plus Musk’s $1 billion stock purchase, fueled the rally. He also heads rocket firm SpaceX—valued at $400 billion—and AI venture xAI.
Musk first claimed the title of the world’s richest person in September 2021 and held it for most of 2022 before slipping in December that year. He regained the top spot on June 8, 2023, maintaining his lead until January 31, 2024, when he fell back to No. 2.
Musk returned to No. 1 in late May 2024 after his startup xAI secured $6 billion from private investors at a $24 billion valuation. By Musk’s own account, xAI is now valued at $80 billion. His aerospace company SpaceX also saw its worth soar to $400 billion following a private tender offer in August 2025, up from $350 billion in December 2024.
Tesla, the electric carmaker that remains central to Musk’s fortune, currently carries a market valuation of over a whopping trillion dollars.
2. Larry Ellison
Larry Ellison, co-founder and executive chairman of Oracle Corporation, has consistently ranked among the world’s wealthiest individuals.
As of October 1, 2025, he holds the second spot on Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list, with an estimated net worth of approximately $350.7 billion
In September 2025, Oracle’s stock experienced a significant surge, driven by the company’s projection of a 700 percent increase in revenue from its cloud infrastructure business over the next four years, primarily fueled by AI advancements.
This optimistic forecast led to a 36 percent jump in Oracle’s stock price on September 10, marking a record single-day gain for the company.
Ellison’s wealth is largely attributed to his substantial stake in Oracle, where he owns around 41 percent of the company. Beyond his role at Oracle, Ellison has been actively involved in significant initiatives, including the $500 billion Stargate Project, a collaboration aimed at developing AI infrastructure and data centers across the United States.
Additionally, Ellison has made notable investments in real estate, including the acquisition of 98 percent of the Hawaiian island of Lānaʻi in 2012, showcasing his diverse portfolio and long-term investment strategies
3. Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg, cofounder and CEO of Meta Platforms, comes next on the global billionaire rankings, with a net worth of approximately $254.7 billion as of October 2, 2025.
Zuckerberg’s fortune primarily stems from his stake in Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Despite facing challenges in transitioning Meta towards a “metaverse” vision, the company’s advertising revenue remains robust, contributing to his financial standing.
In recent months, Zuckerberg’s is focused on the Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL), a division advancing artificial superintelligence.
Meta is investing heavily in AI infrastructure, including two massive data center superclusters, Prometheus (launching 2026) and Hyperion. He has recruited top AI talent, including Shengjia Zhao, co-creator of ChatGPT and GPT-4, as MSL chief scientist, aiming to drive breakthroughs in AI research.
4. Jeff Bezos
With a net worth of $232.5 billion, Jeff Bezos remains one of the world’s richest individuals.
He founded e-commerce giant Amazon in 1994 and ran it as CEO until 2021. Hee continues to serve as executive chairman while funding and leading his private aerospace company, Blue Origin.
In 2025, Blue Origin briefly sent an all-female crew, including pop star Katy Perry, CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King, and Bezos’ second wife, Lauren Sanchez, on a suborbital flight.
Bezos held the title of the world’s richest person between 2018 and 2021, later dropping to No. 2 in 2022 and holding No. 3 from 2023 through 2025. He owns roughly 8% of Amazon today, having sold and donated billions over the years, and continues to invest through Bezos Expeditions, backing companies such as Airbnb and Workday.
5. Larry Page
Larry Page, cofounder of Google, currently has a net worth of $202.2 billion. He started Google in 1998 with fellow Stanford PhD student Sergey Brin, serving as CEO from 1998 to 2001 and again from 2011 to 2015.
Today, he is a board member of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, and remains a controlling shareholder.
Page’s wealth received a boost after a major antitrust case in 2024, when the Department of Justice asked Google to sell its Chrome browser to curb market dominance.
A federal judge ruled in September 2025 that Google does not have to sell Chrome, helping Alphabet’s stock surge 14 percent in a single month.
Beyond Google, Page has invested in futuristic technologies, including asteroid mining through Planetary Resources, which was acquired by blockchain firm ConsenSys in 2018.
6. Sergey Brin
With a net worth of $187.6 billion, Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, is the sixth richest person.
After stepping back from daily operations in 2019, Brin has returned to active work at Alphabet, focusing on AI projects, and served as a “core contributor” to Google’s Gemini AI chatbot, a multimodal model designed to rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
He is also using AI to enhance team management within the Gemini project, helping assign tasks efficiently and identify high-performing employees.
He has spoken publicly about the potential arrival of artificial general intelligence (AGI) around 2030, emphasizing the importance of scaling current AI models and developing new techniques.
7. Jensen Huang
Jensen Huang, co-founder, CEO, and president of Nvidia, has a net worth of $162 billion. He started the company in 1993 and has led it since, taking it public in 1999 and retaining roughly 3 percent ownership.
Under Huang’s leadership, Nvidia’s GPUs became industry-standard for gaming and now dominate AI data centers, driving the company to a $4.5 trillion market capitalization as of September 30, 2025.
Born in Taiwan and raised partly in Thailand, Huang moved to the U.S. as a child amid political unrest. His visionary approach to AI and computing has positioned Nvidia at the forefront of the AI boom, catapulting him up the billionaire ranks and establishing him as one of the most influential figures in technology today.
8. Bernard Arnault
Bernard Arnault, CEO and chairman of LVMH, is the eighth richest person with a net worth of $159.4 billion.
He used $15 million of his father’s fortune in construction to acquire Christian Dior and went on to build LVMH into the world’s largest luxury goods company, with around 70 brands including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Moët & Chandon, Sephora, and Tiffany & Co.
All five of Arnault’s children hold leadership roles within the empire. In 2024, sons Alexandre and Frédéric joined the company board alongside sister Delphine, who runs Dior, and brother Antoine. Alexandre was named deputy CEO of LVMH’s wine and spirits division, while youngest brother Jean directs watches at Louis Vuitton.
Arnault was the world’s richest person for most of early 2023 and again from February through late May 2024, reflecting his enduring influence in global luxury markets.
9. Steve Ballmer
Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft, has a net worth of $156 billion. A classmate of Bill Gates at Harvard, he joined Microsoft in 1980 as employee number 30 and led the company as CEO from 2000 to 2014.
Since stepping down, Ballmer has held onto most of his Microsoft shares, benefiting from the company’s continued growth.
Ballmer also purchased the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion upon retiring from Microsoft—a record price at the time. Forbes now values the team at $5.5 billion.
The Clippers’ new arena, the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, opened in August 2024. An ongoing investigation is reviewing a reported no-show marketing deal involving star player Kawhi Leonard and a Ballmer-backed company, though Ballmer’s team declined to comment.
10. Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett, the 95-year-old “Oracle of Omaha,” has a net worth of $150.2 billion and ranks tenth on the list.
He still leads Berkshire Hathaway, which owns companies including Geico, Duracell, and Dairy Queen, but plans to retire as CEO at the end of 2025.
Buffett is also known for his philanthropy, having pledged to give away nearly all of his fortune through the Giving Pledge, which he launched with Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates in 2010.
So far, he has donated around $65 billion, primarily via the Gates Foundation and family-run foundations.