The world’s richest tech billionaires increased their fortunes by $750 billion last year – with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Facebook tsar Mark Zuckerberg topping the list.
Forbes has released its annual roster of the world’s wealthiest technology tycoons – and the profit increases they saw in 2023 are eye-watering.
Bezos, 60, added $80 billion to his net worth, while Zuckerberg, 39, enjoyed a whopping $113 billion increase to his net value.
Jeff Bezos: +$80 billion to $194 billion
Of the planet’s 342 billionaires who made their fortune in the tech industry – earning a combined income of $2.6 trillion last year – Bezos tops the list.
Bezos’ net worth surged $80 billion to $194 billion in 2023, according to Forbes. The surge was bolstered by a 93 percent increase in his e-commerce leviathan’s stock.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (pictured with his fiancée Lauren Sánchez at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party in Beverly Hills on March 10) has topped the Forbes tech billionaires list for 2023
His spending also rocketed – including a $150 million splurge on homes in Miami’s ‘billionaire bunker’ island.
The move came as part of his relocation to low-tax Florida – where his parents also live – with his fiancée Lauren Sánchez.
It came after he spent decades in Washington state, where the origins of his wealth journey began after he founded Amazon out of his Seattle garage in 1994.
Retail giant Amazon is considered a tech company because a lot of its profits are generated through its cloud computing service AWS.
Mark Zuckerberg: +$113 billion to $177 billion
Facebook founder Zuckerberg enjoyed the largest leap in his net worth last year – which grew $113 billion to an estimated $177 billion by the end of 2023.
The youngest of the top five tech tycoons, Zuckerberg invested heavily in AI at Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and this seems to have paid off.
Facebook founder Zuckerberg enjoyed the largest leap in his net worth last year at $113 billion, despite Meta being embroiled in fierce anti-trust lawsuits over alleged privacy breaches
Zuckerberg owns 14 percent of Meta, and shares in the company almost tripled in value last year – catapulting him from the 16th-richest to the fourth richest on Forbes’ overall rich list for 2023.
It comes amid what Zuckerberg branded his ‘year of efficiency’ at Meta – which meant mass layoffs, cost-cutting and a renewed focus on advertising after Facebook’s stock plunged 75 percent from its 2021 peak.
And the road ahead for the Metaverse isn’t without its obstacles, as the firm faces a fierce anti-trust lawsuit over accusations that bosses allowed other companies access to user data.
Larry Ellison: +$34 billion to $141 billion
Coming in third is Larry Ellison, whose net worth increased by $34 billion to $141 billion thanks to his software company Oracle.
The 79-year-old stepped down as Oracle chief executive 10 years ago, but he still holds the posts of chairman and chief technology officer, and he’s the firm’s largest shareholder.
Oracle software company founder Larry Ellison (pictured center at the BNP Paribas Open in California on March 14) came third in the Forbes technology industry tycoons rich list
Oracle stock surged by 34 percent last year, making Ellison more than $1 billion in dividends before tax in 2023.
The success of Oracle has offset major losses Ellison made in his other ventures this year which haven’t paid off – including a stake in X which is now worth less than a third of the $1 billion purchase price.
He also cofounded a cancer software company in 2018, called Project Ronin, which is already shutting down.
Like Bezos, Ellison purchased mansions in Miami in recent years – including an $80 million home on North Palm Beach he planned to demolish to make room for an undisclosed project.
Bill Gates: +$24 billion to $128 billion
Microsoft boss Bill Gates enjoyed a $24 billion increase in his wealth in 2023, bringing his net worth up to a whopping $128 billion.
He’s the wealthiest he’s ever been – but he ranked the lowest on the billionaire rankings since 1992 in a sign of how tough the competition has become at the top of the pyramid.
Microsoft boss Bill Gates enjoyed a $24 billion increase in his wealth in 2023, bringing his net worth up to a whopping $128 billion
An expensive divorce also set the 68-year-old back, along with a generous $59 billion donation he made to charities.
According to Forbes, Gates was the world’s richest man for 18 out of 23 years between 1995 and 2017.
His latest ventures include building a next-generation nuclear power plant in Wyoming through his company TerraPower.
Part-funded by the US government, the project puts the firm in a nuclear energy race against Russia and China.
Steve Ballmer: +$40 billion to $121 billion
Of the same ilk as a former CEO at Microsoft, Swiss-American business investor Ballmer, 68, comes in at fifth on the tech billionaire rankings for 2023.
Ballmer also owns the Los Angeles Clippers – the NBA’s fifth most valuable team – and he’s upgrading their venue this year to the $2 billion Intuit Dome stadium near LAX Airport.
Owner of the Los Angeles Clippers Steve Ballmer (pictured March 7 at the team’s new stadium) comes in at fifth on the tech billionaire rankings for 2023
The sports tsar’s net worth grew $40 billion last year to $121 billion in total, fueled by the surging value of the Clippers and soaring Microsoft shares.
Ballmer stepped down at Microsoft CEO in 2014, but he revealed in a Forbes interview last year that he still regularly meets with various teams at the company.
His son, stand-up comedian Pete Ballmer, 29, recently lifted the lid on what it was really like to grow up rich – from what he got for Christmas to why he was ashamed by his wealth.
Larry Page: +$35 billion to $114 billion
The Google cofounder is still one of the search engine’s biggest shareholders, and he hasn’t sold a share since mid-2022. His wealth surged $35 billion to $114 billion last year.
Page, 51, largely stays out of the public eye, allegedly spending most of his time on his five private islands including one in Fiji and another in Puerto Rico.
The Google cofounder is still one of the search engine’s biggest shareholders, and he hasn’t sold a share since mid-2022. His wealth surged $35 billion to $114 billion last year
However, one thing he can’t keep private are his potential business links with Jeffrey Epstein.
Page has been asked to testify in court because the disgraced financier once sought to recruit him as a client of JPMorgan.
The other Google co-founder, Sergey Brin, was also subpoenaed by prosecutors in the case, along with billionaires Mortimer Zuckerman and Thomas Pritzker.
Sergey Brin: +$34 billion to $110 billion
According to Forbes, Brin returned to Google from a period of semi-retirement to help with the launch of its new AI chatbot, Gemini.
The industry heavyweight reportedly submitted key code changes to the model, which launched December 2023.
Sergey Brin returned to Google from a period of semi-retirement to help with the launch of its new AI chatbot, Gemini, last year. His wealth surged $34 billion to $1.25 billion
Gemini is turning out to be a process of trial and error – and Brin made a rare public statement in March to admit they ‘messed up the image generation’ after the bot generated historically inaccurate photographs.
His wealth surged $34 billion to $110 billion last year, according to Forbes.
Brin, 50, has been told he’s genetically more likely to suffer with Parkinson’s disease as he ages, and he has invested a large chunk of his wealth in related charities.
He donated $150 million to scientists researching a cure for the disease last year, bringing his total donations for the cause up to $1.25 billion.
Michael Dell: +$41 billion to $91 billion
The founder of Dell Technologies cashed in last year by orchestrating one of the largest acquisitions in history.
Broadcom acquired its sister company VMware for $69 billion in cash and stock, equating to a $30 billion lump sum for Michael Dell, 59, according to Forbes.
Dell also donated more than $3 billion to his family foundation in 2023.
