Bloomberg: World’s 500 Richest People Added $852bn to their Fortunes in H1, 2023

Each member of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index made an average of $14 million per day over the past six months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

It was the best half-year for billionaires since the back half of 2020, when the economy rebounded from a Covid-induced slump.

The gains coincided with a broad stock market rally, as investors brushed off the effects of central bank interest rate hikes, the ongoing war in Ukraine and a crisis in regional banks.

The S&P 500 rose 16 per cent and the Nasdaq 100 surged 39 per cent for its best-ever first half as investor mania over artificial intelligence boosted tech stocks.

While Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg flirt with scheduling a cage match, Tesla Inc’s chief executive officer came out on top in dollar terms, the report stated.

 Musk, the world’s richest person, added $96.6 billion to his net worth this year through June 30, while Meta Platforms Inc chief executive, Zuckerberg gained $58.9 billion, according to the index.

Gautam Adani’s net worth sank the most in the six-month period, losing $60.2 billion. Adani, chairman of Adani Group, also posted the biggest one-day loss of any billionaire, shedding about $20.8 billion on January 27, after short seller Hindenburg Research accused his conglomerate of accounting fraud and stock manipulation — a claim Adani denies.

Hindenburg, founded by Nate Anderson, also knocked down the net worth of another billionaire: Carl Icahn.

His Icahn Enterprises LP had its steepest one-day drop after Hindenburg disclosed it was shorting the shares, saying the stock was significantly overvalued relative to its holdings.

Icahn’s net worth fell $13.4 billion, or 57 per cent — the largest percentage drop of any member of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index in the period.

In Africa, Bloomberg earlier reported that the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, remained the richest man in Africa, despite the volatility of Nigerian currency against the dollar.

Bloomberg revealed that Dangote with a wealth of $15.6 billion was the richest man for the 12th year running and was the only Nigerian on the list of the top 500 billionaires.

The Nigerian billionaire businessman controls Dangote Industries, including Dangote Cement and also has interests in sugar, salt, fertiliser and packaged foods. Dangote also recently commissioned the $19 billion petroleum refinery plant, which is now Africa’s largest refinery.

Other Africans listed in the latest top 500 world billionaires list last week for the year 2023 included Johann Rupert now worth $13.3 billion.

Also, Nicky Oppenheimer of South Africa, Nassef Sawiris of Egypt, Natie Kirsh of South Africa, and Naguib Sawiris are worth $9.0 billion, $7.47 billion, $7.37 billion and $5.93 billion respectively.

Emmanuel Addeh

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