The Rich Get Richer: A Look at the Top 10 Wealthiest People Over the Last Decade

Over the past decade, the world's wealthiest individuals have seen their fortunes grow at an astonishing rate. In 2016, the combined net worth of the top 10 richest people was $559 billion. Today, that number has skyrocketed to $2. 6 trillion. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is now the richest person on the planet, with a net worth of $682 billion. The faces at the top haven't changed much. Bill Gates, Amancio Ortega, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, Carlos Slim, Charles Koch, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Larry Ellison, and David Koch were the top 10 in 2016. Today, only David Koch has been replaced by his widow, Julia Flesher Koch. Musk's rise to the top is notable. His wealth has grown significantly due to his stakes in Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI. Tesla's stock has increased 27-fold over the past decade, and SpaceX's private valuation has reached $800 billion. xAI, Musk's latest venture, is valued at around $230 billion.Some of the wealthiest have seen their rankings drop. Amancio Ortega, the founder of Inditex, has fallen from second to 15th place, despite his net worth nearly doubling. Carlos Slim and Charles Koch have also seen their rankings drop significantly. Philanthropy has played a role in some of these changes. Bill Gates, who led the wealth charts a decade ago, has sunk to 17th place due to his charitable giving. He and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, have donated over $60 billion to the Gates Foundation. Gates has pledged to give away 99% of his fortune by 2045. Warren Buffett, who has given away more than half of his Berkshire Hathaway stock, has also seen his ranking drop. The most striking difference is the size of the fortunes. A decade ago, the top 10 net worths ranged from $40 billion to $84 billion. Today, they range from $148 billion to $682 billion. The world's wealthiest individual today is eight times richer than the richest person a decade ago.