handful of wildfires spreading across Los Angeles County and prompting the evacuations of nearly 200,000 people are pushing celebrities—many of whom have lost homes or been forced to evacuate themselves—to donate supplies and money to relief efforts that have barely begun as the blazes rage on.
Key facts
Jared Isaacman, the billionaire businessman tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the next administrator of NASA, has said he will match the first $1 million donated to his company’s relief campaign.
Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, the third richest person in the world, said he and his wife Priscilla are personally donating to relief efforts and billionaire KIND Snacks founder Daniel Lubetzky said his charity, Frontline Impact Project, is “working to bring not just supplies, but a sense of hope and care to those affected.”
Jamie Lee Curtis, who feared she’d lost her own Santa Monica home before confirming the structure was safe, has pledged to donate $1 million to wildfire relief with her husband, actor and director Christopher Guest.
Curtis, an American Red Cross ambassador, also appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Wednesday night, where she encouraged viewers to “do anything you can” to help people: “Give blood, donate, whatever you can do, animal shelters,” she said.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have reportedly made monetary donations to relief efforts; donated clothing, children’s items and other supplies, and have directed people to support organizations including the World Central Kitchen, CAL FIRE, LA Fire Department Foundation, Animal Wellness Foundation, Compton Cowboys and Baby2baby.
Kylie Jenner, the youngest member of the Kardashian-Jenner family, posted that she was making an unspecified donation to the California Fire Foundation Wildfire & Disaster Relief Fund, an extension of the California Fire Foundation.
The Los Angeles Chargers NFL team announced it would donate $200,000 to help those affected by the fires. Actresses Halle Berry and Sharon Stone have expressed support for a local boutique and home goods store, called +COOP, which has turned into a pop-up shop for those in need of clothing after losing their homes in the fire (Berry posted she was “packing up my entire closet” to help displaced families).
Former “Real Housewives of New York City” star Bethenny Frankel said her charity, BStrong, has partnered with the Global Empowerment Mission to send aid to those affected.
Big number
$2.5 million. That’s how much has been raised from 4,000 donors for the California Community Foundations Wildlife Recovery Fund, Los Angeles officials said Friday.
Key background
There are five major fires burning in the vicinity of Los Angeles, including the Palisades Fire, which has burned nearly 20,000 acres, and the Eaton Fire, which has burned almost 14,000. The Eaton fire was still 0% contained as of Friday morning, and the Palisades fire was 6% contained. Other fires that have burned hundreds of acres include the Lidia Fire near the Angeles National Forest, Hurst Fire near San Fernando and Kenneth Fire just outside of Calabasas. Fires started burning in Los Angeles County Wednesday and little is known about how they began. One fire, the Kenneth fire, could have been started by a suspected arsonist who was arrested on Thursday after neighbors spotted him with a “propane tank or flamethrower” while “trying to light something on fire.” At least 10 people have died since the fires began. The most impacted area so far, the Pacific Palisades, is home to scores of celebrities and local landmarks. The average home price in the area is $3 million, and those including actor Adam Brody and his wife actress Leighton Meester; Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick; Paris Hilton; Billy Crystal; Tina Knowles; and reality TV stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have all said they lost their homes in the fires.
Tangent
The Los Angeles wildfires are on track to be among the costliest in U.S. history about 18 months after a devastating wildfire in Hawaii became the deadliest blaze ever recorded in America. After the Maui fires, donations from billionaires and celebrities poured in, including $100 million from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his partner Lauren Sánchez and $10 million from billionaire Oprah Winfrey and actor Dwayne Johnson.
Gold prices continued to rise Friday amid a lack of clarity regarding the policies that US President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming administration will pursue.
Gold prices
Spot gold rose 0.88% to $2,694.73 per ounce as of 9:14 pm AST Arabia Friday.
Gold prices fell to $2,663.09 an ounce after the release of US employment data but later pared losses and are on track for over 2% weekly rise.
The bullion remained one of the strongest performing major commodities in 2024, rising 27% and setting back-to-back records, driven by Federal Reserve rate cuts, which led central banks to boost their holdings, per Bloomberg. Investors also preferred it due to ongoing geopolitical tensions.
The rise in gold prices comes despite a stronger US dollar and treasury yields, which have the potential to act as headwinds.
US jobs data
The US economy added 256,000 jobs in December, data released by the US Labor Department showed Friday. The figure significantly exceeds the rise of 160,000 forecasted by economists. The rate of unemployment came in at 4.1%, falling short of the 4.2% forecast.
The data suggests that the job market remains strong, which has led to expectations that the Fed might cut key rates by 30 basis points this year rather than previous expectations of a 45-basis-point cut.
As the inauguration of Trump inches closer, investors remain concerned about his plans to impose tariffs on key trading countries, which could potentially lead to higher inflation and curtail the Fed’s ability to cut rates further.
Higher interest rates lessen the bullion’s appeal due to its non-yielding nature.
Other metals
Spot silver rose 0.93% to $30.41 an ounce as of 9:48 pm AST Arabia, while spot platinum rose 0.02% to $962.17 per ounce, and spot palladium was up 2.06% to $950.01 an ounce around the same time.
What to watch for
Gold prices are expected to rise to $3,000 per ounce in 2025, according to BullionVault and JPMorgan.
German luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz Group’s sales declined in 2024, led by a slowdown in China and Europe during a tough year for the auto industry.
Mercedes-Benz 2024 sales
Mercedes-Benz Group sold 2.38 million units during 2024, marking a 4% decline compared to the prior year, according to preliminary data issued Friday. Of the total, battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales dipped 22% to 204,600 units.
The group’s car sales fell 3% to 1.98 million units, with the top-end and entry segments declining 14% each, with 281,500 and 534,800 units sold, respectively. In contrast, the core segment reported a 6% rise compared to the prior year, selling 1.16 million units.
Car sales witnessed the biggest 7% decline in China to 683,600 units, followed by a 3% drop in European sales to 641,800 units, led by a 9% drop in Germany. North America witnessed an 8% rise to 365,400 units, led by a 9% increase in the US, while the rest of the world recorded a 4% growth to 84,100 units.
Despite the overall contraction, Mercedes-Benz stock rose 3.86% to $56.6 (€55.1) per share as of 6:09 pm AST Arabia Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.4 billion (€51.09 billion).
Van sales
Mercedes-Benz Vans sales stood at 405,600 units in 2024, reporting a year-on-year decline of 9%. The eVans accounted for 19,500 units of the total, declining 14% compared to the prior year.
Commercial vans declined 10% to 343,700 units, of which midsize vans reported the biggest decline at 15%, followed by large vans at 8%, and small vans down 3%. Private van sales dipped 8% to 61,900 units, led by a significant 31% dip in small vans and a 5% fall in midsize vans.
North America reported the biggest 31% decline in van sales to 59,900 units, led by a 34% plunge in the US. Asia witnessed a 20% dip to 34,000 units, led by China, while Europe witnessed a 3% fall to 271,500 units, led by a 9% contraction in Germany.
Q4 recovery
During the fourth quarter of 2024, group sales improved 5% compared to the prior quarter, with BEV sales up 20%. Car sales were up 3%, led by a 34% quarter-on-quarter rise in the top-end segment and a 2% increase in the core segment. The entry segment dipped 8%. Vans sales also rebounded, rising 16%, led by a 59% increase in eVans sales.
Lower profit margins
Mercedes slashed its full-year profit margin target twice during the third quarter of last year while announcing an increase in cost cuts, joining other European carmakers that have reported declines in profits and margins due to a weakening Chinese car market.
The company is planning to reduce mid-term profitability targets for its passenger car business by February 20, amid a continuing weak market and the global focus on electric cars, Reuters reported earlier this week, citing a source familiar with the matter.
What to watch for
The carmaker’s full-year financial results for 2024 are scheduled to be released on February 20, 2025.
Microsoft plans to invest $3 billion to expand its cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) capacity in India, CEO Satya Nadella said Tuesday, improving the prospects of a country with vast tech expertise and low costs that could turn investments profitable easier.
Investment in India
The two-year investment, its largest in India, will also be used to upskill Indians in AI, alongside the establishment of new data centers, Microsoft said. The investment aims to accelerate AI innovation in India, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047.
“The investments in infrastructure and skilling we are announcing today reaffirm our commitment to making India AI-first, and will help ensure people and organizations across the country benefit broadly,” said Nadella.
Microsoft will also train 10 million people in India over the next five years with AI skills, as part of the second edition of its ADVANTA(I)GE India program. The initiative was launched in 2024 to train two million people in AI skills by 2025.
The tech giant is expected to expand its cloud and AI infrastructure across data center campuses in the country. Microsoft already has three data center regions in the market, and the fourth is ready to go live in 2026.
Indian AI market
Nasscom projected last year that the Indian AI market would hit $22 billion in value by 2027, attracting investments of $4 billion and becoming the third-largest talent base with an expected 1.25 million to 1.35 million people with AI skills.
Microsoft said that its latest AI investment in India aims to develop a scalable AI computing ecosystem to meet the growing demands of India’s expanding AI start-ups and research community. Over 77% of start-ups in India invest in advanced technologies such as AI, ML, IoT, and blockchain, according to an SAP report released last year.
Microsoft’s plans
Microsoft announced plans last week to invest around $80 billion in fiscal year 2025 to build AI-enabled data centers to train AI models and deploy AI and cloud-based applications worldwide.
The company’s vice chair, Brad Smith, said that more than half of the total investment will be made in the US. In 2025, Microsoft plans to train 2.5 million American students, workers, and community members in AI skills.
It also announced its intention to invest more than $35 billion across 14 countries over three years. This investment will be used to build cloud data center infrastructure.
Additionally, Microsoft is partnering with Blackrock and MGX to create an international investment fund capable of providing up to $100 billion in additional funding for AI infrastructure and the AI supply chain.
Tangent
Microsoft Research (MSR) Lab revealed Tuesday an AI innovation network to deepen its commitment to cultivating the AI ecosystem in India. This entails building new collaborations to accelerate the nation’s transition from research to real, usable business solutions.
MSR India has previously initiated a collaboration with Physics Wallah on math reasoning and is in ongoing discussions with other digital natives on topics such as causal inference, optimizing Indic LLMs, prompt optimization, and reinforcement learning.
Spain’s Sociedad Textil Lonia (STL) announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to acquire Christian Lacroix, the French fashion house founded in 1987, for an undisclosed amount.
Christian Lacroix acquisition
STL described the agreement as a private transaction with the US-based Falic group.
“By acquiring Maison Christian Lacroix, with its treasure of archives and the rich history of French haute couture, STL expands its brand portfolio, strengthening its international presence,” the company said.
Christian Lacroix was initially founded by the namesake designer with the support of the French luxury giant LVMH, after which ownership was transferred to the Falic family in 2005.
STL said it would do everything possible to ensure that Christian Lacroix reaches its full potential under the new ownership.
Founded in Spain in 1997, STL is a fashion company behind Spanish brand Purificacion Garcia and the label of Venezuelan-American designer Carolina Herrera, employing 2,500 people and operating 600 stores worldwide.
Meanwhile, the Falic family, headed by Leon, Jerome, and Simon, owns North America’s largest duty-free retail operation called Duty Free Americas. The brothers also own retail and distribution assets in Latin America.
Key background
In 2009, Christian Lacroix filed for bankruptcy protection, leaving a commercial court in Paris to decide whether to restructure or liquidate the fashion house. It had filed a voluntary petition with the Tribunal de Commerce de Paris.
After being bought by the Falic family in 2005, the company had launched a costly restructuring plan to reposition the brand’s offer higher-end collections, terminating ready-to-wear lines.
“Unfortunately, this long-term strategy for repositioning of the brand was dramatically hindered by the current and ongoing world financial and economic crisis which severely hit the luxury sector,” French fashion designer Christian Lacroix said at that time.
Oil prices marginally fell Thursday as fuel inventories in the world’s largest oil producer rose significantly, amid expectations of higher winter fuel demand.
Oil dips
Brent crude futures fell 5 cents, or 0.07%, to $76.11 a barrel by 10:48 am AST Arabia, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 3 cents, or 0.04%, to $73.29. Both prices were down around 0.1% from the previous session.
Both benchmarks fell more than 1% Wednesday as a stronger dollar, and the bigger-than-expected rise in US fuel stockpiles weighed on prices.
Gasoline stocks in the US increased by 6.3 million barrels last week, reaching 237.7 million barrels, according to data by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday. Analysts surveyed by Reuters had expected a 1.5 million-barrel rise.
Distillate stockpiles also grew by 6.1 million barrels to 128.9 million barrels, surpassing expectations of a 600,000-barrel increase. But crude inventories fell by 959,000 barrels in the week, compared with analysts’ expectations for a 184,000-barrel draw.
“Increased US fuel inventories prompted some selling, but the downside is limited due to the winter demand season in the northern hemisphere,” Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, a unit of Nissan Securities, told Reuters.
On the other hand, JPMorgan analysts expect oil demand for January to expand by 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) year-on-year to 101.4 million bpd, primarily driven by higher usage of heating fuels in the Northern Hemisphere.
“Global oil demand is expected to remain strong throughout January, fueled by colder-than-normal winter conditions that are boosting heating fuel consumption, as well as an earlier onset of travel activities in China for the Lunar New Year holidays,” the analysts said.
Despite falling prices, the market structure in Brent futures suggests traders are growing more concerned about supply tightening as demand increases.
Surprising fact
On Wednesday, the premium of the first-month Brent contract over the six-month contract reached its widest level since August, according to Reuters. A widening backwardation, where futures for immediate delivery are higher than those for later delivery, typically signals either a decline in supply or an increase in demand.
Outlook
Analysts expect a drop in oil prices this year compared with 2024 due to production increases from non-OPEC countries.
BMI, a division of Fitch Group, said that it holds its forecast for Brent crude to average $76 per barrel in 2025, down from an average of $80 a barrel in 2024, according to Reuters. It added that the forecast is led by the fundamental data forecast, which points to an oversupply this year, with supply growth outstripping rise in demand by 485,000 bpd.
Kikukawa of Nissan Securities stated that key factors to watch include China’s demand trends, the incoming US administration’s energy and trade policies, and its stance on the Russia-Ukraine war. He also noted that traders are likely to hold off on large positions until President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
Nvidia stock briefly touched a new record Tuesday following a high-profile speech from its billionaire leader Jensen Huang, an address teasing the next big thing in artificial intelligence which also inspired rallies from the stocks of several other companies in Nvidia’s orbit, but failed to sustain a prolonged rally for Nvidia.
Key facts
Nvidia Nvidia stock rallied as much as 2.5% to a new intraday all-time high of $153 shortly after market open, coming on the heels of Huang’s Monday evening keynote at the CES 2025 conference, before turning negative as trading progressed amid a broader technology stock selloff, falling nearly 5% to below $143 by late morning.
That loss, which would make Tuesday the worst day for Nvidia stock’s since Sept. 3, comes despite an overwhelmingly positive reaction from Wall Street analysts on the the speech largely focused on Nvidia’s efforts in robotics, or physical AI, in addition to advancements in its graphics processing units used for gaming.
Nvidia showed Monday it “continues to enhance and develop both AI hardware and software offerings that will help maintain its AI leadership as the market transitions to physical AI,” remarked Rosenblatt analyst Hans Mosesmann in a note to clients.
Huang’s speech also unveiled a variety of new or enhanced partnerships with other major companies for Nvidia, including naming data storage firm Micron as Nvidia’s memory partner for its gaming GPUs and a trio of deals in the space of autonomous driving, perhaps the clearest application of physical AI.
Huang said Nvidia will supply the semiconductor chips for Toyota’s driver assistance programs and announced it will provide the technology powering the self-driving trucks of Colorado-based Aurora, while ride-hailer Uber said it will use Nvidia’s Cosmos physical AI platform to power its own autonomous driving initiative.
The “string of announcements, at a minimum, highlight the company’s ability to innovate at industry-leading speed across hardware and software as well as its robust partner and customer eco-system,” noted Goldman Sachs analysts led by Toshiya Hari.
Tangent
Shares of Aurora gained about 40% to their highest level since early 2022, while the stocks of the more established Micron (up 6%), Toyota (2%) and Uber (1%) also enjoyed notable gains.
Crucial quote
“The ChatGPT moment for general robotics is just around the corner,” Huang declared Monday, referring to the 2022 release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot which sparked intense public interest in generative AI.
Key background
Huang highlighted Nvidia’s “continued dominance in genAI compute and ecosystem, quickly expanding from the cloud all the way to enterprise and consumers,” wrote Bank of America analysts led by Vivek Arya in a Tuesday note. Nvidia is the unquestioned leader in designing the hardware and software architecture needed to power advanced AI, and its non-automaker customers include the likes of Amazon and Microsoft. Long known for its video game graphic efforts, Nvidia rose to the national stage as generative AI captured the attention of the public and Wall Street alike. Nvidia stock is up more than 2,000% over the last five years.
The merger of US-based chip design software giants Synopsys and Ansys worth $35 billion is progressing toward approval in the UK, with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) currently evaluating remedies offered by the companies.
Grounds for approval
The CMA said Wednesday that both companies, which have multiple offices in the UK, had offered undertakings in lieu of a reference, which involves the divestment of certain businesses.
“The CMA considers that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the undertakings offered by Synopsys and Ansys or a modified version of them, might be accepted under the Enterprise Act 2002,” the UK watchdog said.
On December 31, 2024, Ansys proposed selling its power consumption analysis product used in the design of digital chips, ensuring that other players in the semiconductor market retain access to critical tools.
Synopsys plans to divest its optics and photonics software unit, which supports the design of high-precision systems like lasers and optical devices.
This measure aims to preserve competition in the specialized optics and photonics software segment.
The companies said in a statement that they are pleased with the regulator’s decision, adding that they will maintain “constructive and collaborative engagement” with the CMA.
Concerns raised
The CMA had raised earlier concerns that the merger could lead to reduced competition in the chip design software market, potentially stifling innovation and driving up costs for customers.
The CMA will thoroughly review the proposed concessions to ensure they effectively address the competition concerns. If the proposed measures sufficiently address the competition concerns, the deal could move forward without requiring further regulatory intervention.
Failure to resolve these issues could lead to a more in-depth investigation or even a potential block of the transaction.
Key background
Synopsys announced its cash-and-stock acquisition of Ansys in January 2024, a deal aimed at combining two leaders in software for designing products ranging from airplanes to tennis rackets.
The $35 billion deal has drawn attention from multiple regulators worldwide, given its potential to reshape the competitive landscape in the semiconductor industry.
What to watch for
The competition watchdog said it has until March 5 to decide whether to accept the proposed undertakings by Synopsys and Ansys. If necessary, the CMA has the option to extend the deadline to May 6, 2025, for further review.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has joined a growing number of European Union (EU) leaders who have expressed concerns over billionaire Elon Musk’s involvement in politics in the region.
Stirring up hatred
Sánchez said at an event in Madrid on Wednesday without naming the Tesla CEO that he is interfering in European politics and undermining democratic institutions, reported Reuters.
Sánchez accused Musk of aligning with the international far-right, which he claimed actively works to destabilize democratic institutions across Europe. He also mentioned the American billionaire’s perceived support for “the heirs of Nazism in Germany,” referring to the rise of extremist political factions in Europe.
In his annual foreign policy address on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron issued a stark warning about threats to Europe’s democratic institutions, widely interpreted as an indirect reference to Musk, France24 reported.
Macron underscored the risks posed by powerful individuals wielding disproportionate influence over public discourse, potentially undermining the integrity of democratic systems.
Macron alluded to the role of social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), in amplifying disinformation and hate speech, issues that have become more prominent under Musk’s ownership of the platform.
EU policy
Sánchez and Macron’s comments add to the chorus of EU leaders calling for tougher regulationof social media platforms under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which will hold platforms accountable for their impact on public discourse.
The shared concerns of Macron and Sánchez come amid a wave of criticism from European leaders over Musk’s approach to content moderation and his alleged alignment with far-right political movements.
The EU leaders’ push for more stringent oversight could face resistance from Musk who has previously framed such actions as attacks on free speech.
Social media posts
Musk has intensified his engagement in European politics through a series of posts and re-posts on his social media platform, X. Since his public backing and financial support of US President-elect Donald Trump’s successful campaign in November, Musk has made waves with his contentious endorsements and pointed criticisms of European leaders.
Last month, the SpaceX CEO was accused of trying to meddle in Germany’s elections. Musk wrote on X that “only the AfD can save Germany” and even called German Chancellor Olaf Scholz a ‘fool’ in a post. His more recent open calls for German voters to back the AfD have sparked outrage and accusations of troubling interference in Europe’s top economy, the Guardian reported.
Musk has defended his involvement in German political discourse, citing his “significant investments” in the country, per Reuters. Musk argued that his investments give him a legitimate stake in Germany’s economic and political environment.
Early election
Germany is set to hold an early federal election on February 23 following the collapse of Scholz’s three-party governing coalition. The coalition, comprising the Social Democrats, the Greens, and the Free Democrats, broke down in November last year over disagreements on strategies to revitalize Germany’s stagnant economy.
The early election adds to political uncertainty when Germany faces pressing challenges, including high inflation, energy transition pressures, and geopolitical tensions stemming from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Key topics expected to dominate the election campaign include economic reforms, energy policy, immigration, and Germany’s role within the European Union (EU).
The dissolution of Scholz’s coalition signals deep divisions among Germany’s political leadership on how best to address these issues, setting the stage for a highly contested election.
Elon Musk kicks off 2025 as the world’s richest person—and the only billionaire to date worth more than $400 billion.
Elon Musk kicks off the new year not only as the world’s richest person, but also the only billionaire Forbes has tracked in nearly four decades to be worth more than $400 billion.
Musk begins the new year worth $421.2 billion, per Forbes’ estimates, a $91 billion increase since December 1. The big jump in his fortune came after SpaceX agreed to buy back insiders’ shares in a deal valuing the rocket company at $350 billion–a deal first reported by Bloomberg. The company had previously been worth $210 billion. Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, runs it as the CEO, and owns an estimated 42% stake in the company. The new valuation made SpaceX the most valuable private company in the world, more than TikTok parent ByteDance, payments firm Stripe or ChatGPT creator OpenAI. Musk also runs EV maker Tesla, and owns stakes in social media firm X, AI firm xAI and tunnel company Boring Co.
Musk, who started 2024 worth an estimated $251 billion, has gained extra media attention since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election in November. Trump named Musk the co-head of a new advisory body, the Department of Government Efficiency (or DOGE), set to reduce government spending and increase efficiency.
Jeff Bezos comes in as the world’s No. 2 richest, up from No. 3 at the start of December 2024. The Amazon founder and chairman, who owns about 9% of the company, got about $10 billion richer in the past month as shares of the e-commerce giant rose about 5%. He starts off 2025 worth an estimated $233.5 billion— about $188 billion less than Musk.
Nvidia CEO and cofounder Jensen Huang joins the top 10 richest for the first time at the start of the month. He’s ranked No. 10 and worth an estimated $118 billion, mostly due to his stake in the chip designer, whose shares rose 171% in 2024. Nvidia ended the year with a market capitalization of $3.28 trillion, making it more valuable than Microsoft (but not as valuable as Apple). Huang overtook Spain’s Amancio Ortega, founder of clothing retailer Zara and its publicly traded parent company, Inditex; shares of Inditex weakened in the past month.
Together, the world’s 10 richest people are worth $1.9 trillion, up from $1.8 trillion on December 1. Seven of the ten are richer than they were a month ago.
The biggest loser of this group was Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison, whose fortune fell by $17.2 billion during the month to an estimated nearly $210 billion. Ellison fell to No. 3 richest in the world from No. 2 at the start of December.
Forbes has been keeping track of the world’s billionaires since 1987. In April 2024 we found2,781 of themfor our annual list.
Here are the 10 richest people on earth as of January 1, 2025 at 12 a.m. Eastern time, according to Forbes. Stock prices fluctuate routinely, so these net worths may change on a daily basis. Forbes tracks the daily changes on ourReal Time list of billionaires.
1. Elon Musk
Net worth: $421.2 billion
Source: Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, X
Age: 53
Residence: Austin, Texas
Citizenship: U.S.
Musk is CEO of electric car company Tesla and rocket firm SpaceX; chairman and chief technology officer of social media company X, formerly known as Twitter; and founder of artificial intelligence firm xAI. He owns 13% of Tesla stock and has pledged some of his stock as collateral for loans. The electric car maker’s shareholders voted in June in favor of Musk keeping nearly $50 billion of performance based stock options in what a Delaware judge had earlier called “the largest potential compensation opportunity ever observed in public markets,” when she voided the award this January and affirmed the ruling in December. But the matter won’t be resolved anytime soon. A lengthy appeal of the Delaware ruling is likely to follow. Until Musk receives those options, Forbes will continue to discount the Tesla options from the pay package by 50%.
A big increase in the value of SpaceX in December was the main reason for the $91 billion increase in Musk’s fortune in the past month.
Musk, who donated more than $100 million to support Donald Trump in the November 5 presidential election, was named by Trump as co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory group that will recommend cuts to government jobs, programs and spending. There are potentially significant conflicts of interest at play, given Musk’s companies’ ties to the federal government, including SpaceX (a customer of the Department of Defense) and Tesla (regulated by the Department of Transportation).
Originally from South Africa, Musk moved to Canada before his 18th birthday, worked a variety of jobs, enrolled at Queen’s University in Ontario and then transferred to University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics.
In 2000, he merged an online bank he cofounded, X.com with a similar outfit cofounded by Peter Thiel to form PayPal, which eBay bought in 2002 for $1.4 billion. He founded SpaceX in 2002 in El Segundo, near Los Angeles. In 2004 he joined Tesla as an investor and chairman, a year after it was founded; he was later granted the cofounder title. Musk, who became CEO of Tesla in 2008, took the company public in 2010. In September 2021, Musk became the world’s richest person. Musk was also the world’s richest person for most of 2022—until December 2022, when a drop in Tesla’s share price pushed down the value of his fortune. Musk became the world’s richest person again on June 8, 2023 and held onto the number one spot for the remainder of 2023. He fell to No. 2 on January 31, 2024.
Jeff Bezos created e-commerce giant Amazon in 1994 and ran it as CEO until July 2021 (he remains chairman); that same month he went to space on a rocket built by private rocket company Blue Origin, which he founded and has funded with billions of dollars.
Amazon shares rose by about 5% in the month of December, adding about $10 billion to Bezos’ fortune.
Before founding Amazon.com in his garage in Seattle, he worked in New York at hedge fund D.E. Shaw. Amazon began as an online bookseller at a time when few people bought goods online. The company also grew to dominate cloud storage and moved into movie and series production to feed Amazon Prime Video.
Bezos was the world’s richest person on Forbes’ list of the World’s Billionaires from 2018 through 2021; he dropped to second richest on the 2022 billionaires list and No. 3 on the 2024 list.
In 2019, Bezos and his wife MacKenziedivorced; as part of the settlement, she got 4% of Amazon’s shares and he kept 12%. He has since sold and given away more of his stake and owns just under 10% of the company. Since Amazon went public in 1997, Forbes calculates that he has sold more than $38 billion worth of his stock. Through his Bezos Expeditions he has invested in an array of companies, including Airbnb and software firm Workday.
3. Larry Ellison
Net worth: $209.7 billion
Source: Oracle
Age: 80
Residence: Woodside, California
Citizenship: U.S.
Ellison cofounded software firm Oracle in 1977 and ran it as CEO until 2014; he now serves as chairman and chief technology officer of the company. Shares of Oracle fell more than 9% in December, erasing some $17 billion from Ellison’s fortune. That resulted in him dropping to the world’s No. 2 richest from No. 3 richest at the start of December.
In 2012, Ellison bought 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai for $300 million. He also owns homes in California, Nevada and Florida. Ellison invested in Tesla and served on the board of the electric vehicle company from 2018 through August 2022.
4. Mark Zuckerberg
Net worth: $202.5 billion
Source: Meta (Facebook)
Age: 40
Residence: Palo Alto, California
Citizenship: U.S.
Zuckerberg cofounded Facebook—now called Meta Platforms—when he was a student at Harvard University in 2004. It has grown to be the world’s largest social network, with several billion users globally. The company also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, both of which it acquired and greatly expanded. Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, took the company public in 2012 and still owns about 13% of it.
Zuckerberg’s net worth rose by $3.8 billion in the past month, the result of a gain of about 1.9% in Meta shares during December.
5. Bernard Arnault
Net worth: $168.8 billion
Source: LVMH/ luxury goods
Age: 75
Residence: Paris
Citizenship: France
Bernard Arnault, CEO and chairman of luxury goods group LVMH, got $8.5 billion richer in the past month due to a roughly 7% increase in the price of the company shares. Last year posed some challenges for the company; in October it reported quarterly earnings that were depressed by ongoing weak demand in China.
Arnault’s father made millions in the construction business; to get his start, Arnault used $15 million of that fortune to buy Christian Dior. He has since built the largest luxury goods company in the world with some 70 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Moet & Chandon, Sephora and jeweler Tiffany & Co.
All five of Arnault’s children work in parts of the LVMH empire. Earlier this year, Arnault nominated two of his sons—Alexandre and Frédéric—to the board of LVMH and in November Alexandre was named deputy CEO of LVMH’s wine and spirits division. His daughter Delphine, who runs Dior, and son Antoine, already sit on the board. In June he named son Frédéric as head of LVMH’s family holding group. His youngest son, Jean, is director of watches at Louis Vuitton.
Arnault was the world’s richest person for most of the first half of 2023 and again from February through late May 2024.
6. Larry Page
Net worth: $156 billion
Source: Google
Age: 51
Residence: Palo Alto, California
Citizenship: U.S.
Page moved up one rank from last month, supported by an 11% rise Google-parentAlphabet’s shares. That pushed his fortune up by $14 billion for the month. In late November the Department of Justice said Google should sell its Chrome browser in order to reduce the company’s dominance online. In response, Google said in a statement that such a move would hurt consumers and America’s technological leadership.
Page cofounded search engine Google with fellow Stanford PhD student Sergey Brin in 1998 and served as CEO until 2001 and from 2011 to 2015. He now serves as a board member of Google’s parent Alphabet and continues to be a controlling shareholder.
Page was a founding investor in asteroid mining company Planetary Resources, which was acquired by blockchain firm ConsenSys in 2018.
7. Sergey Brin
Net worth: $149 billion
Source: Google
Age: 51
Residence: Los Altos, California
Citizenship: U.S.
Like his Google cofounder Larry Page, Brin’s fortune also rose in the past month as Alphabet shares rallied. The $14.7 billion rise in his fortune lifted Brin up a notch to No. 7 from No. 8 at that start of December.
Brin cofounded search engine Google with fellow Stanford computer science PhD candidate Larry Page. Like Page, he currently serves as a board member of Google’s parent company Alphabet and is a controlling shareholder.
Buffett’s fortune fell $8.9 billion during December, which pushed his rank down from No. 6 to No. 8. The reason for the decline: Berkshire Hathaway’s A shares fell nearly 6% over the past month.
Known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” Buffett is one of the most successful investors of all time. He runs investing conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, which owns dozens of companies, including insurer Geico, battery maker Duracell and restaurant chain Dairy Queen. The son of a U.S. congressman, he first bought stock at age 11 and first filed taxes at age 13.
Buffett created the Giving Pledge with Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates in 2010, asking billionaires to commit to give away at least half their fortune to charitable groups. Buffett has said he would donate 99% of his fortune. So far he’s give more than $60 billion of Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and foundations run by his children and one started by his late first wife. That includes $5.3 billion in June 2024.
9. Steve Ballmer
Net worth: $124.3 billion
Source: Microsoft, Clippers, investments
Age: 68
Residence: Hunts Point, Washington
Citizenship: U.S.
Ballmer, a classmate of Bill Gates’ at Harvard University, joined Microsoft as employee number 30 in 1980 after dropping out of the MBA program at Stanford University. He ran Microsoft as its CEO from 2000 to 2014.
When Ballmer retired from Microsoft, he purchased the Los Angeles Clippers team for $2 billion—a record high for an NBA team at the time. Forbes now values the team at $5.5 billion. The new home for the Clippers, the Intuit Dome in Inglewood—not far from Los Angeles International Airport—opened in August 2024.
Ballmer’s fortune fell by an estimated $500 million in December—a tiny move for someone worth more than $100 billion.
10. Jensen Huang
Net worth: $117.2 billion
Source: Nvidia
Age: 61
Residence: Los Altos, California
Citizenship: U.S.
Huang has made brief appearances in the world’s top 10 richest over the past year but this is the first time he’s among this group at the start of a month. Huang, who cofounded chip design firm Nvidia in 1993 and runs it as CEO, has overseen a huge runup in the price of the company’s stock as its chips have gained popularity among the burgeoning AI sector. He has become a rockstar in the tech world, known for sporting a signature black leather jacket.
Huang joins the top 10 richest despite a slight decline in Nvidia shares over the past month. That’s because the fortune of the prior No. 10, Spain’s Amancio Ortega, fell by about $7 billion over the month on weaker Inditex shares. But Ortega is close behind at No. 11, worth just $400 million less than Huang at the start of the new year.
Who is the richest man in the world?
As of January 1, 2025, the richest person in the world is Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. He’s worth $421 billion. He moved into the number one spot in late May 2024, overtaking Bernard Arnault of France.
Who is the richest woman in the world?
The richest woman in the world is Alice Walton, daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton. As of January 1, 2025, she is worth an estimated $99.9 billion and is the world’s 17th richest person. Her fortune lies in her ownership stake in retailer Walmart, which she inherited from her late father. Her brothers Rob, Jim and John (d. 2005) also inherited stakes in Walmart from their father. John’s widow Christy Walton and their son Lukas Walton inherited John’s shares and both rank on Forbes’ billionaires list.
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