Elon Musk has widened the gap between him and the world’s richest people, adding about $36 billion to his wealth in May alone.

According to the Forbes Real Time Billionaire Index, the billionaire and Tesla CEO is now worth about $423 billion as of June 1, 2025.

Musk steps down from Trump’s appointment

The sharp rise in his wealth came after he stepped down from his role as the head of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which earned Musk some flak from some people who said the role distracted him from his businesses.

The move came after the EV maker, Tesla, announced that its long-awaited robot taxi will launch in June, helping to propel the company's stocks to 23%, which added billions of dollars to Musk’s wealth.

Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth surges

Meanwhile, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg saw his fortunes surge in May, adding $34 billion to his wealth after Meta’s shares rose 18%.

The gain catapulted Zuckerberg past Amazon founder Jeff Bezos into the second position in the global wealth list.

Bezos also saw a modest increase in his fortunes, which rose by $19 billion, arising from an 11% uptick in Amazon stock, placing him in the third position with $220 billion.

Other gainers include ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who climbed to the top 10, overtaking Amancio Ortega after Microsoft shares rose 16%.

Ballmer’s net worth rose by $15 billion to $133 billion, while Ortega’s fortunes rose slightly by $600 million.

Top billionaire losers

Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway’s founder, lost a whopping $9 billion due to a five per cent drop in the company’s stock, which coincided with his announcement to retire as the firm’s CEO by the end of the year.

Bernard Arnault, LVMH founder, lost about $3 billion as his group’s shares plunged two per cent.

Meanwhile, the combined net worth of the world’s top 10 richest people increased by $140 billion in May, hitting a collective $1.9 trillion as of June 1, 2025.

The top 10 richest people globally

1. Elon Musk: $423bn

2. Mark Zuckerberg: $290bn

3. Jeff Bezos: $220bn

4. Larry Ellison: $185bn

5. Warren Buffett:$158bn

6. Bernard Arnault: $144bn

7. Larry Page: $140bn

8. Sergey Brin: $138bn

9. Steve Ballmer: $133bn

10. Amancio Ortega: $124bn