Life

Planet’s Wealthiest People Got $1 Trillion Richer in 2017

Eat the rich.

Jeff Bezos
SUN VALLEY, ID - JULY 13: Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon, arrives for the third day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 13, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Every July, some of the world's most wealthy and powerful businesspeople from the media, finance, technology and political spheres converge at the Sun Valley Resort for the exclusive weeklong conference. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Getty

2017 was an especially good year for rich people.

According to a recent Bloomberg report, the world’s wealthiest individuals collectively added $1 trillion to their bank accounts within the past year, thanks in large part to increasing stock prices.

That figure, which is more than four times 2016’s gains, was measured by Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, which indicates the world’s 500 richest people increased their wealth by 23 percent so far this year. This isn’t too surprising when you consider both the MSCI World Index and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index grew about 20 percent in 2017.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is now the wealthiest person on earth with a reported net worth of $99.6 billion—$34.2 billion of which was added this year. That growth helped him dethrone Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who racked in an addition $8.9 billion in 2017, making his total net worth $91.3 billion. Warren Buffet clocked in at No. 3, adding $11.8 billion to his fortune for a total of $85 billion.

Other notable billionaires on the list include Zara founder Amacio Ortega (now worth $75.5 billion), Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg ($72.6 billion), and Google co-founder Larry Page ($52.9 billion). Bloomberg reports Chinese billionaires also did pretty well in 2017, with its 38 richest residents adding a total of $177 billion in 2017.

You can check out the full list here.

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