Most of the decline in his net worth is due to his costly divorce from MacKenzie Bezos.Business Insider used Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index to rank the world’s 20 richest tech billionaires and list out their gains for the year so far.It’s been a good year so far for billionaires working in tech.
The richest 20 technology billionaires have all seen massive additions to their net worth in 2019 to date, bar one notable exception.Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, had a costly divorce from MacKenzie Bezos, which has dented his net worth in 2019.It’s the primary reason for the decline in his overall worth, but he’s still top of the billionaire pile.
We’ve put together a list of the world’s 20 richest tech billionaires, based on Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index , which ranks the world’s richest people on a daily basis.The figures in this article were accurate as of October 30, 2019.20.Tencent founder Zhang Zhidong gained $184 million Lees ook op Business Insider Inkomstenbelasting in 2020: lagere tarieven en minder hypotheekrenteaftrek – dit eist de fiscus op als je €60.000 tot €120.000 verdient Foto: sourceChina.org.cn Also known as Tony Zhang, the Chinese businessman is the cofounder and former chief technology officer of Tencent, the Chinese tech conglomerate recently embroiled in the Blizzard-Hong Kong controversy (Tencent part owns Activision Blizzard, Blizzard’s parent company).
Total net worth: $13.7 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$184 million 19.
Europe’s only ultrawealthy tech billionaire, Hasso Plattner, gained $2.78 billion Foto: sourceRalph Orlowski/Reuters Plattner cofounded the German multinational software giant SAP.Though Bill McDermott announced his resignation as SAP’s CEO this month after nearly a decade , he left on a high, as the firm’s stock has reportedly climbed 21% over the past year and 75% over the past half-decade.Total net worth: $14.7 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$2.78 billion 18.
Ex-Googler Eric Schmidt is up $2.28 billion Foto: sourceREUTERS/Beck Diefenbach Schmidt has largely left the private sector behind, having served as Google’s CEO for most of the 2000s and Alphabet’s executive chairman from 2015 to 2017.He now serves as chairman of the US Department of Defense’s innovation board.Total net worth: $14.7 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$2.28 billion 17.
Shiv Nadar, founder of the Indian consultancy HCL, gained $2.24 billion Foto: sourceUK in India / Flickr Nadar is the founder and chairman of HCL, an Indian IT and consulting firm founded in 1976.His firm is enjoying a profitable year after the US tech behemoth IBM sold a $1.8 billion chunk of its software business to HCL at the end of 2018.Total net worth: $15.8 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$2.24 billion 16.
Chinese gaming magnate Ding Lei got a $3.02 billion bump Foto: sourceChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images The founder and CEO of NetEase, Ding – also known as William Ding – is the founder and CEO of NetEase, a Guangzhou-based tech conglomerate that has one of the world’s largest mobile-games businesses.
Though NetEase continues to thrive, its close relationship with the controversy-embroiled US games firm Blizzard is unlikely to help its image in the West.Total net worth: $17.0 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$3.02 billion 15.Shy Keyence billionaire Takemitsu Takizaki saw his worth go up $3.34 billion Foto: sourceIgor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Takizaki is deeply media-shy – so much so, in fact, that there aren’t many photos around of the billionaire.
His firm Keyence specializes in sensors and other electronic equipment for industrial automation.The company’s sheer privacy and unwillingness to talk to the press have given it an air of mystery, but this hasn’t necessarily helped its image .
Total net worth: $18.4 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$3.34 billion 14.Azim Premji founded the Indian consultancy firm Wipro and saw his worth go up $2.47 billion Foto: sourceAijaz Rahi/AP Premji is the head of the Bangalore-based Indian tech conglomerate Wipro, which specializes in IT, consulting, and business-process services.Total net worth: $19.8 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$2.47 billion 13.Colin Huang is relatively unknown outside China but gained a huge $9.37 billion Foto: sourceYouTube/Bloomberg It’s fair to say few people outside China have heard of Pinduoduo, an online-shopping platform that Huang founded and leads as CEO.But that hasn’t stopped Huang from almost doubling his net worth amid the firm’s ongoing, meteoric ascent .
Total net worth: $21.0 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$9.37 billion 12.
Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk boosted his net worth by $1.79 billion Foto: sourceKyle Grillot/Reuters Musk is not known for setting himself modest targets, but he has largely delivered on his grandiose promises this year, shipping vehicles at record rates in 2019.Despite his massive wealth, the Silicon Valley CEO has apparently claimed he’s pretty low on cash .Total net worth: $25.8 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$1.79 billion 11.Michael Dell’s worth increased $2.99 billion Foto: sourceGetty Images Dell is the founder and CEO of his namesake computing firm.
The firm controversially went private in 2013, but it returned to the public market in December 2018.Total net worth: $31.2 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$2.99 billion 10.
Tencent CEO Pony Ma gained $618 million Foto: sourceReuters/Bobby Yip As the CEO of the Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent, Ma is Jack Ma’s great rival on the Chinese tech scene (the two men are unrelated).Tencent’s interests are varied, but the firm is arguably best known in the West as the driving force behind WeChat, the instant-messaging app that is ubiquitous in China.Total net worth: $32.9 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$618 million 9.MacKenzie Bezos catapulted onto the billionaire list after her divorce from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, gaining $35.4 billion Foto: sourceTaylor Hill/Getty Images Bezos has become one of the richest women in the world after her divorce this year from Amazon’s founder.She played a key role in the founding of Amazon , driving cross-country with her then-husband as he typed out a first business plan.Total net worth: $35.4 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$35.4 billion 10.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma profited $5.95 billion Foto: sourceRuben Sprich/Reuters Despite segueing into full-time philanthropy in September , the charismatic driving force behind Alibaba has continued to profit from his 6% stake in the e-commerce giant .Total net worth: $41.6 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$5.95 billion 9.Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer earned $14.3 billion Foto: sourceBusiness Insider Ballmer has diversified his business interests since resigning from Microsoft’s board five years ago, and he now owns the Los Angeles Clippers NBA team.Total net worth: $53 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$14.3 billion 8.
Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison is up $10.4 billion Foto: sourceJustin Sullivan/Getty Images Oracle’s cofounder, executive chairman, and chief technology officer has enjoyed a seriously fruitful year on the personal-wealth front after Oracle posted total revenue of $9.2 billion for the first quarter of its fiscal year from 2019 to 2020.Total net worth: $59.7 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: + $10.4 billion 5.Google cofounder Sergey Brin saw an increase of $9.51 billion Foto: sourceJustin Sullivan/Getty Images 2019 has seen Alphabet’s president consolidate his place among the world’s five richest people.
Google’s $1.7 billion fine from the European Commission in March for “abusive” advertising practices was its third in three years, but the founder’s wealth remains unscathed.
Total net worth: $59.4 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$9.51 billion 4.Google’s other cofounder, Larry Page, is up $9.92 billion Foto: sourceGetty / Justin Sullivan Like his Google cofounder, Alphabet’s CEO has added nearly $10 billion to his net worth after the firm continued its extraordinary run of profit-making.In the second quarter of 2019 alone, Alphabet made $9.18 billion .Total net worth: $61.2 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$9.92 billion 3.Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg added $20.7 billion, consolation for a rough year in the public eye Foto: sourceGetty Zuckerberg’s fortune has grown by over 40% in the past year, despite a challenging year for Facebook in terms of its public image.Its Libra cryptocurrency project has lost a quarter of its initial backers , and the firm remains bedeviled by questions about the influence it might have on national elections .Still, Facebook’s stranglehold over online advertising and people’s attention keeps investors coming back for more.
Total net worth: $72.7 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$20.7 billion 2.Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates is up $17.6 billion Foto: sourceNetflix/YouTube The Microsoft founder very briefly overtook Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest person in October, but he lost that crown again.
Still, the 64-year-old’s net worth has soared this year even as he reportedly gave away over $35 billion to charity in 2019.Total net worth: $108 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: +$17.6 billion 1.Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is down $14.9 billion but is still the world’s richest person Foto: sourceReuters Though Bezos retains his title of world’s richest person, the Amazon CEO’s net worth has taken a hit this year, largely because of a $38 billion divorce settlement with his ex-wife, MacKenzie, in June.
Total net worth: $110 billion Year-to-date change in net worth: -$14.9 billion.
