Forbes magazine released its 2026 global billionaires report, stating that Elon Musk remains the richest person in the world for the second consecutive year, with an estimated net worth of $839 billion (approximately 26.45 trillion baht). This marks the highest wealth level in human history, while the total combined wealth of billionaires worldwide reached a new record of $20.1 trillion.
Over the past 12 months, Musk's assets increased by $500 billion, mainly due to the rising valuations of Tesla and SpaceX. The space company is targeting an initial public offering (IPO) by 2026. Furthermore, Musk became the first person to surpass $800 billion and is on track to become the world's first "trillionaire" soon.
Despite his immense wealth, 2025 was a volatile year for Musk, especially with Tesla's stock plunging early in the year amid a consumer boycott backlash over his support for Donald Trump and far-right politicians. However, Tesla's stock rebounded strongly in the second half of the year after Musk stepped back from roles in the Trump administration.
A key factor boosting Musk's wealth was Tesla shareholders approving a compensation package worth up to $1 trillion, contingent on the company meeting production and valuation targets. This would increase Musk’s stake in Tesla to 25 percent. He stated he wants sufficient decision-making power to build a "robot army" in the future.
David Kirsch from the University of Maryland commented that most of Musk's wealth is held in "stock," which depends on future speculation. If measured by non-stock assets, his wealth might be only one-third of the reported figure. Nonetheless, he remains vastly richer than the second richest person. Musk has previously revealed that his "cash" assets amount to less than 0.1 percent of his total wealth.
Top 5 global billionaires (data as of 1 March 2026)
Elon Musk: $839 billion (Tesla/SpaceX)
Larry Page: $257 billion (Google)
Sergey Brin: $237 billion (Google)
Jeff Bezos: $224 billion (Amazon)
Mark Zuckerberg: $222 billion (Meta)
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump rose to 645th place with an estimated $6.5 billion (approximately 204 billion baht), an increase of $1.4 billion. Most of this income comes from digital currencies he supports and proceeds from winning a New York appellate court case. Forbes noted that a potential second presidential term would significantly boost the Trump family's wealth through Middle East deals and business ventures across various sectors.
SourceAFP