Richest person on December 31, 2026?Mark Zuckerberg

The numbers confirm that 2026 looks set to be an exceptional year for the world's tech billionaires. The fortunes of nearly 100 tech billionaires, among the world's 500 richest people, have increased by a total of approximately $845 billion since the beginning of the year until September 30, marking the largest increase in their wealth during the first nine months of any year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The same drivers that have been propelling global markets were behind this surge, primarily the artificial intelligence boom and record highs in tech stocks, especially in the United States. The total wealth of tech billionaires now stands at $4.6 trillion, equivalent to 36% of the index's total wealth, even though they represent only about one-fifth of its members. In stark contrast, billionaires who amassed their fortunes have lost Outside the technology sector, a total of $62 billion was added during that period, while Americans accounted for 94% of the index's net gains. Since September 10, the world's ten richest people have all been from the United States, the first time this has happened since Bloomberg began tracking billionaires' wealth in 2012. Elon Musk, the world's richest man, added $310 billion to his fortune this year through the end of September, representing nearly 40% of the total increase in the index. Musk briefly became the world's first trillionaire after his company SpaceX merged with his AI company xAI and went public in June. Nine of the world's ten richest people owe their fortunes to American technology companies. Michael Dell, founder of Dell Technologies, saw his wealth increase by 81% to reach $254 billion, as his company's data center sales boom Mark Zuckerberg added $23 billion to his net worth this year, after shares of Meta Platforms surged 27% in September, marking its best monthly performance in nearly four years, following the launch of its new AI-powered personal assistant, Muse. The combined wealth of the world's 500 richest people peaked at $13.4 trillion in mid-June. Since then, it has fallen 6% to $12.6 trillion amid a general market slowdown and growing uncertainty surrounding some of the biggest AI companies. #Arabic_Business

Last summer a California group launched an initiative called the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act, a one-time 5% levy on the assets of residents with a net worth of $1.1 billion or more. Then all hell broke loose. Brad Stone explains