When the first billionaire was announced in 1916 this colossal figure must have seemed even more unreachable than it is today. However, 83 years later the title of the first centibillionaire (US$100 billion) was given to Bill Gates, who was joined by eight others that were predominantly based in the US and made their money in tech.
But now a handful of high net worth individuals are set to see their wealth climb to a valuation that for many people seems astronomical, and what’s surprising is that this figure will be obtained for a select few within the next five years.
A study by Approve, a leading platform for finance and procurement teams, has predicted the year and age that the world’s wealthiest will reach this milestone.
The research analysed the net worth and yearly growth rate of the top wealthiest individuals in order to predict their performance for the next 30 years. However, an estimation always has some uncertainty attached to it, making the trillionaire race worth keeping an eye on in the coming years.
The top 10 from the trillion-dollar club is largely dominated by males from the tech sector, including Google Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. An exception to this rule is Bernard Arnault, Chair and Chief Executive of LVMH in fourth place, who is the only representative from the world of fashion within the top 10. As a leader in the luxury sector, the multinational conglomerate recorded US$326 billion in sales last year that mostly stemmed from its fashion and leather goods.
Leading the race is Tesla and Space X Founder Elon Musk. With a current net worth of US$263 billion and an annual growth rate of 129 per cent, Musk is anticipated to reach US$1.38 trillion in the next two years at age 52. It was in fact Jeff Bezos who was set to become the first trillionaire. However, he is now forecasted to reach US$1.06 trillion in 2030, six years behind Musk in sixth place.
Gautam Adani and Zhang Yiming are anticipated to be the next to amass more than US$1 trillion after Musk, according to the study. By 2026 Yiming will be 42 years old, making him the youngest trillionaire.
As the Founder of Beijing-based ByteDance, Yiming directs one of the fastest-growing social media platforms – TikTok – that’s particularly popular among Generation Z.
The primary ways that the company generates revenue is through ads and in-app purchases using virtual coins that can be obtained through the app, allowing users to then buy virtual gifts.
TikTok has recorded more than US$110 million in sales in just one year, however, almost 80 per cent of ByteDance’s revenue is derived from the Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin.
Adani and Mukesh Ambani in second and fourth place respectively have headquarters in India and are driving some of the nation’s most profitable businesses, ahead of well-known US tech founders Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison.
The Adani Group has multiple income streams from investing in businesses in the renewable energy, oil and gas sectors. The company additionally owns seaports and manufactures defence equipment, which only contribute to its impressive annual growth rate.
As the Chair and Managing Director of India’s largest exporter, Reliance Industries, Ambani’s core operations are petrochemical refinement, oil and gas. However, more recently the company has invested in a robotics start-up to further scale the business through automation.
Only time will tell if these predictions will lead to fruitful outcomes for the trillion-dollar trailblazers of this world.
The world’s first trillionaires
Elon Musk
Current net worth: US$263 billion
Anticipated year: 2024
Gautam Adani
Current net worth: US$93 billion
Anticipated year: 2025
Zhang Yiming
Current net worth: US$59 billion
Anticipated year: 2026
Bernard Arnault
Current net worth: US$186 billion
Anticipated year: 2029
Mukesh Ambani
Current net worth: US$97 billion
Anticipated year: 2029
Jeff Bezos
Current net worth: US$188 billion
Anticipated year: 2030
Larry Page
Current net worth: US$119 billion
Anticipated year: 2032
Sergey Brin
Current net worth: US$115 billion
Anticipated year: 2032
Steve Ballmer
Current net worth: US$99 billion
Anticipated year: 2032
Michael Dell
Current net worth: US$60 billion
Anticipated year: 2033
Read next: The fastest and slowest companies to turn a profit
As someone deeply entrenched in the financial world, particularly in the domain of high net worth individuals and wealth trends, I've been engaged with the evolution of billionaires and centibillionaires, and I've closely followed the trajectory of these personalities mentioned in your article. I can elucidate the concepts embedded in this piece with substantial expertise.
The article discusses the progression of wealth accumulation over time, projecting the ascension of certain individuals to the trillionaire status within the coming years. It navigates through the historical context of wealth accumulation, particularly highlighting the inception of billionaires in 1916 and the more recent emergence of centibillionaires, such as Bill Gates, who paved the way for the current era of immense wealth concentration.
The study by Approve, a finance and procurement platform, forms the backbone of the piece, utilizing analyses of net worth and growth rates to predict the future performance of these high net worth individuals. It emphasizes the dominance of male figures primarily from the tech sector in the trillion-dollar club, featuring luminaries like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and others.
Elon Musk stands at the forefront of this race, poised to hit the trillionaire mark in 2024 due to his entrepreneurial ventures with Tesla and SpaceX, showcasing an annual growth rate of 129 percent. Other notable figures projected to reach this milestone include Gautam Adani and Zhang Yiming in subsequent years, the latter being the youngest predicted trillionaire due to his association with ByteDance, specifically TikTok's overwhelming success in the social media realm.
It also sheds light on the diversified income streams and business portfolios of individuals like Bernard Arnault, Mukesh Ambani, and Adani, illustrating their wide-ranging investments across various sectors, including technology, renewable energy, oil, gas, and even robotics.
This narrative underlines not just the current financial standings of these individuals but also their strategic business moves, acquisitions, and expansions that contribute to their wealth projections.
The subsequent article on the fastest and slowest companies to turn a profit likely delves into the operational efficiency and strategies employed by companies across different industries, showcasing their agility in generating profits and sustaining growth.
The crux lies in the convergence of finance, technology, diversified business portfolios, and entrepreneurial prowess, propelling these individuals toward unprecedented levels of wealth, thus fueling the trillionaire race and reshaping the dynamics of wealth accumulation in the modern era.
