Payam Javan: Forbes’ annual ranking of the nation’s 400 richest individuals crowned Elon Musk as the wealthiest person in the United States for the third consecutive year. Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, boasts an estimated fortune of $244 billion, despite a $7 billion decrease from the previous year. He remains ahead of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose net worth stands at $197 billion. Since 2022, Bezos has consistently held the runner-up position, benefiting from a steady increase in his Amazon shares, which rose by 29 percent over the past year.

Mark Zuckerberg emerged as the biggest winner in this year’s rankings, with his wealth surging by an impressive $75 billion. This significant increase propelled him from the 8th spot back into the top three. Additionally, Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang saw his fortune more than double, jumping from $40.7 billion to $104 billion, driven by the company’s pivotal role in producing microprocessors for artificial intelligence systems. Among women, Alice Walton topped the list at number 15 with a net worth of $89.2 billion, up from $66.5 billion, followed by Julia Koch & Family with $74.2 billion.

Despite Musk leading the list, he was one of only three individuals in the top 25 to experience a decline in wealth over the past year. Factors contributing to this decrease include reduced demand for electric vehicles, a 14 percent drop in Tesla’s stock, and a legal challenge to his $56 billion compensation package. Meanwhile, other notable changes include Bill Gates’ reduced net worth due to a reassessment of his divorce settlement and Nike co-founder Phil Knight’s fortune declining as Nike’s stock fell by 15 percent. Overall, the combined net worth of America’s 400 richest individuals reached a record $5.4 trillion, an increase of nearly $1 trillion from the previous year, with twelve individuals surpassing the $100 billion mark for the first time.