Top 10 richest people: As Elon Musk became first trillionaire, others lost $181 billion

4 min readNew DelhiJul 8, 2026 06:44 PM IST

Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire in June after SpaceX's public listing boosted his fortune.

Top 10 richest people in the world July 2026: Elon Musk made history in June by becoming the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX went public, significantly increasing the value of his holdings in the company. The listing added an estimated $218 billion to Musk’s wealth over the past 30 days, taking his net worth to around $1.053 trillion as of July 1, 2026.

While Musk’s fortune surged, the other nine people on the list collectively lost about $181 billion during the same period, as a broad technology stock sell-off pushed the Nasdaq down nearly 3 per cent.

Musk has since lost his trillionaire status after SpaceX and Tesla shares fell, in line with a broader decline in technology stocks. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index valued his fortune at $957 billion on Tuesday.

Musk has remained the world’s richest person since May 2024 and is more than three and a half times wealthier than the second-richest person, Google cofounder Larry Page. Page’s fortune declined by an estimated $18 billion to $291 billion after Alphabet shares dropped 6 per cent, but he held on to the No. 2 spot. Google cofounder Sergey Brin also stayed at No. 3 despite his wealth falling by an estimated $16 billion to $269 billion.

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos remained the fourth-richest person in the world even after his net worth dropped by an estimated $28 billion to $249 billion, following a 12 per cent decline in the company’s share price.

Larry Ellison of Oracle recorded the biggest loss in June. After gaining an estimated $71 billion in May when Oracle shares jumped 40 per cent, his fortune fell by about $84 billion to $192 billion as the stock plunged 35 per cent. The sharp decline pushed Ellison from No. 5 to No. 7 on the global rich list after he had briefly become the world’s second-richest person earlier in June.

Ellison’s drop allowed Michael Dell and Mark Zuckerberg to each move up one place in the rankings despite both losing money during the month. Dell climbed to No. 5 with an estimated net worth of $235 billion after a relatively smaller decline of $9 billion. Zuckerberg moved up to No. 6 even though his fortune fell by an estimated $24 billion to $194 billion as Meta shares dropped 11 per cent, making him the third-biggest loser of the month.

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Most of the world’s 10 richest people are Americans, with France’s Bernard Arnault being the only exception. Arnault, chairman of luxury goods giant LVMH, remained at No. 9 with an unchanged fortune of about $147.9 billion, making him the only member of last month’s top 10 besides Musk whose wealth did not decline.

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer dropped out of the top 10 after his fortune fell by an estimated $20 billion to $121 billion as the company’s shares slipped 17 per cent. His fall from No. 10 to No. 15 opened the door for Warren Buffett, whose wealth rose by an estimated $8 billion to $147.8 billion thanks to a 5 per cent gain in his Berkshire Hathaway’s shares, allowing him to claim the 10th spot.

As of July 1, all 10 of the world’s richest people are men, and each has a fortune of at least $148 billion, up from the $141 billion threshold recorded a month earlier.

Top 10 richest people in the world

Rank

Name

Net Worth (in USD)

Source

Country

Elon Musk

1.053 trillion

SpaceX, Tesla

United States

Larry Page

291 billion