WSJ Highlights 'Super Billionaires' Surpassing Traditional Billionaires
"American Male IT Entrepreneurs"
Analysis suggests that a new dimension of 'ultra-wealthy' groups, surpassing the previous concept of billionaires, is emerging.
The American daily The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 25th (local time), citing data from the global asset information company 'Altrata,' that as of February this year, there are 24 individuals worldwide with assets exceeding $50 billion (approximately 71.6 trillion KRW), naming them 'super billionaires.'
Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk attending the inauguration ceremony of U.S. President Donald Trump. Photo by AP Yonhap News
The current world's richest person is Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, with $419.4 billion (approximately 601 trillion KRW). Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, ranks second with $263.8 billion (approximately 378 trillion KRW), and Bernard Arnault, chairman of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH), is third with $238.9 billion (approximately 342 trillion KRW).
Following them are Larry Ellison, chairman of Oracle ($237 billion), Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta ($220.8 billion), Sergey Brin, co-founder of Alphabet, Google's parent company ($160.5 billion), Steven Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft ($157.4 billion), and Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway ($154.2 billion). Also included are Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia ($108.4 billion, 13th), and Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft ($106 billion, 14th).
The combined wealth of the 24 super billionaires amounts to $3.3 trillion (approximately 4,728 trillion KRW), which is comparable to the nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of France. This also represents 16% of the total wealth of the approximately 3,000 billionaires worldwide. WSJ explained, "This shows that a new dimension of wealth group beyond the previous concept of billionaires is being formed."
The mainstream of these super billionaires can be summarized as "American male IT entrepreneurs who made huge fortunes through technological advancements." Six of the top ten are entrepreneurs related to IT technology companies, and only seven are based outside the United States. Among the total 24, only three are women.
On the 11th (local time) at the White House in Washington, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla (left), is looking at Donald Trump, President of the United States. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News
Their wealth is also characterized by high volatility because the size of their assets depends on stocks linked to the future value of their companies. Bloomberg reported that on this day alone, Tesla's stock price plummeted, causing Musk's net worth to decrease by $22.2 billion (approximately 31.8 trillion KRW) in a single day.
Self-made wealth rather than inheritance is also cited as a characteristic of super billionaires. However, their success should not be understood solely as a self-made myth; there are criticisms that they have amassed enormous wealth monopolistically by exploiting the loose legal framework in the IT sector. Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics and distinguished professor at Columbia University, said, "Antitrust laws do not work well in the tech sector," and pointed out, "They are more skilled at tax avoidance than producing good products, both at the corporate and individual levels."
The emergence of the super billionaire group is also a signal that wealth concentration is intensifying globally. Maya Imberg, head of analysis at Altrata, said, "Now even within the billionaire group, disparities are emerging." WSJ noted, "A small number of tech entrepreneurs are enjoying unprecedented influence beyond the economic sphere, including government and media."
Professor Stiglitz expressed concern, saying, "They live in a completely different world from ordinary Americans," and "Such polarization will weaken the solidarity that underpins the functioning of society."
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