Musk tops the super-billionaire list with a fortune nearing $420 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal has released a new ranking of "super billionaires." The term superbillionaire emerged against the backdrop of a growing number of ultra-wealthy individuals worldwide. In 1987, when Forbes magazine first published its billionaire rankings, the richest person in the world was Japanese magnate Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, with a fortune of $20 billion. Today’s leader, Elon Musk, has a net worth of $419.4 billion, which is more than 21 times Tsutsumi's peak.

Currently, there are 24 individuals in the world with fortunes exceeding $50 billion. At the beginning of February, the combined wealth of these ultra-rich billionaires reached $3.3 trillion, equivalent to the GDP of France. This represents 16% of the total wealth of all ordinary billionaires. This data comes from Altrata's research on the growing gap between the wealthiest entrepreneurs and other billionaires.

"The disparity among billionaires within their own group is becoming increasingly noticeable," notes Maya Imberg, head of analytics at Altrata.

Who made it to the top 24 super billionaires

Among the 24 super billionaires, only three are women: Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the heiress of L’Oréal ($61.9 billion), and members of the Walton family, owners of the Walmart chain.

The majority of the ultra-wealthy reside in the USA—only seven are located outside the country, including Indian businessmen Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, as well as Chinese billionaire Zhong Shanshan (Nongfu Spring).

Not heirs, but self-made billionaires

Researchers note that today’s elite billionaires differ significantly from the wealthiest individuals of the past. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the ultra-rich were industrialists whose fortunes were built on physical infrastructure. For instance, John Rockefeller controlled oil, Andrew Carnegie dominated steel, and Cornelius Vanderbilt managed railroads.

Today, key roles are played by intangible assets, intellectual property, and potential for future growth. Unlike the old capitalists who amassed wealth over decades, modern super billionaires create their fortunes in just a few years.

In the top 10 richest people in the world, six made their fortunes in technology—this includes Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and Jensen Huang.

The wealth of technology billionaires is largely dependent on market fluctuations. For example, Jensen Huang's fortune increased by tens of billions of dollars over the year due to the rise in Nvidia's stock prices.

Additionally, unlike the previous century, the richest people in the world today are not heirs to fortunes but entrepreneurs.

According to a study by the Heritage Foundation, of the 97 billionaires who were on the Forbes 400 list in 2005 and inherited their wealth, less than half remain in the current ranking.

"Great American fortunes today are new money, not old," states the Heritage Foundation report.

Earlier, Spot reported that the family of Indian billionaire Ambani has become the wealthiest in Asia.