Elon Musk Richest Ever, But This Asian Billionaire Was 2024’s Top Earner

Tesla CEO Elon Musk might be the richest person in history, but he was way behind Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on the 2024 list of top earners. Mr Huang’s annual earnings skyrocketed from $21.1 billion in 2023 to $77 billion in 2024, according to Forbes. This was nearly four-fold of Mr Musk’s $15 billion increase in annual earnings from $180 billion in 2023 to $195 billion in 2024.

The massive boost took Mr Huang’s net worth to $123.8 billion, placing him ninth on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaire List.

Tesla’s soaring shares pushed Mr Musk’s net worth to $334.3 billion this year.

Who is Jensen Huang

Born in Taiwan and raised in the US from the age of nine, Mr Huang’s academic journey led him from Oregon State University to Stanford University, where he specialised in electrical engineering. As co-founder and CEO of Nvidia since 1993, Mr Huang has been the visionary behind the company’s rise as a leader in AI technology.

Nvidia’s shares hit a record high this year, contributing significantly to Huang’s fortune. His 3.5 per cent equity stake in the $3.5 trillion company now accounts for nearly all of his wealth, valued at $122.2 billion. Even after selling $713 million worth of Nvidia stock earlier this year, Mr Huang remains the company’s largest shareholder.

Nvidia holds an 80 per cent market share in AI accelerators, crucial for cutting-edge AI applications used by tech giants like Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and even Tesla. The company’s graphics processing units (GPUs), initially popular in gaming, have become essential for AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Demand for Nvidia’s products is so intense that Mr Huang described it as “insane,” with customers reportedly becoming “really emotional” over availability, Forbes reported.