The wealth of many billionaires has risen dramatically since coronavirus lockdown, driven in part by stock market gains and corporate bailouts from the US government.
This took place while millions of people have lost jobs and income more than 50 million people in the US alone have filed for unemployment during the pandemic.
Some of the richest people in the world made their money from founding tech companies that we seemingly cannot do without, including Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple and Netflix.
This week, Elon Musk became the fourth richest man in the world, after gaining $8 billion in a day.
Hkere we look at some of the billionaires at the world's largest tech companies.
Jeff Bezos(Getty Images)
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is worth $193 billion (about 147 billion), according to the Forbes Billionaires list. He has consistently been the richest person in the world since 2018.
Mr Bezos, 56, is on course to be a trillionaire by 2026, if his wealth continues to grow at the same rate as in the past five years. Given the Amazon share price, a significant driver of his net worth has been on a very strong run for years that may not continue, some have argued that the projection may not come true.
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He launched the e-commerce company in 1994 as Cadabra, but soon changed the name. The company had revenues of $281 billion (214 billion) in 2019 by far the largest revenue for an internet company.
Amazon has been criticised for its allegedly harsh labour practices and tax policy. The company has consistently denied these claims.
Mr Bezos was also called "the world's worst boss" by an international trades union in 2014. Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Union of Trade Confederations, said: "Jeff Bezos represents the inhumanity of employers who are promoting the American corporate model."
He has also owned the Washington Post newspaper since 2013, among a number of other investments. He has given several billion dollars to charity, including a promise of $10 billion (about 7.6 billion) to help fight climate change.
When he and his wife MacKenzie Scott divorced in 2018, she kept 25 per cent of their previously-joint shares in Amazon, as well as interests in other ventures becoming one of the richest women in the world with a fortune of $36 billion (about 27.8 billion).
Elon Musk (Getty Images)
Elon Musk is now worth $84.8 billion, after his stock jumped 11 percent on Monday - making him the fourth richest person in the world, surpassing Bernard Arnault, CEO of Louis Vuitton. Tesla's shares rose an additional 2.8 percent on Tuesday.
South Africa-born Musk is an engineer, industrial designer, and technological entrepreneur, who founded SpaceX, The Boring Company and X.com - which became PayPal. He is also CEO of Tesla.
He is a US, Canadian and South African citizen. He previously dated actors Amber Heard and Talulah Riley, whom he married. He is currently in a relationship with Canadian musician Grimes - with whom he had a baby, famously named X AE A-XII.
Musk is also a philanthropist, and has given money towards environmental projects and projects to combat coronavirus.
Bill Gates (Getty Images)
Bill Gates, who founded Microsoft in 1975 with Paul Allen, is worth about $113.4 billion (about 86.6 billion), according to Forbes. He was the richest person in the world for every year but four between 1995 and 2017, according to Forbes after which Mr Bezos surpassed him.
He no longer runs Microsoft, having stepped down as CEO in 2000 and chairman in 2014. Mr Gates now focuses on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, thought to be the largest private charity in the world.
Mr Gates came in for fierce criticism for some of Microsoft's business practices, which were seen as stifling competition. The US government took Microsoft to court in 2001, reaching a settlement that the company would share some of its software with third parties.
Mark Zuckerberg(REUTERS)
Mark Zuckerberg, who co-founded Facebook with four college room-mates in 2004, is the next tech billionaire on the list with $97.5 billion (about 74.4 billion) although he is not currently as wealthy as owner of luxury goods firm LVMH Bernard Arnault, who along with his family is worth $107.4 billion (about 82 billion).
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Mr Zuckerberg, 36, has been criticised for the role Facebook has played in the 2016 US election. In 2018 it emerged that Cambridge Analytica had used Facebook user data without consent, largely for political advertising purposes, including for the campaigns of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.
Cambridge Analytica is also alleged to have been hired by pro-Brexit campaigners Leave.EU ahead of the 2016 referendum, although founder Arron Banks has denied this. Facebook was fined $5 billion for its role in the data breach.
Mr Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have also given major charitable donations in recent years, including pledging 99 per cent of their Facebook shares worth tens of billions of dollars to their charitable initiative over the course of their lifetimes.
Larry Page (L) and Sergey Brin (R)(AP/Reuters)
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are worth $67.2 billion (51.3 billion) and $65.4 billion (50 billion) respectively, having started the company in 1998. Google is owned by a parent company, Alphabet, of which Mr Page and Mr Brin are controlling shareholders, following a 2015 restructuring.
Mr Page was the initial CEO of Google, serving in the role until 2001. He then took over the job again in 2011, stepping down in 2015 to become CEO of Alphabet. He resigned as CEO in December 2019.
Mr Brin has been more involved with the company's experimental and developmental divisions, including Google's self-driving car programme and others.
Laurene Powell Jobs in 2019(Getty Images)
Laurene Powell Jobs is the widow and heir of Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder, who died in 2011. She founded her own firm, Terravera, a natural foods company, and previously worked at investment banks Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs.
She and her family are worth around $19 billion, or about 14.5 billion.
Apple CEO Tim Cookin 2019(Apple)
Tim Cook, her late husband's successor as Apple boss in 2011, saw his wealth top $1 billion in August with the company's share price continuing to soar, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Apple is one of the most valuable publicly traded companies in the world, at more than 1.93 trillion (roughly 1.45 trillion) and its share price has been on a broad upward trajectory since March.
Netflix's CEO Reed Hastings (Adam Rose )
Reed Hastings, who co-founded Netflix with Marc Randolph in 1995, has a fortune of around $5.2 billion (about $4 billion). He remains the company's co-CEO and owns about one per cent of its shares.
The company went public in 2002 and has about 183 million subscribers. It was originally a video rental service, but began streaming in 2007. He has given more than $100 million to educational charities.
Excerpt from:
Who's the richest tech boss? From Jeff Bezos to Elon Musk and Bill Gates - Evening Standard
- Elon Musk bought Twitter because the account tracking his private jet annoyed him, book says - Quartz - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Elon Musk Says Employees Are 'More Productive' in the Office. A New Study Says He's Wrong - Inc. - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Elon Musk, fuming over $55 billion Tesla pay ruling, switches Neuralink incorporation from Delaware to Nevada - Fortune - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- SpaceX files to move incorporation site from Delaware to Texas - CNBC - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Top labor economist says dont believe the AI doom narrativeand his reason why is the underpopulation crisis Elon Musk talks about - Fortune - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Elon Musk to his sycophant pet journalist Matt Taibbi: "You are dead to me" - Boing Boing - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Ukraine Says Russia Is Using Starlink at the Front Line, Prompting Pushback From Elon Musk - The Wall Street Journal - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Elon Musk opposes aid to Ukraine, says Putin can't lose Bloomberg - Yahoo News - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Musk ordered to testify again in SEC investigation of Twitter takeover - The Guardian - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Tesla Stock Is Up Again. What's the Latest News. - Barron's - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Who killed Twitter? - Platformer - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- Ex-Twitter engineer says Musk wrongly fired him for leaking information to the press - Business Insider - February 16th, 2024 [February 16th, 2024]
- How Teslas Board Can Solve Its Elon Musk Problem Without Overpaying - Barron's - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk: Diversity-based hiring is antisemitic - POLITICO Europe - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk Backs Prediction of 1 Billion Humanoid Robots by 2040 - Elon Musk Backs Prediction of 1 Billion Humanoid ... - IoT World Today - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk, CEO of X, to visit Poland amidst online antisemitism uproar - NBC News - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk expresses shock about the Holocaust after Auschwitz visit that was incredibly moving, and deeply sad and tragic that humans could do this to... - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk says he is 'Jewish by Association' after Auschwitz visit - USA TODAY - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- MrBeast's first video on X made $263,000 in win for Elon Musk's creator dreambut the YouTube star dismissed the ... - Yahoo Finance - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musks satellite army has a new target: Connecting the $183 billion farm industry to high-tech ag tools - Fortune - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Everything Elon Musk Did During His Visit To Auschwitz - The Onion - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk visits Auschwitz after uproar over antisemitic messages on X - The Guardian - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk visits Auschwitz with Ben Shapiro - The Jerusalem Post - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- At Auschwitz, Musk says social media, free speech would have prevented extermination - The Times of Israel - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Musk on visiting Auschwitz: It will take a few days to sink in - Forward - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Stellantis CEO warns of EV bloodbath and race to the bottom if car makers follow Elon Musks lead and start cutting prices - Fortune - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk says audits show less antisemitism on X than other apps - Fox Business - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Musk vs. Zuckerberg: Elon seems to envy the other CEO's Meta control - Business Insider - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk With Ben Shapiro in Auschwitz: Another Cynical Whitewashing Performance - Haaretz Today - Haaretz - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk visits Auschwitz after uproar over antisemitic messages on X - South China Morning Post - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Following Auschwitz visit, Elon Musk says X could have saved Jews from the Holocaust - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Will Elon Musk's xAI Be The Downfall Of OpenAI After Sam Altman's Betrayal and Ousting? - Yahoo Finance - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk Surprisingly Reacts to Bitcoin's Epic Surge By U.Today - Investing.com - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk visits Auschwitz amid uproar over antisemitic messages - Business Insider - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- MrBeast reveals his first video on X made $263,000but the YouTube multi-millionaire dismissed the cash as a facade and is giving it away - Fortune - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk Just Demanded 25 Percent of Tesla Stock. Here's Why That's Not as Crazy as It Sounds - Inc. - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk lays wreath at Auschwitz after private tour with Ben Shapiro and European rabbi - Baptist News Global - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk denies AI startup has raised $500M of $1B goal - Fox Business - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk's Tesla Confronts 'Black Cloud': Q4 Earnings Must Draw 'Line In The Sand Around Margins,' Analy - Benzinga - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk visits Auschwitz, says he was 'naive' about antisemitism: 'Two-thirds of my friends are Jewish' - New York Post - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk pledges to fund any Irish legal challenges to hate speech legislation - The Irish Times - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- X appears to be juicing MrBeast's views as Elon Musk tries to woo the YouTuber to the platform - Mashable - January 23rd, 2024 [January 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk Wants You to Use Neuralink to Lose Weight. That's a Bad Idea. - The Daily Beast - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Twitter Violated Contract by Withholding Employee Bonuses, Judge Rules - The Daily Beast - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- How Elon Musk Made Himself the Internet's Main Character in 2023 - Vanity Fair - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Elon Musks X Breached Twitter Worker Contracts By Refusing Bonuses, Judge Rules - Forbes - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Elon Musk's X accused of not paying employee bonuses after promising them verbally, to face court battle - India Today - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- How Elon Musk became the world's most famous poster - Business Insider - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Sam Altmans OpenAI to be second-most valuable U.S. startup behind Elon Musks SpaceX based on early-talks funding round - Fortune - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Judge rules that Twitter violated contract when it withheld millions of dollars in bonuses - Courthouse News Service - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Elon Musk reveals production plans of low-cost Tesla model: The revolution [of] that car will blow peoples minds - Yahoo - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Tesla in 2024 will have 'moving pieces' from the Cybertruck to EV pricing - Austin American-Statesman - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Hyperloop, Elon Musks Pipe Dream, Bites the Dust - Rolling Stone - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
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- Elon Musk's Feud With Disney CEO Bob Iger Spills Over to Tesla - Observer - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Musk and Tesla are battling unions across Scandinavia. What comes next in the labor dispute? - The Associated Press - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- From AI and inflation to Elon Musk and Taylor Swift, the business stories that dominated 2023 - The Associated Press - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Elon Musk Calls It 'Insane' -- But What Does the World Think? - Inc. - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- How Donald Trump and Elon Musk killed Twitter, with Marty Baron and Zoe Schiffer - The Verge - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Hyperloop One to Shut Down After Failing to Reinvent Transit - Bloomberg - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Tesla Stock 2024 Forecast: Will the Elon Musk-Run Company Break Out to New Highs? - Nasdaq - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- 49% of Americans dislike tech billionaires, but you probably still want to be like themhere's why, say experts - CNBC - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Startup that tried to realize Musk's hyperloop dream is shuttering - Business Insider - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- The year of social media soul-searching: Twitter dies, X and Threads are born and AI gets personal - The Associated Press - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Elon Musk wants Grok to be the 'funniest' AI chatbot - Business Insider - December 27th, 2023 [December 27th, 2023]
- Musk's Erratic Behavior May Be Caused By Escalating Drug Use, Associates Say - The Daily Beast - August 24th, 2023 [August 24th, 2023]
- Keith Lee pitches Mr. Beast fight on Elon Musk vs. Mark Zuckerberg card - MMA Fighting - August 24th, 2023 [August 24th, 2023]
- Elon Musk Is Apparently Making the US Government Quite Nervous - Futurism - August 24th, 2023 [August 24th, 2023]
- Elon Musk Says He 'Looks Forward' To Visiting India In 2024 - Benzinga India - August 24th, 2023 [August 24th, 2023]
- Elon Musk, Sundar Pichai Applaud Chandrayaan-3's Landing on ... - The Weather Channel - August 24th, 2023 [August 24th, 2023]
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk still isn't ready to release hard information on ... - Longview News-Journal - August 24th, 2023 [August 24th, 2023]
- Mark Zuckerberg vs Elon Musk: clash of the tech egos - Financial Times - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- "I Look..": How Elon Musk Reacted To His Viral Childhood Pic - NDTV - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Elon Musk believes Tesla will have 'level 4 or 5' self-driving this year ... - Electrek - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Arnold Schwarzeneggers Son Already Gives Up, Amid Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg Rigorously Hustling to Outdo Each Other: Honestly Dont Think I Have It... - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Elon Musk Responds To His Parody Account's "Lizard Boy" Tweet - NDTV - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Musk sues law firm for $135m bill on Twitter deal - The Australian Financial Review - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- `Insane`: Elon Musk Reacts To His Viral Baby Picture, Netizens Say This - Zee News - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Mark Zuckerberg Trolls Elon Musk Over Threads With First Tweet ... - The Daily Beast - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- An Elon Musk-Controlled Charging Network Imperils The EV ... - Jalopnik - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]