San Francisco, October 4: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has topped Forbes' 400 richest people in America in 2023 list for the second year in a row, with an estimated fortune of $251 billion, leaving behind fellow tech titans Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos and CTO and Co-founder of Oracle Larry Ellison. According to Forbes, Musk is worth exactly the same as last year -- and $90 billion more than second-place Bezos, who’s worth an estimated $161 billion.

Despite paying $44 billion for Twitter (now X) last year, he has maintained his wealth. This has been helped by a five-fold increase in the value of his rocket company SpaceX, which is now worth $150 billion after four years. Nine of the top 20 are worth $100 billion or more, the most ever, and up from just four last year. While Ellison ranked three with an estimated fortune of $158 billion, Forbes said that no one in America has become wealthier this year than him, who is $57 billion richer because of the generative AI craze boosting shares of his software company. Forbes 400 Richest Americans List 2023: Elon Musk Gets Title of 'Wealthiest Person in US' Once Again, Donald Trump Fails to Join Elite Club for Second Time in 3 Years

Google's co-founder Larry Page, who ranked fifth, got $21 billion richer this year due to a 26 per cent jump in the shares of its parent company Alphabet. His wealth is now estimated at $114 billion. Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who was once the world's richest man, now sits at the sixth spot on America's list with an estimated fortune of $111 billion, while Page's Google co-founder, Sergey Brin, comes in at number seven with a fortune of $110 billion. Elon Musk Retakes Title of World’s Richest Person: Tesla CEO Becomes Wealthiest Person on Earth, Rival Bernard Arnault Falls Behind As LVMH Sinks

Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent part of this year fending off Musk's challenge to a cage fight, but his early investment in AI has helped him consolidate his $106 billion fortune. Gates' former right-hand man, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, ranks ninth with $101 billion.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 04, 2023 08:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).