These 15 Billionaires Got Richer During the Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the financial well-being of millions of people around the world, with many losing jobs, shuttering their businesses or losing a large portion of their retirement savings due to market volatility. Yet somehow, the world’s richest seem to be coming out of the crisis unscathed — and in many cases, even richer.

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GOBankingRates compared the net worths of the world’s richest billionaires on March 18 to their net worths on Oct. 7 to determine the total money they lost or gained during the coronavirus pandemic, which narrowed down the list to 47 billionaires who had seen a rise in wealth. GOBankingRates also looked at the amount each one-percenter had given to coronavirus charities between March and August (the most recent date available), and then presented the data for the 15 billionaires who had gained the most wealth.

Take a look at these billionaires, ranked in order of who has gained the least to most during the health crisis.

15. Michael Dell

• Beginning net worth: $22.9 billion
• Ending net worth: $38.5 billion
• Amount gained: $15.6 billion

Perhaps an increase in people setting up home offices has led to the outrageous bump in Michael Dell’s wealth during the pandemic. The Dell Technologies chairman and CEO has been paying his good fortune forward with $104.1 million in donations to coronavirus charities as of August. Although that’s a hefty sum, it amounts to just 0.29% of his total net worth during that period.

14. Dieter Schwarz

• Beginning net worth: $19.8 billion
• Ending net worth: $35.4 billion
• Amount gained: $15.6 billion

Owner of the Kaufland and Lidl store chains, German billionaire Dieter Schwarz has become much wealthier during the pandemic.

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13. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers & Family

• Beginning net worth: $48.9 billion
• Ending net worth: $65.2 billion
• Amount gained: $16.3 billion

L’Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers is the richest woman in the world — and she’s become even richer during the pandemic. However, Bettencourt Meyers also donated $2.01 million to coronavirus causes.

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12. François Pinault & Family

• Beginning net worth: $27 billion
• Ending net worth: $44.5 billion
• Amount gained: $17.5 billion

François Pinault is another luxury fashion mogul who has managed to become richer during the pandemic despite a drop in sales in the sector. Pinault — who founding Kering, the group that owns Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Gucci — has seen his net worth increase by $17.5 billion. As of August, he had donated $4.3 million — roughly 0.01% of his net worth — to coronavirus charities.

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11. Bill Gates

• Beginning net worth: $98 billion
• Ending net worth: $115.8 billion
• Amount gained: $17.8 billion

Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ fortune has grown by 18.2% amid the pandemic. Well-known as a philanthropist, Gates gave the largest monetary donation to coronavirus causes of any billionaire from March to August: $305 million. As a percentage of net worth, however, his donation was not the greatest: 0.27% — less than half of Potanin’s 0.64%.

Read More: Companies Making the Most Money From Coronavirus

10. Phil Knight & Family

• Beginning net worth: $29.5 billion
• Ending net worth: $49.3 billion
• Amount gained: $19.8 billion

Nike founder Phil Knight has become 67.1% richer during the coronavirus crisis. He also donated $10 million — 0.02% of his total net worth — to coronavirus charities between March and August.

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9. Larry Ellison

• Beginning net worth: $59 billion
• Ending net worth: $78.9 billion
• Amount gained: $19.9 billion

Tech billionaire Larry Ellison has added 33.7% to his net worth since mid-March.

8. Steve Ballmer

• Beginning net worth: $52.7 billion
• Ending net worth: $71.2 billion
• Amount gained: $18.5 billion

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s net worth has increased a great deal during the pandemic. The tech billionaire had donated $28 million to coronavirus charities by August.

7. Ma Huateng

• Beginning net worth: $38.1 billion
• Ending net worth: $58.5 billion
• Amount gained: $20.4 billion

Chinese technology billionaire Ma Huateng’s wealth has increased by 53.5% during the pandemic.

See: What’s Next for Disney and Other Big Companies in 2021

6. MacKenzie Scott

• Beginning net worth: $36 billion
• Ending net worth: $59.6 billion
• Amount gained: $23.6 billion

MacKenzie Scott received 4% of Amazon as part of her divorce settlement with Jeff Bezos, Forbes reported, and those shares have helped her become 65.6% richer amid the coronavirus pandemic. Amazon sales soared 26% in the first quarter of 2020 as people did more shopping from home, The Washington Post reported.

Scott had given $100 million — 0.17% of her total net worth — to coronavirus causes as of August.

5. Bernard Arnault & Family

• Beginning net worth: $76 billion
• Ending net worth: $117 billion
• Amount gained: $41 billion

As LVMH CEO, Bernard Arnault oversees an empire of 70 brands that include Louis Vuitton and Sephora. His net worth has risen by $41 billion during the pandemic.

Arnault donated $5.4 million to coronavirus charities between March and August, which is less than 0.01% of his total net worth.

4. Mark Zuckerberg

• Beginning net worth: $54.7 billion
• Ending net worth: $96.8 billion
• Amount gained: $42.1 billion

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has become 77% richer during the pandemic. He donated $180 million to coronavirus charities as of August — a drop in the bucket for the tech billionaire.

Read: 14 Famous Companies That Aren’t Profitable

3. Mukesh Ambani

• Beginning net worth: $36.8 billion
• Ending net worth: $85.2 billion
• Amount gained: $48.4 billion

The net worth of Indian energy billionaire Mukesh Ambani has increased $48.4 billion during the pandemic. He donated $68.32 million — 0.09% of his total net worth — to coronavirus causes from March to August.

2. Elon Musk

• Beginning net worth: $24.6 billion
• Ending net worth: $87.9 billion
• Amount gained: $63.3 billion

Despite having to shut down Tesla production facilities due to the pandemic, Elon Musk’s net worth has grown by a whopping 257.3%.

1. Jeff Bezos

• Beginning net worth: $113 billion
• Ending net worth: $185.6 billion
• Amount gained: $72.6 billion

The richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, has made the most money during the pandemic. Bezos has given about 0.09% of his total net worth to coronavirus causes, which amounts to $127 million worth of donations.

Photo disclaimer: Photos are for illustrative purposes only. As a result, some of the images may not reflect the people or companies listed in this article.

Methodology: In order to discover how these 50 billionaires have fared during the coronavirus crisis, GOBankingRates first looked at the 50 richest people in the world as sourced from Forbes’ “2020 World’s Billionaire List” with data from March 18, 2020. Using this list, GOBankingRates found (1) pre-coronavirus crisis net worth for each of the top 50 richest billionaires. GOBankingRates then used Forbes’ “Real-Time Billionaire List” to find each of the top 50 richest billionaire’s (2) net worth as of the end of trading on Oct. 7, 2020. GOBankingRates then took the above factors to discover the following for each billionaire: (3) total amount gained or lost (March 18 to Oct. 7) and (4) percent change in net worth during the entire COVID-19 pandemic thus far. All data was collected on and up to date as of Oct. 7, 2020.

About the Author

Gabrielle Olya

Gabrielle joined GOBankingRates in 2017 and brings with her a decade of experience in the journalism industry. Before joining the team, she was a staff writer-reporter for People Magazine and People.com. Her work has also appeared on E! Online, Us Weekly, Patch, Sweety High and Discover Los Angeles, and she has been featured on “Good Morning America” as a celebrity news expert. 

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