Zero Genie

Though stocks of the world’s biggest tech companies fell in March in response to the coronavirus pandemic, founders of tech giants, starting with Jeff Bezos, still dominate the uppermost ranks of Forbes’ new billionaires list.

^The coronavirus pandemic not only dominated headlines for much of March, it also led to huge declines in stock markets around the world. The plunge in share prices slashed more than half of the technology fortunes on Forbes’ new list of the World’s Billionaires, which we compiled using stock prices and exchange rates from March 18, 2020. 

But the very richest of the tech billionaires continue to dominate the highest ranks of the list. Nine of the 20 wealthiest people in the world are tech tycoons—one more than on the 2019 list. (Jack Ma rocketed up into the top 20 this year, upping the total.) The 20 richest people in technology are worth a combined $740 billion, down from $758 billion last year.

In all, there are 241 technology billionaires on Forbes’ 2020 billionaires list, up from 215 last year. Combined, they are worth a whopping $1.4 trillion — 16% of the total net worth for all 2,095 billionaires on the list this year.

Here are the top 20 richest people in tech; net worths are as of March 18, 2020.

COUNTRY: U.S.

NET WORTH: $113 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: AMAZON

In mid-March, Amazon announced it would hire 100,000 full-time and part-time workers at its delivery networks and fulfillment centers to meet increased demand from consumers staying home in response to the coronavirus pandemic. By the end of the month, at least 10 of its warehouse workers reportedly had COVID-19. On April 2, Bezos posted on Instagram that he is donating $100 million to Feeding America, a nonprofit that operates a network of food banks across the U.S. Bezos’ net worth dropped from $131 billion last year, after he gave his ex-wife MacKenzie Bezos $36.8 billion worth of Amazon stock as part of their divorce settlement in mid 2019.

COUNTRY: U.S.

NET WORTH: $98 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: MICROSOFT

Gates, the world’s number two richest person, announced in March that he stepped down from the board of Microsoft, the software company he cofounded with Paul Allen in 1975 then led as CEO until 2000. In February his foundation said it would spend up to $100 million on coronavirus relief and vaccines. Gates’ fortune is up from $96.5 billion last year, driven partly by an increase in Microsoft’s share price.

COUNTRY: U.S.

NET WORTH: $59 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: SOFTWARE

Ellison, the fifth-richest person in the world, has been quietly turning part of his Hawaiian island into a wellness experiment. Most recently, the Oracle founder joined the fight against the coronavirus, working to create a database for the country’s coronavirus cases with the White House, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies. Ellison ranked as the No. 7 richest in the world on the 2019 list, worth $62.5 billion. 

COUNTRY: U.S.

NET WORTH: $54 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: FACEBOOK

Facebook was fined a historic $5 billion by the Federal Trade Commission in July for violating consumers’ privacy. The social network, which has nearly 3 billion users, has become a go-to communication tool for those on lockdown. It was also the first big tech company to announce plans to pay all workers a $1,000 bonus to help offset the economic impact of the coronavirus. Zuckerberg, ranked No. 8 on last year’s list, is worth $7.6 billion less than in 2019.

COUNTRY: U.S.

NET WORTH: $52.7 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: MICROSOFT

Now ranked 11th-richest in the world, Ballmer was worth $41.2 billion last year. Ballmer’s LA Clippers recently teamed up with the LA Kings, LA Lakers and the Staples Center to provide financial support to hourly event employees impacted by the suspension of sporting events at the arena. He bought the Clippers in 2014, the same year he stepped down as CEO of Microsoft.

COUNTRY: U.S.

NET WORTH: $50.9 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: GOOGLE

Page left his role as CEO of Google-parent Alphabet in December but stayed on as a board member. Google was tapped by President Trump to set up a website for Americans to find nearby coronavirus screening sites; it launched on March 16, with information on four counties in California. Page’s fortune has climbed by $100 million since last year.

COUNTRY: U.S.

NET WORTH: $49.1 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: GOOGLE

Brin stepped down from his role as president of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, in December; he continues as a controlling shareholder on the board. His fortune declined by $700 million since the 2019 list.

 

COUNTRY: CHINA

NET WORTH: $38.8 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: E-COMMERCE

Ma retired as chairman of online-shopping giant Alibaba Group in September 2019 and said he would get more involved in philanthropy. In March, the Jack Ma Foundation announced it would donate 1 million masks and 500,000 coronavirus test kits to the U.S.; in early April his foundation helped get 1,000 much-needed ventilators to New York, according to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Ma’s fortune grew $1.5 billion since last year.

COUNTRY: CHINA

NET WORTH: $38.1 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: INTERNET MEDIA

Stuck at home, many Chinese took to their mobile phones to play Tencent-distributed online games, boosting game usage. In February Tencent announced a $210 million fund for medical care and support for the needy. Ma’s net worth is down from last year’s $38.8 billion.

COUNTRY: U.S.

NET WORTH: $36 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: AMAZON

Bezos debuts on the list this year after she and Jeff Bezos agreed on a divorce settlement in mid 2019 that granted her a quarter of his Amazon stake. He retains voting power over her shares. She signed the Giving Pledge in May.

COUNTRY: U.S.

NET WORTH: $22.9 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: DELL COMPUTERS

Roughly a year after his computer firm, Dell Technologies, returned to public markets, the stock is struggling. As a result, Michael Dell’s net worth fell from $34.4 billion on last year’s list. In March, Dell Technologies promised at least $4 million to fund hospitals and front-line organizations fighting COVID-19. In response to a news report of young people partying on Florida beaches during the outbreak in mid-March, Dell tweeted out a warning to the revelers not to apply for jobs at his companies.

COUNTRY: CHINA

NET WORTH: $17 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: ONLINE GAMES

Ding has seen his wealth soar $2.3 billion since last year, partly in connection with the coronavirus outbreak. He chairs NetEase, one of the world’s top online game platforms. NetEase’s online education business hit a milestone in October, when subsidiary Youdao went public on the New York Stock Exchange.

COUNTRY: CHINA

NET WORTH: $16.5 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: E-COMMERCE

Huang is chairman and CEO of online discounter Pinduoduo, which is one of China’s largest e-commerce sites. Pinduoduo raised $1.6 billion during its U.S. IPO in 2018. The stock rose in the past year, lifting his net worth by $3 billion since the 2019 list. A serial entrepreneur, he earlier founded online game company Xinyoudi and online e-commerce platform Ouku.com.

COUNTRY: U.S.

NET WORTH: $16.4 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: APPLE, DISNEY

Powell Jobs is founder and chair of the Emerson Collective, a hybrid philanthropic and investing limited liability company. In 2017, she bought a majority stake in The Atlantic magazine and has since then invested in nonprofit publications Mother Jones and ProPublica. Her fortune is down $2.2 billion from last year, in part due to a decline in Disney’s share price but also because Forbes got better insight into her total assets. Jobs inherited her fortune from her late husband, Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, who passed away in 2011.

COUNTRY: CHINA

NET WORTH: $16.2 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: SOFTWARE

You might not know Zhang Yiming by name, but you probably know his video streaming app TikTok, which has become one of the world’s most popular apps, with over a billion downloads. In 2012 Zhang founded ByteDance, which has grown into one of China’s largest media content platforms, with a valuation of $75 billion. His net worth is unchanged from a year ago.

COUNTRY: U.S.

NET WORTH: $13.2 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: GOOGLE

Schmidt left the board of Google parent company Alphabet in June 2019, after serving as a director for 18 years and as Google’s CEO from 2001 to 2011. He currently chairs the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence and the Defense Innovation Board. Schmidt’s net worth is up $300 million from $12.9 billion last year.

COUNTRY: GERMANY

NET WORTH: $13 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: SOFTWARE

Hopp is the largest shareholder of private German drugmaker CureVac, which is currently racing to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus. CureVac says its vaccine candidate will be in a phase one clinical trial by June. Hopp made his fortune by cofounding German software giant SAP in 1972. He is worth $400 million less than last year, mostly due to a drop in the price of SAP shares.

COUNTRY: CHINA

NET WORTH: $13 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: INTERNET MEDIA

Zhang was chief technology officer of internet company Tencent for 16 years, until he retired in 2014. Zhang met Tencent founder Ma Huateng (also known as “Pony” Ma) while attending Shenzhen University. Zhang owns an estimated 3% stake in Tencent. His net worth fell $300 million since last year.

COUNTRY: GERMANY

NET WORTH: $12.4 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: SOFTWARE

Plattner, who cofounded software giant SAP with fellow billionaire Dietmar Hopp, still serves as chairman of the SAP supervisory board. (He stepped down as CEO in 2003.) He funds the Hasso Plattner Institute, a college that offers degrees in IT systems and engineering. Plattner owns a majority stake in the San Jose Sharks NHL team. His fortune is $1.1 billion smaller than last year due to a drop in SAP’s share price.

COUNTRY: INDIA

NET WORTH: $11.9 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: SOFTWARE SERVICES

Nadar is the founder and chairman of IT services company HCL Technologies. He started the company in the 1970s in his garage, and grew it into an $8.6 billion (revenue) global organization with over 137,000 employees. Nadar’s net worth dropped by $2.7 billion since last year due to a plunge in the price of HCL Technologies shares.