I just reviewed the list of the 10 richest people in the world and I have to say that the gap between the first and the others has become truly disproportionate. Last January, Elon Musk reached 726 billion — almost double the amount of the person behind him. An unprecedented figure in modern history, really impressive.

What stands out when looking at the ranking is how wealth is concentrated in the tech and innovation ecosystems. Larry Page and Jeff Bezos follow Musk with 270 and 255 billion respectively, but the difference is huge. Then there are Sergey Brin, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg — basically all names linked to artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and technological infrastructure.

There are people in the top 10 richest in the world who have built real empires: Zuckerberg with Meta, Ellison with Oracle, Ballmer who led Microsoft. Bernard Arnault represents luxury, but he also benefits from digital transformation. And Jensen Huang with semiconductors? A perfect example of how AI has multiplied the value of his companies.

What I find interesting is the underlying driver of this explosion of wealth. AI has accelerated everything — the values of tech companies have skyrocketed, commercial space has become reality (Musk’s SpaceX), semiconductors have become gold. American tech companies have dominated globally, and those who held their stocks from the beginning saw their wealth multiply.

Warren Buffett is the only one who doesn’t come from pure tech, but still, 151 billion keeps him in the top 10 richest people in the world. It’s a list that shows how, in recent years, innovation and the right positioning at the right time have created wealth on an unprecedented scale.

The point is that these numbers truly reflect how the world has changed. If you look at the top 10 richest people in the world from 10 years ago, it’s a different story. Now, it’s all about those who understood early where the market was headed and had the courage to bet big.