The ranks of the centibillionaires have expanded over the past three years as booming stock markets and technology companies, in particular, propelled their founders' wealth even higher.
Together, the world's eight richest people have added $110bn to their fortunes this year and boast a combined wealth of more than $1 trillion - equivalent to about a third of Britain's GDP.
Gates was the first person to hit the $100bn milestone in July 1999 during the dotcom boom, but his wealth slumped as Microsoft shares fell back. He rejoined the ranks in 2019 and is worth almost $145bn.
Bezos tops the list with a fortune of $196.6bn, up some $6.3bn this year. He joined the group in 2017 as Amazon's share price surged and pushed it over the $1 trillion mark a year later.
However, it is Musk's rise that has been particularly meteoric after Tesla became one of the big winners of booming interest in technology stocks during the pandemic. Its shares are up more than 400pc over the past 12 months leaving Musk worth $175bn and the world's second richest person.
The Tesla founder has added $5.1bn to his wealth this year, bringing his fortune to $174.8bn.
Shares in Alphabet, the owner of Google, are up 31pc this year, making it one of the fastest-climbing big tech stocks and outpacing Amazon, Apple and Facebook. Its shares are trading at a record high and the company is worth $1.5tn.
It follows figures by Forbes' last week that revealed almost 90pc of the world's billionaires are richer than a year ago, despite the pandemic having sent shockwaves through the corporate world.
According to the list, there are 2,755 billionaires worth $13.1 trillion - a significant jump on the year before when there were 660 billionaires worth a combined $8 trillion.
- Telegraph Media Group
