There were 26 billionaires including Warren Buffett and Larry Ellison whose fortunes rose more than $src billion last month.Photograph by Michael Prince/The Forbes Collection
October may be the spookiest month of the year, but it marked a welcome reprieve from an otherwise mostly ghastly stretch for investors. That’s true too for many of America’s richest people. A historic stock market rally—the best October in 46 years—meant many U.S. billionaires ended last month richer than they were in September.
According to Forbes’ estimates, 26 U.S. billionaires’ fortunes jumped by $src billion or more in October. After hitting a yearly low in September, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which tracks 30 blue-chip stocks including Apple, Disney and Coca Cola, closed out October with a gain of src4%, the best monthly performance since src976. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 8% and 4%, respectively.
The biggest dollar gainer last month was Larry Ellison, the cofounder, chairman and chief technology officer of software giant Oracle. His estimated net worth jumped $src6.6 billion, or src9%, as Oracle’s shares soared 24%, after bottoming out in mid-September following disappointed earnings and August layoffs. Investor sentiment appears to have turned around, as Oracle continues to digest its recent acquisition of healthcare IT company Cerner.
Larry Ellison, chairman of Oracle Corporation and chief technology officer, photographed for Forbes in March 2020.
Jamel Toppin for Forbes
Revered investor Warren Buffett, whose firm Berkshire Hathaway holds stakes in such blue-chip stocks as American Express, Coca-Cola and Chevron, was up $8.9 billion (9.4%) in October. While his estimated net worth is still 5.3% less than it was at the start of this year, Berkshire has outperformed the Dow this year.
Another October winner was Phil Knight, the founder of Oregon-based shoe and athletic apparel company Nike. Its shares dropped to a 20-year low of $83 in September after it reported a massive inventory glut caused by supply chain issues, which in turn knocked down the company’s profitability. Shares rebounded about 9% in October, adding $2.9 billion to Knight’s net worth but he is still down $23.5 billion for the year.
Just two of October’s biggest billionaire gainers are actually better off now than they were at the start of the year. One is Thomas Peterffy, the founder and chairman of the online trading platform Interactive Brokers, who is up 5.5% year-to-date. His company’s shares jumped 26% in October, after it beat predictions and reported record third quarter revenues. Meanwhile, Ubiquiti Networks founder and CEO Robert Pera is worth an estimated $20.src billion, src2% more than in January, as strong demand for network devices buoyed shares of his wireless equipment maker.
Thomas Peterffy founded Interactive Brokers in src993, and served as CEO until December 20src9.
Photograph by Matt Furman/The Forbes Collection;
Of course, there were many who had a ghoulish month. As previously reported by Forbes, tech leaders Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos saw their fortunes plunge after Meta Platforms and Amazon, respectively, reported disappointing quarterly earnings. At least five other billionaires lost $src billion or more in October, including Elon Musk (-$24.7 billion); Bezos’ ex-wife MacKenzie Scott (-$3.src billion); rapper turned fashion entrepreneur Kanye West (-$src.6 billion); Meta cofounder Dustin Moskovitz (-$src.6 billion); and Estée Lauder heir Leonard Lauder (-$src.src billion). Still winners easily beat out losers.
Here are the src0 U.S. billionaires with publicly-traded fortunes who had the biggest gains last month. (The net worth change is as of close of markets on Monday, October 3src.)
src. Larry Ellison
Net worth: $src03.2 billion
October change: UP $src6.6 billion YTD change: DOWN $src6.5 billion
Source of wealth: Oracle
2. Warren Buffett
Net worth: $src02.9 billion
October change: UP $8.9 billion
YTD change: DOWN $5.7 billion
Source of wealth: Berkshire Hathaway
3. Thomas Peterffy
Net worth: $25.3 billion
October change: UP $4.5 billion
YTD change: UP $src.3 billion
Source of wealth: Interactive Brokers
4. Jim Walton
Net worth: $6src billion
October change: UP $4.2 billion
YTD change: DOWN $6.2 billion
Source of wealth: Walmart
5. Alice Walton
Net worth: $58.8 billion
October change: UP $4.src billion
YTD change: DOWN $7.4 billion
Source of wealth: Walmart
6. Rob Walton
Net worth: $59.7 billion
October change: UP $4.src billion
YTD change: DOWN $6.2 billion
Source of wealth: Walmart
7. Robert Pera
Net worth: $20.src billion
October change: UP $3 billion
YTD change: UP $2.5 billion
Source of wealth: Wireless networking gear
8. Phil Knight
Net worth: $37.4 billion
October change: UP $2.9 billion
YTD change: DOWN $23.5 billion
Source of wealth: Nike
9. Michael Dell
Net worth: $49.9 billion
October change: UP $2.7 billion
YTD change: DOWN $7.6 billion
Source of wealth: Dell Technologies
src0. Thomas Frist
Net worth: $src8.2 billion,
October change: UP $2.3 billion
YTD change: DOWN $2.9 billion
Source of wealth: Hospitals