2023 might very well go down in history as the year of artificial intelligence.
In November 2022, OpenAI launched its chatbot, ChatGPT. With that, the AI industry exploded.
Google launched its own competitor to the chatbot, Microsoft reportedly invested $13 billion in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, Nvidia’s shares skyrocketed, and terms like ‘large language models’ and ‘machine learning’ became normalized outside the offices of software developers.
And here is the thing: Whenever a series of products see unprecedented success, someone, somewhere is most likely becoming very wealthy. This surge in AI-technology has led to the rise of new billionaires in the field.
Meet (some of) the AI billionaires.
5. Charles Liang and Sara Liu
Taiwanese-born American entrepreneur Charles Liang is the CEO, chairman, and president of Supermicro, which he founded in 1993 with his wife Sara Liu, the vice president and director.
Despite having been in the industry for over 30 years, the couple, both brand new billionaires this year, have seen their net worth skyrocket due to AI.
Supermicro is particularly significant for its hardware, making a big chunk of its profits from providing servers and storage system solutions.
According to the company, Supermicro is, moving forward, primarily interested in making data storage and computing more environmentally sustainable.
Charles Liang has a net worth of $6.1 billion.
4. Ivan Zhao
Ivan Zhao, a self made and categorically Millennial billionaire, is the CEO and co-founder of Notion, a productivity web app, launched in 2016.
In his own words, Zhao is “trying to fill this world with baked goods, good vibes, fun drinks, meaningful words, and playful software,” but on the road to that, he seemingly also managed to secure the status of billionaire.
Meanwhile, according to Forbes Zhao’s Notion is a competitor the workspaces of industry giants such as Microsoft and Google, and managed to become sustainably profitable by keeping a lean staff and saving money by ditching traditional marketing and instead betting on word of mouth.
Ivan Zhao has a net worth of $1.5 billion.
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3. Michelle Zatlyn
Canadian Michelle Zatlyn is the co-founder, president, CEO, and a board member of the company Cloudflare.
Cloudflare started as a simple app to identify the source of email spam but has since become a major player in cybersecurity. According to The Hill, the company’s web security services were used by 20% of the internet in 2022.
By utilizing AI to protect its customers and avoid cyber attacks, Cloudflare has seen immense financial gains in the last year, with its shares increasing almost 40%.
Michelle Zatlyn has a net worth of $1.2 billion.
2. Sam Altman
American Sam Altman is probably the poster child of the AI boom. The entrepreneur and investor is primarily known for his work as CEO and co-founder of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
He was, rather dramatically, fired from his position as CEO in November 2023 with allegations of behind insufficiently “candid in his communications”, only to be reinstated few days later after widespread outcry from the company’s employees (reportedly 700 out of a total staff of 770 signed an open letter, demanding Altman’s return).
Sam Altman has a net worth of $1 billion.
1. Jensen Huang
Taiwan-born, American businessman and engineer Jensen Huang is one of the most significant people in tech right now, and a driving force behind the AI revolution.
He is the co-founder, president, and CEO of chipmaker Nvidia, a company that has leveraged its success within indie gaming into a billion-dollar enterprise.
Nvidia’s influence on the AI market cannot be overstated. According to the BBC, the company is selling 80% of all AI chips with no sign of slowing down.
In March 2024, Nvidia unveiled its newest innovations within computing, announcing the B200 ‘Blackwell’ chip, which supposedly can do some tasks 30 times faster than its predecessor.
Nvidia’s shares have risen over 200% in the last year.
Jensen Huang has a net worth of $74.5 billion.
Net worth estimations by Forbes.