The California Billionaires Getting Richer During The Pandemic

CALIFORNIA — As the United States struggles to recover from record unemployment and millions of Americans remain jobless, a number of billionaires in California saw their wealth increase during the coronavirus pandemic.

Forbes lists 64 billionaires in the San Francisco area with a total net worth of $241.6 billion, 55 billionaires in the Los Angeles area with a total net worth of $193.4 billion, 25 billionaires in the Palo Alto area with a total net worth of $243.8 billion, five billionaires in the San Diego area with a total net worth of $10.6 billion, four billionaires in the Oakland area with a total net worth of $6.5 billion, two billionaires in the Irvine area with a total net worth of $2.9 billion, two billionaires in the Santa Barbara area with a total net worth of $8.3 billion, and one billionaire in Santa Cruz with a total net worth of 3.7 billion. The data stems from March 18, about a week after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

Here's a look at the richest billionaires in California and how their wealth has increased during the coronavirus pandemic:

Mark Zuckerberg

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $54.7B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $96.8B
• Primary source of income: Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, Facebook

Elon Musk

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $24.6B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $87.9B
• Primary source of income: CEO and Chairman, Tesla

Larry Ellison

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $59.0B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $78.9B
• Primary source of income: CTO and Founder, Oracle

Larry Page

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $50.9B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $65.9B
• Primary source of income: Co-Founder and Board Member, Google

Sergey Brin

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $49.1B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $64.2B
• Primary source of income: Co-Founder and Board Member, Google

Laurene Powell Jobs & family

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $16.4B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $19.4B
• Primary source of income: Founder and President, Emerson Collective

Dustin Moskovitz

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $9.3B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $16.1B
• Primary source of income: CEO and Co-Founder, Asana

Donald Bren

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $15.5B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $15.3B
• Primary source of income: Chairman, Irvine Company

Eric Schmidt

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $13.2B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $14.8B
• Primary source of income: Former CEO and Executive Chairman, Google

John Doerr

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $7.3B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $10.7B
• Primary source of income: Chairman, Kleiner Perkins

Gordon Moore

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $9.8B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $10.6B
• Primary source of income: Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Intel

Jan Koum

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $9.7B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $10.0B
• Primary source of income: CEO, Co-Founder, WhatsApp Inc.

David Geffen

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $7.6B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $9.0B
• Primary source of income: Co-Founder, DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.

Steven Rales

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $5.8B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $9.0B
• Primary source of income: Chairman, Danaher

Stewart and Lynda Resnick

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $9.0B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $7.1B
• Primary source of income: Owners, POM Wonderful, Fiji Water brands, Wonderful Pistachios and Almonds (among others)

Eli Broad

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $6.8B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $6.9B
• Primary source of income: Entrepreneur

Peter Gassner

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $2.5B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $5.5B
• Primary source of income: CEO and Founder, Veeva Systems

Reed Hastings

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $3.7B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $5.5B
• Primary source of income: CEO, Netflix

Neal Blue & family

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $4.1B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $3.3B
• Primary source of income: Chairman and CEO, General Atomics

Gwendolyn Sontheim Meyer

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $3.0B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $3.1B
• Primary source of income: Heiress, Cargill

Osman Kibar

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $1.4B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $2.9B
• Primary source of income: Founder, CEO, Samumed

Hilton Schlosberg

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $1.9B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $2.6B
• Primary source of income: Vice Chairman, President and Chief Operating Officer, Monster Beverage

Oprah Winfrey

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $2.5B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $2.5B
• Primary source of income: Entrepreneur, Personality, Philanthropist

Alice Schwartz

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $1.5B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $2.4B
• Primary source of income: Co-Founder, Bio-Rad Laboratories

Orion Hindawi

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $1.5B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $1.5B
• Primary source of income: CEO, Tanium

Frederic Luddy

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $1.1B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $1.2B
• Primary source of income: Founder and Chief Product Officer, ServiceNow

Linden Blue

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $1.0B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $1.0B
• Primary source of income: Vice Chairman, General Atomics

David Hall

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $1B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $1B
• Primary source of income: Co-Founder and CEO, Velodyne Lidar

RJ Scaringe

• March 18 net worth (in millions): $1.0B
• Oct. 7 real time worth: $1.0B
• Primary source of income: CEO, Rivian Automotive

The gains in wealth come as the United States struggles to recover from a record 22 million jobs lost at the onset of the pandemic. According to the most recent monthly jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor, nearly half of those jobs remain gone.

Economists fear the job market will face even more pressure if Congress fails to agree on another economic rescue package and should coronavirus cases resurge during the winter months.

The gains in wealth were not limited to billionaires in our state.

The total net worth of 643 of the nation's richest people increased from $2.95 trillion to $3.8 trillion between March 18 and Sept. 15, according to an analysis of Forbes data by The Institute for Policy Studies, a left-leaning think tank, and Americans for Tax Fairness.

The numbers represent a 29 percent increase from the approximate date at coronavirus lockdowns started and financial markets plummeted.

Jeff Bezos undoubtedly had the biggest year. Bezos, the chief executive of online retailer Amazon, saw his wealth spike from $73.2 billion to $113 billion. Amazon shares gained 40 percent this year, according to a Business Insider report, as the company accumulated billions in online orders from consumers confined to their homes.

Elon Musk, founder and CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla, is a close second. His wealth rose by $67.4 billion, or 274 percent.

The stock market and rock-bottom interest rates play the largest role in why these billionaires are seeing their wealth spike.

While the stock market saw a sharp drop in March, the S&P 500 rose by 34 percent in the following six months. This not only reversed losses but caused some of the country's wealthiest to rake in billions of additional dollars.