Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Oracle’s Larry Ellison had the highest, each adding $9 billion to their net worth.

Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang followed with $5.4 billion, while Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin gained $4.5 billion and $4.3 billion respectively.

The windfall results from the deepening concentration of wealth and influence among Silicon Valley’s most powerful figures. 

These are not fleeting market blips, the growth is tied to the technologies reshaping everything from global communications to financial systems.

Zuckerberg, now the third-richest person in the world with $267.7 billion, controls about 13% of Meta. The company’s stock has risen 40% since April 2025, driven by AI-powered advertising and smart glasses. 

Back in 2015, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, pledged to donate 99% of their Meta shares over their lifetimes, one of the most noteworthy philanthropic promises of the modern era.

Just ahead of him in the global rankings is Ellison, whose $298.3 billion fortune places him second only to Elon Musk. The Oracle co-founder stepped down as CEO in 2014 but still drives the company’s strategic acquisitions. He lives permanently on the Hawaiian island of Lanai, which he purchased almost entirely for $300 million in 2012.

Huang’s rise is perhaps the most emblematic of the AI era. Nvidia, once a graphics card specialist, now dominates AI hardware. In Q1 2026, its data centre division alone generated $39 billion, 89% of its revenue, with forecasts pointing to $200 billion for the fiscal year. 

Under Huang’s leadership, Nvidia’s valuation topped $3 trillion in 2024. His net worth now stands at $156.6 billion.

Page and Brin, despite stepping back from Google’s daily operations in 2019, remain among the most influential figures in tech. Their stakes in Alphabet keep their fortunes at $160.3 billion and $153 billion respectively, built on the algorithms they pioneered more than two decades ago.

As of August 2025, eight of the world’s ten wealthiest people are tech leaders, including Musk, Ellison, Zuckerberg, Page, Brin, Huang, Steve Ballmer, and Jeff Bezos. 

Their combined wealth stands at $2.1 trillion, up $100 billion since July. In total, 450 tech billionaires control an estimated $5.2 trillion, representing nearly one-third of all billionaire wealth.

The ongoing AI boom is creating new billionaires in semiconductors, cloud platforms, and generative AI startups like Anthropic and CoreWeave. Yet the same trend is intensifying debates over monopolies, digital inequality, and the vast control a handful of companies wield over critical infrastructure.

As an analyst stated, “This isn’t just a story about money, it’s a story about who owns the future.”

Announced by the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, this expansion targets the development of Nigeria’s technical workforce, ensuring the nation becomes a huge source of tech talent.

Dr Tijani shared the announcement via social media platform X, encouraging both new and returning participants to engage with the learning resources available. 

Those already in the programme can access their training dashboards for foundational courses and assessments, while applications remain open to new entrants via the website.

The 3MTT programme has been structured in multiple phases to methodically scale Nigeria’s tech talent pool. Cohort 1, launched in the programme’s early phase, trained 30,000 individuals, followed by the second cohort in March, which enrolled 270,000 participants. 

The addition of 90,000 fellows to 3MTT cohort 3 kicks off further progress towards the goal of training three million Nigerians in marketable tech skills.

Reflecting on the success of previous cohorts, Tijani noted that many first-cohort participants have already gained placements as interns nationwide. 

Beyond on-the-job experience, these fellows are actively participating in hackathons, enabling them to apply their skills to real-world projects and showcase their abilities in building practical tech solutions.

The 3MTT initiative aligns closely with the government’s Renewed Hope agenda, which seeks to strengthen Nigeria’s digital economy and establish the country as a competitive exporter of tech talent. 

Participants are trained in a wide range of in-demand skills designed to boost productivity in roles that leverage digital tools, including Digital Marketing, Data Analysis, Project Management Software, Cloud Platforms, SEO, CRM Management, Accounting Software, Graphics Design, and UX/UI Design, among others.

The programme’s structure and curriculum were developed collaboratively, incorporating insights from government agencies, educational institutions, and industry partners. 

Through this support, the 3MTT initiative is providing individuals with the necessary skills and ensuring a solid talent pipeline that contributes to Nigeria’s economic transformation and competitive edge in the global tech industry.