The world's richest individuals will amass a record $2.2 trillion (£1.7 trillion) in additional wealth through 2025, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with just eight billionaires responsible for nearly a quarter of the gains.
The surge pushed the combined net worth of the world's 500 wealthiest people to $11.9 trillion, driven by booming equity markets, a rally in cryptocurrencies and metals and new investor optimism following Donald Trump's election victory in 2024.
While wealth creation was broad-based among the super-rich, gains remained heavily concentrated at the top. Eight billionaires, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison and Larry Page, among the richest 500 accounted for about 25% of total profits.
This figure represents a slight decline compared to 2024, when the same group achieved 43% of total net worth growth, suggesting that the wealth gains are a little more widely spread – though still highly concentrated.
Elon Musk's wealth recorded the largest absolute increase, adding $190.3 billion during the year. His net worth is now $622.7 billion, making him the richest person in the world ever.
Larry Ellison gained $57.7 billion, bringing his net worth to $249.8 billion, while continued demand for cloud computing and AI-powered infrastructure boosted technology valuations across the sector.
Meanwhile, Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart nearly tripled her fortune, rising from $12.6 billion to $37.7 billion, driven largely by her exposure to rare-earth metals, which has benefited from global supply chain realignment and green-energy demand.
A small number of billionaires saw their wealth decline during the year. Among the most notable was Manuel Villar, whose net worth dropped by $12.6 billion after shares in his property development company, Golden MV Holdings, plunged 80% following the end of a six-month trading suspension.
According to Bloomberg data, Villar is now worth about $10 billion.
The scale of wealth gains has reignited the debate over global inequality. Oxfam said $2.2 trillion added to the wealth of the world's richest 500 individuals would be enough to lift 3.8 billion people out of poverty.
“Inequality is a deliberate policy choice,” said Amitabh Behar, Oxfam's international executive director. “Despite record wealth at the top, public wealth is stagnating or declining, and debt crises are escalating around the world.”
As the market heads into 2026, analysts say the outlook for billionaires' wealth will continue to be shaped by interest rate policy, geopolitical risks and the trajectory of AI-led growth – with the potential for further gains if the financial market bullishness continues.
Amy Ingham
Amy is a newly qualified journalist specializing in business journalism with responsibility for news content at Business Matters, the UK's largest print and online source of current business news.