The world’s richest people amassed a record $2.2 trillion (£1.7 trillion) in additional wealth in 2025, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with just eight billionaires accounting for around a quarter of the gains.
The surge pushed the combined wealth of the world’s 500 richest people to $11.9 trillion, driven by booming stock markets, a rally in cryptocurrencies and metals and renewed investor optimism following Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory.
While wealth creation among the super-rich was broad-based, gains remained heavily concentrated at the top. Eight billionaires, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison and Larry Page, accounted for around 25% of the total profits of the 500 richest.
This figure represents a slight dilution compared to 2024, when the same group achieved 43% of total net wealth growth, suggesting that wealth gains are spreading slightly more widely – although still highly concentrated.
Elon Musk had the largest absolute wealth gain, gaining $190.3 billion over the year. His total net worth currently stands at $622.7 billion, making him by far the richest person in the world.
Larry Ellison gained $57.7 billion, taking his net worth to $249.8 billion, as continued demand for cloud computing and AI-driven infrastructure drove up technology valuations across the industry.
Meanwhile, Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has almost tripled her fortune from $12.6 billion to $37.7 billion, largely due to her exposure to rare earth metals, which have benefited from global supply chain shifts and demand for green energy.
A small number of billionaires saw their wealth decline over the year. Among the most notable was Manuel Villar, whose net worth fell by $12.6 billion after shares of his real estate development company Golden MV Holdings plunged 80% following the end of a six-month trading suspension.
According to Bloomberg data, Villar’s net worth currently stands at around $10 billion.
The scale of wealth increases has reignited the debate about global inequality. Oxfam said the $2.2 trillion that increased the wealth of the world’s 500 richest people was enough to lift 3.8 billion people out of poverty.
“Inequality is a conscious political choice,” said Amitabh Behar, Oxfam’s international executive director. “Despite record wealth at the top, public wealth is stagnating or declining and the debt crisis is worsening worldwide.”
As markets move toward 2026, analysts say the outlook for billionaire wealth will continue to be shaped by interest rate policy, geopolitical risks and the trajectory of AI-driven growth – with further gains likely if financial markets remain buoyant.
