According to the latest UBS Global Wealth Report 2025 and accompanying calculations by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the combined wealth of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (people with a net worth of $100 million or more) exceeded $31 trillion for the first time in history.
Key figures for 2025:
Number of dollar billionaires in the world: 2,847 (+112 over the year)
Total wealth of all billionaires: $15.9 trillion (+18.4% over 2025)
Ultra-rich ($100 million+): approximately 234,000 people, worth $31.1 trillion,
Average growth in the wealth of the world’s 25 richest people: +27% over the year.
The top five richest people on the planet as of 31 December 2025 (Bloomberg estimate):
Elon Musk — $487 billion,
Mark Zuckerberg — $238 billion,
Jeff Bezos — $224 billion,
Larry Ellison — $198 billion,
Bernard Arnault and family — $179 billion.
Key drivers of record growth in 2025:
Explosive growth in technology stocks (especially AI);
A new rally in the cryptocurrency market (Bitcoin has repeatedly hit new all-time highs);
Unprecedented capital inflows into private markets and venture capital funds;
The continuing ‘winner-takes-all’ effect in the digital economy.
An interesting paradox of 2025: while the wealth of the 2,800 richest people grew by almost $2.5 trillion, the real disposable income of the middle class in most developed countries either stagnated or declined in real terms due to persistent inflation.
Experts are already calling 2025 ‘the most extreme year in the history of modern capitalism’ in terms of the concentration of wealth in the hands of a small group of people.