The 500 richest people on Earth added a record $2.2 trillion to their net worth this year. That brought their total combined fortune to $11.9 trillion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The explosion in wealth came as stocks, crypto, and commodities all surged. This happened under President Donald Trump’s second term, kicked off by his election win in late 2024.
The only real pause came in April when tariff fears rattled markets. That caused the biggest one-day wealth loss since the COVID crash. But the selloff didn’t last. Big Tech stocks, pumped up by AI hype, powered back, and the wealth of the super-rich kept climbing.
AI stocks and Trump-linked gains dominate top billionaire growth
A huge share of the gains came from eight individuals, including Larry Ellison, Elon Musk, Larry Page, and Jeff Bezos. Their combined jump made up nearly 25% of the index’s increase, though that’s down from last year’s 43%.
Elon started the year as the clear front-runner. After dropping $300 million into Trump’s campaign, he took a lead role in Washington, heading up the Department of Government Efficiency.
That backfired at first, as Tesla shares sank while he slashed government budgets, but a comeback followed.
Elon left the capital after clashing with Trump, and his net worth hit $622.7 billion after SpaceX’s valuation soared and Tesla shareholders signed off on a new pay package. His 2025 gain totaled $190.3 billion.
Larry, meanwhile, had a massive year. He briefly became the world’s richest person in September after Oracle’s AI business sent its stock flying. His net worth hit $249.8 billion, up $57.7 billion.
He also backed his son David Ellison’s $108 billion bid to buy Warner Bros., and he’s still pushing Oracle’s $500 billion Stargate AI infrastructure plan and a deal for a stake in TikTok’s US operations.
Outside the US, Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest person, gained $12.6 billion this year. Her company, Hancock Prospecting, built the biggest rare-earth portfolio outside China. She also backed Trump Media and showed up at events at Mar-a-Lago.
Gina’s Trump-linked Truth Social stake jumped, and she boosted her position by two-thirds in just three months.
Crypto billionaires ride highs and crashes in brutal second half
Bitcoin of course shot up after Trump’s win, helped by new pro-crypto policies from the White House. But that didn’t last. In October, crypto tanked, and with it, the net worth of key names.
Michael Saylor, whose company Strategy basically invented the “crypto treasury” model, saw his net worth crash by $2.6 billion. Bitcoin’s slump halved Strategy’s stock price, wiping out most of its gains from earlier in the year.
Donald Trump and his family added $282 million to their wealth, taking their total to $6.8 billion. Trump promoted two memecoins with Melania before his inauguration. They surged, then crashed, but still left a $200 million boost on the books.
The family also launched World Liberty Financial, and Trump’s sons pushed into crypto mining through American Bitcoin Corp. Another bump came from Trump Media, which jumped in value after a nuclear fusion merger with TAE Technologies.
Even after falling over 70% from January highs, the asset added billions. A court also tossed Trump’s $464 million civil penalty, although the fraud ruling stuck.
Billionaire losers suffer heavy crashes in property, IPOs, and crypto
Not everyone won. Manuel Villar lost $12.6 billion, bringing his net worth down to $10 billion. His firm Golden MV Holdings collapsed after a six-month trading halt, tied to a shady land deal. Shares dropped more than 80% when trading resumed. Villar also ditched his stake in PrimeWater, which had been under government investigation.
Bob Pender and Mike Sabel, founders of Venture Global, each lost $17.7 billion. Their company had a highly anticipated IPO in January, but weak demand forced a cut in share volume. Then came bad earnings and a lost court fight with BP Plc. Shares are now down more than 70%.
China’s Wang Xing watched his net worth fall $3.5 billion, ending at $7.9 billion. His firm Meituan, despite a good year for Chinese stocks overall, took a beating. The company reported its first net loss in years in November.
Domestic demand weakened, and rivals JD.com and Alibaba didn’t help. Meituan tried to grow abroad, launching in Brazil and the Middle East, but it wasn’t enough to stop the bleed.
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