2900+! The world has more billionaires than ever

A stunning surge in tech fortunes, crypto comebacks, and the fastest wave of inheritance in decades has pushed the global billionaire club to its largest

size ever. According to the 2025 UBS Billionaire Ambitions Report:

• 2,900 billionaires now walk the planet — up from ~2,700 last year
• Their combined wealth: $15.8 trillion — a jump of nearly $2 trillion in just 12 months
• 287 new billionaires were created in the past year — the second-highest annual influx since UBS began tracking in 2015 (only 2021 was bigger)

“This acceleration is coming from everywhere — entrepreneurship, markets, and now inheritance,” said John Mathews, head of ultra-high-net-worth wealth management for UBS in the US, said a WSJ report.

What Drove the Boom?

1. Tech & AI Mania
   AI-driven valuations and the crypto rebound minted dozens of new fortunes.
2. Stock Markets Refused to Stay Down
   Despite a sharp dip after President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement in early April 2025, equities roared back, lifting private and public holdings alike.
3. The Great Wealth Transfer Is Finally Here
   91 people inherited billionaire status in 2025 — the biggest single-year inheritance wave on record. Notable newcomers include 15 heirs from two German pharmaceutical dynasties. Mathews calls it “the second inning of a nine-inning game.” Most wealth is still moving first to surviving spouses (predominantly wives) before reaching the next generation.

Fresh Faces on the ListAmong the 196 self-made newcomers:

• Ben Lamm – Colossal Biosciences (bringing back the woolly mammoth)
• Michael Dorrell – Stonepeak Partners (infrastructure mega-fund)
• Zhang brothers – Mixue Ice Cream & Tea (China’s bubble-tea empire)
• Justin Sun – TRON cryptocurrency founder

Where the Billionaires Live (Table → List)

1. United States

• 
  Billionaires: ~900–924
• 
  Total Wealth: ~$6–7 trillion

2. China

• 
  Billionaires: ~470
• 
  Total Wealth: ~$1.8 trillion

3. Germany (big gainer)

• 
  Billionaires: 156
• 
  Total Wealth: $692 billion

(Altrata, another wealth tracker, puts the global total even higher at 3,508 — methodological differences explain the gap.)


Billionaires Are Starting to Look Elsewhere

For the first time in years, North America is losing its shine as the #1 short-term investment destination:

• Only 63% of surveyed billionaires now pick the US /Canada as the best bet (down from 81% last year)
• Western Europe, Greater China, and the rest of Asia-Pacific all gained favor

Their biggest worries for 2026?

• Asian billionaires: US tariffs
• American billionaires: persistent inflation and geopolitics

In a single year, the world added more than a quarter-trillion dollars in new billionaire wealth from inheritance alone — and the transfer has barely begun. As John Mathews put it: “We’ve been talking about the great wealth transfer for over a decade. Now you’re finally seeing it come to life.”