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A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. The ranks of the world's billionaires hit a record 3,795 people in 2025 as the artificial intelligence boom turbocharged wealth creation across the globe, according to a recent report published by Altrata. That finding marks an 8.2% uptick in billionaire headcount, the largest annual jump in five years, per the wealth intelligence firm. The combined wealth of the world's billionaires surged by 12.8% to a record $15.1 trillion last year, it found. Altrata identified 150 publicly listed companies that contributed the most to billionaire wealth. Firms that invested at least $30 million in AI over the past five years outperformed those that did not by 23% in market capitalization growth from 2024 through 2025, Altrata said. Wall Street's AI fervor also contributed to the widening wealth gap in the three-comma club, according to Maya Imberg, head of thought leadership and analytics at Altrata. The report identified 29 "superbillionaires" — individuals worth more than $50 billion — with a combined net worth of $4.1 trillion, or 27% of all billionaire wealth. In 2017, per the firm's estimate, there were only 10 superbillonaires, who represented 7.2% of all billionaire wealth. While the rise in tech stocks has created historic fortunes, wealth built on AI-exposed tech stocks can be volatile, Imberg said. "We expect the fortunes of many of the richest billionaires, those whose companies are tech-focused, to go up and down in response to the AI story," she said via email. This year has seen wild swings in the stock market, including a $1.3 trillion selloff in major chip stocks in July. For the richest of the rich, this translates into staggering and rapid gains and losses in paper wealth, such as an $18 billion one-day drop for Elon Musk and $50 billion week-long plunge for Larry Ellison, according to Forbes. "Market concentration doesn't necessarily mean it's a bubble. But there's certainly risk when exposure is concentrated within one main sector (tech), and to AI within that," Imberg said. The billionaire population of North America, the largest in the world at 1,337 people, grew by 11.6% in 2025, a faster rate than any other region, according to Altrata. Imberg credited part of this rapid growth to the U.S.'s dominance in private and public tech markets. Europe's billionaire ranks stands at 1,081 people after a 7.9% jump last year. Asia's billionaire population reached 881 after a 6.5% increase. While AI enthusiasm was a major boon to billionaire wealth, the report noted that 2025 was an unusually fortuitous year in many respects. All major asset classes tracked by Altrata delivered positive returns in 2025, a first since the pandemic, despite the turbulence of U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war.
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