The world’s richest individuals accumulated a record $2.2 trillion (£1.7 trillion) in additional wealth during 2025, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with just eight billionaires accounting for around a quarter of the gains.
The surge pushed the combined net worth of the world’s 500 wealthiest people to $11.9 trillion, fuelled by booming equity markets, a rally in cryptocurrencies and metals, and renewed investor optimism following Donald Trump’s election victory in 2024.
While wealth creation was broad-based among the ultra-rich, gains remained heavily concentrated at the very top. Eight billionaires, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison and Larry Page, accounted for roughly 25% of total gains among the richest 500.
That figure represents a slight dilution compared with 2024, when the same group captured 43% of overall net worth growth, suggesting wealth gains are spreading marginally wider — though still remaining highly concentrated.
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