So while most people are juggling bills, rent, and rising prices, the richest 500 just stacked another $2.2 trillion like it was Monopoly money. Big Tech is printing fortunes off AI hype, markets bouncing, and a Trump win just supercharged the ride.
Tariffs are creating GREAT WEALTH, and unprecedented National Security for the USA! 🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/WrxER8n36n
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 27, 2025
Billionaires added record $2.2 TRILLION in personal wealth in 2025
Obscene greed! While billions of people live in poverty
It's why we need a global wealth tax https://t.co/QOVIZekAC6
— Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) January 1, 2026
The world’s 500 richest people added a record $2.2 trillion to their collective fortunes this year, as booming markets in everything from equities to cryptocurrencies to precious metals sent the value of their holdings soaring, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The gains, which brought their combined net worth to $11.9 trillion, were turbocharged by Donald Trump’s election victory in late 2024, and were only briefly derailed by tariff fears in April, when plunging markets caused the biggest one-day wealth wipeout since the pandemic.
Big Tech led the charge as artificial-intelligence euphoria continued to bolster US mega-cap stocks. About a quarter of all the gains recorded by Bloomberg’s wealth index came from just eight individuals, including Oracle Corp. Chairman Larry Ellison, Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, Alphabet Inc. co-founder Larry Page and Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos.
Notably, though, that represented a smaller contribution than last year, when the same eight billionaires made up 43 per cent of the total gains, the report by Bloomberg News stated.
https://www.arise.tv/worlds-richest-billionaires-add-record-2-2-trillion-to-wealth-in-2025/