The most profitable year in history! This year, the world’s 500 richest people gained $2.2 trillion in wealth.

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2025 became a record-breaking year for the world’s super-rich. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the total wealth of the 500 richest people in the world increased by $2.2 trillion this year, bringing their combined net worth to a historic high of $11.9 trillion. The boom in various markets such as stocks and precious metals jointly fueled this growth.

Tech giants dominated this round of wealth growth. Driven by the AI boom, large US tech stocks continued to rally, and just eight billionaires contributed about a quarter of the year’s total wealth increase. Tech leaders such as Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Alphabet co-founder Larry Page, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos led the gains.

Wealth growth accelerated significantly after Trump won the election at the end of 2024, with only a brief setback in April when markets plunged over tariff concerns—the largest single-day loss of wealth since the pandemic. This historic surge reflects the strong performance of global capital markets under the dual drivers of policy expectations and technological innovation, providing investors with rare opportunities for wealth creation.

Tech Stocks Lead Wealth Frenzy

The AI boom continued to power major US tech stocks, serving as the engine behind this year’s wealth growth. However, while eight top tech billionaires contributed about a quarter of total growth, this share was down significantly from last year’s 43%, showing that sources of wealth growth are diversifying.

Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison saw the biggest gains with an annual increase of $57.7 billion, bringing his net worth to $249.8 billion. The 81-year-old company co-founder took on more daily management duties, leading Oracle’s major push into artificial intelligence infrastructure. On September 10, after Oracle reported strong quarterly results linked to its AI expansion plans, Ellison’s net worth surged by $89 billion in a single day, the largest single-day increase ever recorded by Bloomberg’s wealth index. He briefly overtook Musk to become the world’s richest person in September, though Oracle’s stock later fell about 40% from its peak.

Musk’s fortune increased by $190.3 billion this year, with a net worth reaching $622.7 billion. As the largest donor of the 2024 election cycle, he spent most of the spring in Washington leading a government efficiency department to cut funding and staff from federal agencies. During this period, Tesla’s stock was hit, partly due to consumer boycotts related to his political activity. But after publicly splitting with Trump and leaving the White House, Musk’s net worth rebounded. SpaceX’s recent internal equity sale made it the world’s most valuable private company, pushing his wealth above $600 billion for the first time.

Commodities & Non-US Markets’ “Year of Revelry”

The wealth surge wasn’t limited to US markets. Up to December 30, the S&P 500 rose 17% for the year, but was outpaced by the UK’s FTSE 100, which rose 22%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, which rose 29%.

Commodity markets performed even better. Fueled by inflows of safe-haven capital, precious metals recorded one of their best years in decades. Copper and rare earths became resources of critical geopolitical importance. Australian mining tycoon Gina Rinehart benefited from global attention on key rare earth mineral supplies, increasing her wealth by $12.6 billion to $37.7 billion. Through her privately held Hancock Prospecting, Rinehart accumulated the largest rare earth asset portfolio outside China, holding a crucial position in the geopolitical competition for tech-essential materials from semiconductors to electric vehicles.

Major commodity holders such as Chile’s Luksic family also gained billions from this trend.

The Trump Family’s Wealth Climbs

The Trump family’s fortune increased by $282 million to $6.8 billion this year. Since launching his re-election campaign, the Trump family has conducted a dizzying array of deals, boosting its wealth on a scale unprecedented in modern presidential history. In the past 15 months, the family’s wealth grew about 70%.

On the eve of the second inauguration, Trump and wife Melania launched meme tokens named after themselves. The tokens soared and then plunged in value, but still added more than $200 million to family wealth. Weeks before the 2024 election, Trump co-founded the crypto platform World Liberty Financial with his sons. Afterwards, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump invested in several crypto projects, including digital currency miner American Bitcoin.

One of Trump’s major assets—his stake in Trump Media—jumped in value after a December merger announcement with fusion company TAE Technologies, although it’s still down over 70% from its January peak.

Some Billionaires Faced Setbacks

Not all billionaires benefited from this year’s market boom. Former Philippine richest man Manuel Villar saw his fortune shrink by $12.6 billion to $10 billion. In November, after a six-month trading suspension ended, his real estate developer Golden MV Holdings plunged over 80%, wiping out more than $18 billion in days. The suspension stemmed from failure to file financial reports, after disclosing the acquisition of land from Villar for $93 million, which was later revalued at over $2.3 billion.

Venture Global’s co-founders Bob Pender and Mike Sabel each lost $17.7 billion, with their net worth falling to $7 billion. The company’s IPO in January was originally seen as the start of a blockbuster year, but ultimately disappointed. Weak demand forced a smaller offering, and the share price later crashed more than 70%.

Turbulence in the crypto market also hit some billionaires hard. Michael Saylor’s company, Strategy, suffered a sharp blow after Bitcoin hit new highs in early October; the slide in Bitcoin’s value caused Strategy’s share price to drop by more than half, cutting Saylor’s net worth from its high by nearly $6 billion and losing $2.6 billion for the year to $3.8 billion. Other crypto billionaires like the Winklevoss twins and Changpeng Zhao also saw their fortunes impacted.

Risk Warning and DisclaimerMarkets are risky; investments require caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account individual users’ unique investment goals, financial situations, or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions herein apply to their specific circumstances. Investing based on this content is at your own risk. ```