View of the Golden Gate Bridge from Marin County<\/p>\n
Vicki Jauron, Babylon And Beyond Photography | Moment | Getty Images<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0Sign up<\/a>\u00a0to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>. <\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n The report identified 29 “superbillionaires” \u2014 individuals worth more than $50 billion \u2014 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. <\/p>\n While the rise in tech stocks has created historic fortunes, wealth built on AI-exposed tech stocks can be volatile, Imberg said. <\/p>\n “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. <\/p>\n This year has seen wild swings in the stock market, including a $1.3 trillion selloff<\/a> 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<\/a> for Elon Musk and $50 billion week-long plunge<\/a> for Larry Ellison, according to Forbes.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n Get Inside Wealth directly to your inbox<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n