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.

Elon Musk recorded the largest absolute increase in wealth, adding $190.3bn during the year. His total net worth now stands at $622.7bn, making him by far the richest individual in the world.

Larry Ellison gained $57.7bn, taking his net worth to $249.8bn, while continued demand for cloud computing and AI-driven infrastructure boosted technology valuations across the sector.

Meanwhile, Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart nearly tripled her fortune, rising from $12.6bn to $37.7bn, driven largely by her exposure to rare-earth metals, which have benefited from global supply chain reshoring and green-energy demand.

A small number of billionaires saw their wealth fall during the year. Among the most notable was Manuel Villar, whose net worth declined by $12.6bn after shares in his property development company, Golden MV Holdings, plunged by 80% following the end of a six-month trading suspension.

Villar’s fortune now stands at around $10bn, according to Bloomberg’s data.

The scale of the wealth gains has reignited debate over global inequality. Oxfam said the $2.2tn added to the fortunes of the world’s richest 500 individuals would have been sufficient to lift 3.8 billion people out of poverty.

“Inequality is a deliberate policy choice,” said Amitabh Behar, Oxfam’s international executive director. “Despite record wealth at the top, public wealth is stagnating or declining, and debt distress is growing across the world.”

As markets head into 2026, analysts say the outlook for billionaire wealth will continue to be shaped by interest rate policy, geopolitical risk and the trajectory of AI-led growth — with further gains likely if financial markets remain buoyant.