Total billionaire wealth rose 12.8% to a record $15.1 trillion in 2025. Altrata’s Billionaire Census 2026 finds that among the 150 listed companies contributing most to billionaire wealth, those with meaningful AI investment outperformed peers by 23% in market capitalization growth over 2024-25.
NEW YORK, Aug. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Today Altrata, a leader in intelligence on the wealthy and well-connected, releases the Billionaire Census 2026, the 13th edition of its flagship annual analysis examining trends among the global billionaire population.
The report finds that amid complex geopolitics, volatile capital markets, and rapid technological disruption – most notably in artificial intelligence – the world’s billionaire population surged to an all-time high in 2025. Another year of dynamic wealth gains lifted the collective net worth of the world’s wealthiest individuals to $15.1 trillion, with the AI investment boom emerging as a major driving force behind that growth.
Key findings from the Billionaire Census 2026
The global billionaire population reached an all-time high in 2025. The population grew 8.2% year over year to 3,795 individuals, the strongest annual expansion in five years, capping a decade in which the billionaire class has grown by almost 60%. Total billionaire wealth grew by 12.8% to a record $15.1 trillion, equal to nearly a quarter of the total market capitalization of the S&P 500 in 2025.AI investment reshaped the fortunes of the world’s tech-focused billionaires. Of the 150 listed companies globally that contribute the most to billionaire wealth, those that made meaningful AI investments saw their market valuations climb 23% faster compared with those that did not over the combined 2024-25 period, fueling a new wave of billionaire wealth growth.Wealth is concentrating sharply at the very top of the billionaire class. The world’s 29 ‘superbillionaires’ (those with fortunes above $50 billion) now account for 27.2% of all billionaire wealth, nearly four times their 7.2% share in 2017.Sports team ownership is an increasingly popular billionaire portfolio asset. Sport remains the single most popular interest among the world’s billionaires, and more than 200 of them, just over 5%, now hold a direct stake in a sports team or franchise, reflecting a growing overlap between personal passion and strategic investment.A historic wealth transfer is underway. Over the next decade, $6.6 trillion in billionaire wealth will be passed on, with almost 5,000 direct heirs (spouses and adult children) expected to receive a sizable share. Women will account for a significant share of these beneficiaries, including 90% of spouses.
AI and the making of a new billionaire class
The AI investment boom has been one of the most important drivers of global billionaire wealth creation since 2023, and its influence became even more pronounced through 2025 and the first half of 2026. Record private investment, public listings, and soaring valuations of AI-focused businesses have created an entirely new wave of billionaires, with fortunes emerging from foundation models, cloud applications, robotics, and cybersecurity. In addition, because billionaire wealth is typically concentrated in company equity, the founders and major shareholders of the world’s leading tech-focused companies have been significant beneficiaries of this rise, translating directly into substantial gains in personal net worth.
This dynamic has pushed wealth concentration to new extremes at the very top of the billionaire class. The world’s 29 superbillionaires, each with a fortune above $50 billion, controlled more than 27% of all billionaire wealth in 2025, up from a 7.2% share in 2017, when only 10 billionaires held fortunes of that size. A new milestone was reached in mid-2026, when Elon Musk briefly became the world’s first trillionaire following the public listing of SpaceX. Sharp fluctuations in AI-exposed tech stocks, and by extension in individual billionaire wealth, are expected to remain a feature of global markets in the coming years.
A globally mobile population, with sharp contrasts by city
Billionaires are a globally mobile and multijurisdictional class. One in five was born outside the country where they now live, with wide variation by city. Some 60% of billionaires in London are foreign born, one of the highest shares of any major global city, compared with 19% in New York and 41% in San Francisco. Singapore and Hong Kong also stand out for their high share of foreign-born billionaires, while the large billionaire countries of China, Germany, and India have far lower shares of foreign-born wealthy, reflecting deep domestic and family-owned business roots.
A billionaire class shaping the next decade of wealth, luxury, and giving
Billionaire wealth is already shaping private wealth management, luxury markets, and philanthropy, and the next decade will bring even bigger shifts. Collectively, this population is driving:
A historic wealth transfer. Almost 5,000 direct heirs (spouses and adult children), among others, are set to inherit billionaire wealth over the next decade, with women accounting for a significant share, including 90% of spousal heirs. As heiresses come into this wealth, firms that build relationships with both today’s billionaires and tomorrow’s heirs will be best positioned for the next decade of private wealth management.Sustained growth in the value of passion assets. The value of billionaire holdings in fine art, sports teams, luxury cars, yachts, private jets, watches and jewelry grew by an average of 13.3% annually per billionaire over the past decade, a trend reflected in the growing world of sports investment among the ultra wealthy, where more than 200 billionaires now hold a direct stake in a sports team or franchise.A deep and enduring commitment to philanthropy. Philanthropy stands alongside sport as the top-two most popular interests among the world’s billionaires. Among this group and the ultra wealthy, women tend to be more engaged in the not-for-profit sector than their male counterparts, a pattern that will shape giving as more wealth shifts toward female heirs over the next decade.
“This year’s Billionaire Census shows a billionaire class being reshaped by AI at a pace we haven’t seen before, but the story doesn’t end there,” said Paul Sutton, Vice President of Sales at Altrata. “Wealth is concentrating faster at the very top. A new generation of heirs and heiresses is preparing to inherit vast sums of wealth, with new spending habits and philanthropic priorities that are important to them. Understanding this population has never been more critical, or more complex, for the organizations that serve and target them.”
Altrata’s Billionaire Census 2026 and the data that underpin its findings continue to be essential for wealth managers, luxury brands, private banks, family office advisors, philanthropic organizations, and educational institutions seeking to engage the world’s wealthiest individuals.
Access the complete findings now.
About Altrata
Altrata is a definitive leader in global wealth intelligence, professional relationship mapping, and affluent market dynamics, built on more than 35 years of experience operating as BoardEx, Wealth-X, RelSci, and WealthEngine. Our global dataset includes millions of profiles on wealthy, well-connected decision-makers, board members, and C-suite leaders. Unparalleled data quality and enhanced insights help clients move beyond surface-level information to the details that capture and hold customer attention. Leading financial services, commercial, philanthropic, and educational organizations rely on Altrata’s actionable, accurate, and comprehensive data—maintained by a global team of in-house researchers—to drive growth and deliver the right insight at the right time.
Altrata is a registered trademark of Delinian Limited and its affiliated companies.
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SOURCE Altrata Limited
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