The number of billionaires passed 3,000 for the first time in 2025 and has climbed to more than 3,400 this year.
The $100 billion club had a record 20 members while five had more than $200 billion – Elon Musk, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg – with Musk’s wealth hitting $839 billion.
This year’s 3,428 billionaires had a collective fortune of $20.1 trillion, or $5.9 billion each.
This is in contrast to 2013, when average billionaire wealth stood at just $3.8 billion.
While billionaires form the tip of global wealth inequality, they themselves exhibit an unequal distribution of wealth, with the above-mentioned 20 centibillionaires worth $3.8 trillon combined, which is more than the “bottom” 2,000 billionaires on the list own collectively.
justice for the bottom billionaires!
But are they happy?
Can they wander down the pub for a beer with their mates, doubt it!
I think not, AnotherDavid, all their bodyguards would get in the way.