THE WORLD'S BILLIONAIRES

THE PLANET ADDED ROUGHLY ONE NEW BILLIONAIRE PER DAY OVER THE PAST YEAR, AS AI MANIA, SIZZLING MARKETS AND A PRO-BILLIONAIRE AMERICAN PRESIDENT HELPED PROPEL THE THREE-COMMA CLUB TO UNPRECEDENTED HEIGHTS.

- Luana Lopes Lara

THERE ARE NEW RECORDS THROUGHOUT: WE FOUND 3,428 BILLIONAIRES ACROSS THE GLOBE THIS YEAR—THE MOST EVER, AND 400 MORE THAN LAST YEAR. AS A GROUP, THEY’RE WORTH $20.1 TRILLION, ANOTHER RECORD, $4 TRILLION MORE THAN IN 2025. THE WORLD’S RICHEST PERSON IS THE RICHEST IN HISTORY, HAVING AMASSED MORE WEALTH IN A SINGLE YEAR THAN ANYONE ELSE HAS IN A LIFETIME. THERE’S THE YOUNGEST SELF-MADE BILLIONAIRE EVER (A 22-YEAR-OLD AI WHIZ) AND A NEW YOUNGEST SELF-MADE WOMAN BILLIONAIRE (A 29-YEAR-OLD FORMER BALLERINA TURNED PREDICTION MARKETS PIONEER). THE U.S. HAS THE MOST TEN-FIGURE (OR MORE) FORTUNES, WITH A RECORD 989, FOLLOWED BY CHINA (INCLUDING HONG KONG) WITH 610 AND INDIA WITH 229. THE AVERAGE BILLIONAIRE’S NET WORTH IS NOW $5.8 BILLION, UP FROM $5.3 BILLION IN 2025. FORBES USED STOCK PRICES AND EXCHANGE RATES FROM MARCH 1. A record 20 people now boast dozen-digit fortunes, up from 15 last year. Five of them, up from three, are worth more than $200 billion. In all, these 20 centibillionaires are worth $3.8 trillion—more than the world’s 2,082 “poorest” billionaires combined.

1. ELON MUSK
$839 bil | • Tesla, SpaceX • U.S.
The richest person in history may have failed to contain government waste as America’s short-lived DOGE chief, but he has managed to make his wallet a lot fatter over the past year. Musk raced through a series of net worth milestones—hitting $500 billion in October, $600 billion and then $700 billion within four days in December, before peaking at $857 billion in February. Tesla stock soared 53% over the past year, and he merged SpaceX with his AI and social media outfit xAI at a $1.3 trillion valuation. In all, he added an unprecedented $497 billion to his fortune in 12 months. With plans to take SpaceX public later this year, Musk could well become the world’s first trillionaire.

2. LARRY PAGE
$257 bil | • Google • U.S.
3. SERGEY BRIN