The world’s 10 richest people are worth more than Amazon after another banner year for billionaires.
The group’s combined wealth rose by $579 billion in 2025 to surpass $2.5 trillion, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows. Amazon, one of the world’s largest companies with more than 1.5 million employees and over $600 billion in annual net sales, has a market capitalization just below that amount.
Last year’s biggest wealth gainer was Elon Musk. He cemented his status as the richest person on the planet with a $187 billion increase in net worth to $619 billion, the wealth ranking shows.
His fortune surged because the value of his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX jumped: The EV maker’s stock rose 11% last year, while the private aerospace company’s valuation leaped from $350 billion to $800 billion.
The next-biggest wealth gainers last year were Alphabet cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who added $101 billion and $92 billion to their respective fortunes.
The “Google Guys” rose from sixth and eighth on the rich list to second and fourth place respectively, with net worths of $269 billion and $250 billion each at the end of December.
Their wealth surge was fueled by a 65% jump in shares of Google’s parent company last year, reflecting fresh excitement about the search-and-advertising giant’s AI efforts.
Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison notched a $55 billion wealth gain last year, but fell from fourth to fifth on the rich list. That’s a big change from September, when Oracle stock popped 40% in one day on the back of a bullish growth forecast, briefly making Ellison richer than Musk and up $200 billion for the year at that point. But investors tempered their expectations last quarter, paring the stock’s yearly performance.
A recalculation saw Bill Gates register the biggest wealth decline of anyone in the world last year, and crash from seventh to 16th place. The Microsoft cofounder published fresh details about his charitable giving, prompting Bloomberg to reestimate his net worth.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg grew $26 billion richer in 2025, but slipped from third to sixth place on the rich list as Page, Brin, and Ellison leapfrogged him.
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer climbed from ninth to eighth place thanks to a $22 billion gain. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos slid from second to third despite a $15 billion wealth increase, as Page pulled ahead of him.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang gained $40 billion last year, propelling him from 12th to ninth on the list. Warren Buffett remained in 10th place with a roughly $9 billion wealth increase during his final year as Berkshire Hathaway CEO.
$100 billion club
The total number of “centibillionaires” — individuals with at least a $100 billion net worth — stayed the same at 18, and none of the names on the list changed over the 12-month period.
As a group, the centibillionaires grew $708 billion richer in 2025, a figure that exceeds Visa’s market capitalization of $677 billion. Their combined wealth hit nearly $3.6 trillion as a result, meaning these 18 people are worth about as much as Microsoft.
It’s worth underscoring how concentrated the wealth is within the $100 billion club. Musk alone accounted for 17% of their combined fortunes and 26% of their total gain this year.
The world’s richest people continued to rack up wealth last year by owning large pieces of massive AI companies. Their fortunes soared because investors scrambled to buy stocks such as Alphabet, Oracle, and Nvidia after they announced buzzy partnerships, massive contracts, and sky-high growth forecasts.
Market watchers are split over whether the AI boom is a bubble primed to burst, or a tech revolution in its nascent stages. In recent months, investors Ross Gerber and Kevin O’Leary have told Business Insider that AI is a true game changer, while economist Gary Shilling, professor Erik Gordon, and strategist Paul Dietrich have warned the hype is fueling dangerous amounts of speculation.
