The world's 500 wealthiest individuals saw their collective wealth increase by a record $2.2 trillion in 2025, reaching a total net worth of $11.9 trillion. This surge was driven by booming markets across sectors, including stocks, cryptocurrencies, and precious metals. Tech giants were at the forefront, with the ongoing enthusiasm for artificial intelligence boosting large-cap US stocks. Notably, eight individuals, including Oracle's Larry Ellison, Tesla's Elon Musk, Alphabet's Larry Page, and Amazon's Jeff Bezos, contributed about a quarter of the wealth growth. This marks a decrease from last year, when these billionaires accounted for 43% of the total gains.