Global billionaire count hits record 3,302 as fortunes surge
Billionaires reached a record 3,302 as UBS said their fortunes surged, even while median wealth slipped in most markets.
The world’s billionaire club swelled to a record 3,302 people, and billionaire wealth rose 25% in the year to April 2026, outpacing the broader rise in global wealth and widening the gap between asset owners and everyone else.
UBS’s Global Wealth Report, released June 30, shows global personal wealth rose 10.8% in 2025 to about $517 trillion, the fastest pace since 2017. The bank counted nearly one million new dollar millionaires during the year, including more than 440,000 in the United States, and said global personal wealth remained more than half concentrated in the United States and mainland China combined. At the very top, UBS identified 18 people with fortunes between $50 billion and $100 billion and another 19 above $100 billion, 15 of them based in the United States.
The wealth gains were uneven. Growth was strongest in Europe, the Middle East and Africa at 17.5%, followed by the Americas at 8.5%, while Asia-Pacific was held back by currency moves and a weaker U.S. dollar. Adults in North America remained the wealthiest on average, at $660,000 per adult, and Switzerland again ranked first globally at $910,382 per adult. Median wealth fell in most markets.
UBS economist James Mazeau said rising equity markets were feeding directly into wealth growth in countries with high stock-market participation, a pattern that favored households already exposed to stocks, property and other financial assets. The share of adults with less than $10,000 in wealth fell from almost 75% in 2000 to just over 41% in 2025.
A separate UBS billionaire report published in December 2025 put global billionaire wealth at a record $15.8 trillion, up 13% in 12 months, driven by 196 self-made billionaires. It also said 91 people became billionaires through inheritance in 2025, receiving $297.8 billion collectively.
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