AI drove a record billionaire wealth surge, but the peak may be behind us

Artificial intelligence has been very, very good to the people who already owned a lot of stock. The AI investment boom of 2025 and 2026 pushed the global billionaire population to a record 3,795, with collective net worth hitting $15.1 trillion. The twist: Bloomberg reports that the peak of this wealth surge has likely been reached. The numbers behind the AI money machine The billionaire headcount rose 8.2% year over year in 2025. Their combined fortunes grew even faster, climbing 12.8%. The engine was equity. Billionaires holding large stakes in firms building foundation models, AI infrastructure, and AI applications saw those holdings swell. Companies with AI exposure posted valuation gains that ran 23% faster than their non-AI peers across 2024 and 2025. Nvidia and Alphabet stood among the biggest beneficiaries. The surge was fueled on two fronts: private investment pouring into AI startups and public market investors bidding up anything tied to the technology. The startup side minted fresh fortunes at speed. More than 50 new billionaires emerged in 2025 from stakes in AI-focused companies, with Anthropic among the notable sources. The names at the top of the leaderboard Elon M...