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AI boom makes billionaires richer, mostly in the West
30 Oct 2025

The current artificial intelligence (AI) boom is making billionaires richer across the globe. However, the trend is more pronounced in Western countries than in Asia.

This is mainly due to China's economic slowdown, which has affected wealth creation in the region.

The findings were revealed by wealth intelligence firm Altrata in its Billionaire Census 2025 report.

Technology sector dominates billionaire rankings
Wealth concentration

The Altrata report highlights that the technology sector dominates among the world's richest.

The AI boom has significantly boosted the portfolio valuations of several US-based billionaires, including Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Larry Page.

Notably, nine of the top 10 richest people in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index are from this industry.

Wealth concentration intensifies
Wealth disparity

The Altrata report also shows that wealth concentration has intensified over the years.

Just 26 people, each with over $50 billion in wealth, account for 21% of global billionaire wealth.

This 'super-billionaire' class has seen the most dynamic wealth generation in the last decade, highlighting a hyper-concentration of global wealth at its very top.

In comparison, those with a net worth above $50 billion held only 4% of global billionaire wealth in 2014.

US leads with 43% of global billionaire wealth
US dominance

The US leads in billionaire wealth, with Altrata estimating that it holds as much as 43% of the world's billionaire wealth.

The report states, "The cumulative wealth held by the country's richest individuals has soared in recent years, supported by a resilient US economy but driven primarily by the outperformance of US equity markets."

Notably, tech stocks have played a major role in this growth.

Asia's growth below average
European growth

Europe has also seen a significant increase in its billionaire population, surpassing the 1,000-mark for the first time in 2024.

However, Asia's growth has been below average, with only a 2.6% increase in its billionaire population.

This is mainly due to China's economic slowdown and uneven performance across other regional markets, as well as ongoing trade tensions.