This year, only tech billionaires are making money: the AI boom drives a $845 billion surge in net worth, with Elon Musk alone accounting for nearly 40%.

The artificial intelligence boom is reshaping the global wealth landscape at an unprecedented pace.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, around 100 technology industry billionaires among the world’s 500 richest people increased their combined wealth by $845 billion in the first nine months of this year, reaching a record high for the period. In contrast, the combined wealth of non-tech billionaires shrank by $62 billion during the same period.

This wealth extravaganza is highly concentrated at the top. Elon Musk alone added $310 billion to his fortune in the first nine months—accounting for about 40% of the index’s total growth—and briefly became the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX and xAI went public through a merger.

Since September 10, the ten richest people in the world have all been from the United States—marking the first time this phenomenon has occurred since Bloomberg began tracking such data in 2012.

Entering the fourth quarter, cracks are beginning to show in this prosperity. The total wealth of the world’s top 500 billionaires peaked at $13.4 trillion in mid-June, but has since retreated by 6% to $12.6 trillion, as doubts over leading AI-related stocks continue to rise.

The scale of wealth accumulation by technology billionaires far surpasses other groups. Tech industry billionaires have a combined net worth of $4.6 trillion, representing only about one-fifth of index members but contributing 36% of the index’s total wealth. American billionaires accounted for 94% of the index’s net wealth increase this year.

The most direct beneficiaries of the AI boom are the helmsmen of large technology companies.

Dell founder Michael Dell saw his fortune soar by 81% this year to $254 billion, fueled by explosive growth in data center sales. Meta’s share price surged by 27% in September alone—the best monthly performance in nearly four years—boosting Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth by $23 billion.

Nine out of the world’s ten richest people derive their wealth from U.S. technology companies. This is the first time such a pattern has appeared in Bloomberg’s records, highlighting the deep transformation that the AI industry is bringing to the market value of U.S. tech giants.

The borrowing frenzy by large technology companies to support their AI ambitions has begun to make some investors uneasy.

Oracle’s case is the most typical. Larry Ellison’s fortune surged by $89 billion in a single day in September 2025, briefly making him the world’s richest person. Yet one year later, his net worth had shrunk by $196 billion.

According to data cited by Bloomberg, Oracle’s credit default swap spreads currently hover near historical highs, reflecting market concerns over the company’s large borrowing for AI infrastructure buildout.

The broader market cooldown has also slowed the pace of wealth growth. Since peaking in June, the total wealth of the world’s 500 richest people has dropped by about $800 billion, as overall market cooling combines with mounting doubts over the sustainability of leading AI stocks’ growth.

Despite volatility at the top, the AI feast is still creating new billionaires among a wider array of entrepreneurs and supply chain companies.

All seven co-founders of Anthropic joined the billionaires list after the company completed a funding round in June this year valued at $96.5 billion. Chinese AI company founders likewise benefited, with MiniMax co-founder Yan Junjie and DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng newly making the list.

The AI infrastructure boom has also benefited upstream supply chain entrepreneurs.

Lin Tsung-chi, founder of server rail and cable management system manufacturer Chuanhu Technology, made the list for the first time this year with a fortune of $9.5 billion after nearly forty years in business. Wang Xin, chairman of Guangdong Ditai Technology, joined the list thanks to surging demand for circuit board drills driven by AI. Morris Chang, founder of TSMC, and Tsai Ming-kai, chairman of MediaTek, also joined the list this year.

The Lee family heirs of Samsung Electronics, Boo-jin and Seo-hyun, benefited from rising memory chip demand. Surge in share prices helped the family pay the more than $8 billion inheritance tax left by former chairman Lee Kun-hee’s 2020 passing, also earning them a spot on the list.

The competitive landscape between China and the U.S. tech industries has also spawned a group of new faces: the Zou Zhinong family of Suzhou Tongguang Group and Yuan Fugen of Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing also appeared on the list.

This wealth extravaganza is sparking deeper policy and social discussions. California voters will decide in November on whether to impose a wealth tax on the state’s billionaires. Washington, New York, Illinois, and Rhode Island are also considering new taxes targeting high-net-worth residents.

The trends of younger and more tech-driven billionaire cohorts are also challenging traditional assumptions about a “great wealth transfer.”

James Mazeau, Chief Investment Office economist at UBS Group, said: “We often talk about the great wealth transfer—but for the top 100 or 1,000 richest people, many of them are young tech founders. I’m curious to see to what extent this will drive further wealth concentration.”

As the AI investment cycle enters deep waters, the tension between the scale of borrowing and pace of returns is mounting. How far this reconstruction of the wealth landscape will go may depend on whether AI commercialization can live up to its current valuation premium.