Elon Musk's net worth surges towards the trillion-dollar goal, with the combined wealth of the world's top ten billionaires increasing by $730 billion in 2025

2025 is destined to be a “wealth creation year.” The combined net worth of over 3,100 billionaires worldwide increased by $3.6 trillion, reaching a total of $18.7 trillion—behind this figure are strong global stock market performance, the AI wave’s push, and the rapid wealth expansion of a very small number of top-tier billionaires. When you focus on the year’s biggest winners, Elon Musk’s performance is particularly astonishing.

Global Billionaire Wealth Reshuffle: A New Wave of Wealth Creation Driven by the AI Boom

Looking back at this year, the S&P 500 index delivered a 17% annual return, while stock markets in Germany, Japan, and Canada performed even more impressively, with gains of 22%, 26%, and 30%, respectively. It is this global stock market prosperity that laid the foundation for wealth growth. But this is only the surface reason. The deeper driving force comes from a key word—artificial intelligence.

The top ten billionaires with the largest wealth increases collectively added over $730 billion. These individuals share a common trait: they have long been at the top of global wealth, and the AI investment boom in 2025 has allowed their assets to accelerate further. This is not a coincidence but a deepening trend of wealth concentration— in the AI era, a few who control the technological lifelines are gaining more wealth opportunities.

Elon Musk’s $333 billion Leap: Three Pillars Moving Forward Together

At the beginning of 2025, Elon Musk’s net worth was at $421 billion. By October, he became the first person in history to surpass $500 billion. In the following months, each wealth jump broke records—$600 billion, $700 billion… As of December 22, 2025, this global richest person’s net worth reached $754 billion, with an annual increase of $333 billion, averaging $9.35 million per day.

What does this number mean? Elon Musk’s wealth growth this year has already exceeded the total net worth of any other billionaire. The second-richest person globally, Google co-founder Larry Page, has a net worth of only $255 billion—less than three-quarters of Musk’s increase this year.

Musk’s wealth growth comes from the explosive appreciation of his three core assets. First is SpaceX. In early December, the company’s valuation nearly doubled, reaching $800 billion. Even more exciting, Forbes revealed that SpaceX plans to go public in 2026, with an expected valuation of $1.5 trillion. If this happens, Musk could become the first person in the world to have a net worth exceeding $1 trillion based solely on SpaceX shares.

Second is Tesla. In November, Tesla shareholders approved a milestone compensation plan—if certain performance targets are met, Musk will receive stock awards valued at $1 trillion (pre-tax). Tesla’s stock price increased by 22% in 2025, prompting many investors to reassess the company’s long-term value.

Third is xAI Holdings. This company, formed by the merger of AI startup xAI and social media platform X, is in talks for a new round of funding. The latest valuation rumors suggest it could reach $230 billion, nearly doubling the valuation from March. Under the AI wave’s influence, this company’s growth momentum is remarkable.

The simultaneous progress of these three pillars makes Musk’s prospects for 2026 even brighter. Based on current trends, the goal of a trillion-dollar net worth is no longer just a pipe dream.

U.S. Tech Giants’ Collective Celebration: Six of the Top Ten Wealth Gainers Are Americans

Musk’s success is not isolated. Among the top ten billionaires with the largest wealth increases, six are Americans. More notably, over 85% of the total wealth increase among these ten winners comes from these six American billionaires—this fully demonstrates that a new wave of wealth creation is highly concentrated in this country led by billionaire presidents and cabinet members with substantial wealth.

The top five wealth gainers are all American tech giants. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google, increased their net worth by $98.7 billion and $86.1 billion respectively this year. Last month, Google’s quarterly revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time. Meanwhile, the company’s latest AI model Gemini 3 outperformed similar products from competitors like OpenAI, further consolidating Google’s leadership in artificial intelligence. Notably, Gemini 3’s training did not use NVIDIA’s graphics processors—indicating Google is building independent AI infrastructure capabilities. In early December, the U.S. Secretary of Defense announced that the Department of Defense is adopting Gemini 3 to develop an internal AI platform. This means Google’s AI technology has risen to the level of national strategy.

Although Page and Brin stepped down from daily management roles in 2019, as major shareholders, they hold over 6% of the company’s shares combined. In 2025, Google’s stock price increased by 61%, making these co-founders the biggest beneficiaries.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang’s net worth grew by $42.3 billion this year, reaching $159.5 billion. Since founding NVIDIA in 1993, Huang has remained CEO and President. Driven by explosive demand for AI chips, in October, this graphics chip manufacturer became the first listed company in history to surpass a $5 trillion market cap. Although the stock price has pulled back since then, it still increased by 37% from the beginning of the year. Huang owns about 3% of the company, and his net worth has increased by nearly $36 billion due to stock appreciation.

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison’s 2025 was a “tale of two extremes.” On September 10, driven by the AI boom, Oracle’s stock surged 36% in a single day, and Ellison’s net worth skyrocketed by nearly $100 billion in just one day, setting a record for the largest single-day wealth increase in history. Although the stock price later fell 40%, Ellison’s annual gains remained substantial, with his net worth rising by $40.6 billion to $250.3 billion.

In addition to the AI hype around Oracle, Ellison has also made gains in other areas. He acquired a stake in short-video social platform TikTok this year and facilitated a major deal worth $8 billion—his son David’s SkyDance merged with entertainment giant Paramount. These business moves are partly attributed to his long-standing close relationship with Trump.

Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth increased by $24.3 billion, reaching $226.8 billion. Facebook’s parent company Meta performed steadily this year, continuously investing in artificial intelligence. In the first nine months of 2025, Meta’s revenue reached $141 billion, up 21% year-over-year. Zuckerberg owns about 13% of the company and remains CEO. Since the beginning of the year, Meta’s stock price has increased by 13%.

Quiet Changes in the Global Wealth Map: Impressive Performance of Non-U.S. Billionaires

While American billionaires dominate, other regions’ billionaires worldwide also delivered impressive performances.

Spanish fashion retail giant Inditex founder Amancio Ortega’s net worth increased by $28.7 billion this year, reaching $145.2 billion. The company owns the fast-fashion brand Zara. Despite global consumers generally reducing clothing spending, Inditex’s sales grew against the trend—net profit in the first three quarters of 2025 hit a record $5.4 billion, up 3.9% year-over-year. This was helped by a strengthening Spanish economy and the company’s store expansion and renovation plans in the U.S. Ortega owns about 60% of the company and received over $3 billion in pre-tax dividends this year, which he invested in real estate markets across Europe and America.

Mexican copper mining company Grupo México’s head Germán Larrea Mota Velasco’s net worth increased by $25.6 billion. Driven by strong demand, supply shortages, and tariff concerns, copper prices continued to rise this year. The company’s diversified strategy has also paid off, with its stock price nearly doubling this year. Thanks to increased production and sales of molybdenum, zinc, silver, and other products, the company’s third-quarter net profit grew 50% year-over-year.

Japanese SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son’s net worth increased by $25.4 billion, reaching $56.1 billion. SoftBank increased its investments in AI infrastructure, acquiring American chip design firm Ampere Computing Holdings for $6.5 billion in November. Son said this acquisition is crucial for advancing AI computing technology. To fund his grand plans, SoftBank sold $5.8 billion worth of NVIDIA stock. The proceeds were invested in large projects like the “StarGate” plan—a $500 billion initiative to build data centers in the U.S., involving other participants like OpenAI and Oracle.

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú, tied with American Larry Ellison for ninth place, also gained $24.3 billion, reaching $101.6 billion. As the controller of Latin America’s largest mobile telecom operator América Móvil, Slim added over 3 million new mobile users in 2025, with the group’s revenue in the first nine months up 10.5% year-over-year. His conglomerate Grupo Carso, involved in construction, energy, and retail, made frequent moves in the energy sector, including a $2 billion cooperation agreement with Mexico’s state oil company. Despite global market shocks caused by tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, many Mexican goods enjoyed tariff exemptions, and the peso appreciated nearly 15% against the dollar this year.

Elon Musk Leads a New Era of Wealth

The 2025 global wealth ranking tells a story of concentration and acceleration. With an annual increase of $333 billion, Elon Musk not only became the biggest winner of the year but also a symbol of an era—under the influence of the AI wave, global stock market prosperity, and capital concentration, a few individuals controlling cutting-edge technology and capital are accumulating wealth at an unprecedented speed.

The goal of a trillion-dollar net worth is no longer just a distant dream for Musk. With SpaceX’s IPO approaching, the new Tesla compensation plan, and the progress of xAI funding, 2026 may witness this historic moment. This process also reflects a new trend in wealth flow in the 21st century— in an era driven by globalization, digitalization, and AI, wealth is no longer evenly distributed but is accelerating toward individuals and companies that master future technologies and business models.