The boom in artificial intelligence, rising share prices of American technology companies and huge investments in the infrastructure needed to develop AI have made technological fortunes grow much faster than the fortunes of the richest people in other industries.
According to Bloomberg, the fortune of tech billionaires currently totals $4.6 trillion. That's about 36 percent. the entire wealth of people included in the index, although representatives of the technology industry constitute only about one-fifth of its members.
The difference between tech billionaires and the rest of the world's richest people is huge. People who made their fortunes outside the tech sector lost a total of $62 billion over the same period. At the same time, Americans were responsible for as much as 94 percent. net profits of the entire index.
As of September 10, all of the top ten richest people in the world were Americans. As Bloomberg emphasizes, this is the first such case since 2012, when the agency started monitoring the assets of billionaires.
Elon Musk remains the biggest beneficiary of the technological boom. The richest man in the world increased his fortune by approximately USD 310 billion by the end of September. That's about 40 percent. the entire increase in the wealth of people included in the Bloomberg index.
Musk also briefly became the world's first trillionaire. This comes after SpaceX merged with its artificial intelligence company, xAI, and the new entity went public in June. His case shows how closely the fortunes of the richest people are today linked to the valuations of companies related to artificial intelligence.
According to Bloomberg, as many as nine out of the ten richest people in the world owe their fortunes to American technology companies.
One of this year's biggest beneficiaries is Michael Dell, founder of Dell Technologies. His fortune increased by 81%, to $254 billion. The reason is, among others, rapid growth in sales of the company's data centers.
In turn, Mark Zuckerberg increased his net worth by $23 billion this year. Meta Platforms shares gained 27% in September, which was the company's best monthly result in almost four years. The increase comes after the launch of a new personal AI assistant called Muse.
However, the technology boom is not without risk. The combined wealth of the world's 500 richest people reached a record high of $13.4 trillion in mid-June and has since fallen by about 6% to $12.6 trillion.
As Bloomberg notes, markets are showing signs of slowdown. Investors are increasingly wondering whether some artificial intelligence companies are valued too high today.
Huge spending on AI development is also a concern. The largest technology companies are borrowing and investing billions of dollars to build data centers, purchase servers and chips, and develop cloud infrastructure. All this to prepare for the further development of artificial intelligence. The problem is that there is no certainty whether these gigantic investments will bring the expected profits.
For years, experts assumed that in the coming years huge fortunes would gradually pass from the older generation to their children and grandchildren. Today the situation is starting to look different. Among the richest people in the world there are more and more young entrepreneurs who have built their fortunes themselves, mainly thanks to the development of new technologies. This means that some of the largest assets do not have to go to the next generation in the near future.
There is a lot of talk about the great transfer of wealth. However, the 100 or 1,000 richest people in the world include not only older people running traditional businesses. Many of them are young technology entrepreneurs. I wonder whether their growing fortunes will lead to even greater concentration of wealth, notes James Mazeau, an economist at the main investment office of UBS Group AG.
Not only the owners of the largest technology companies benefit from the artificial intelligence boom. According to Bloomberg, there are also new billionaires who have built their companies around AI or provide the equipment and infrastructure necessary for artificial intelligence to function.
In June, seven co-founders of the artificial intelligence company Anthropic joined the group of the world's richest people. Their fortunes skyrocketed after Anthropic attracted new investors. As a result of this transaction, the value of the entire company was estimated at USD 965 billion.
The founders of Chinese technology companies also joined the group of the richest, including: Yan Junjie from MiniMax Group and Liang Wenfeng from DeepSeek.
The development of artificial intelligence increases demand not only for software, but also for the physical infrastructure needed to run it. A good example is Lin Tsung-chi, founder of the Taiwanese company King Slide. The company produces, among others: server buses and cable management systems used in data centers.
Four decades after the company was founded, its fortune reached $9.5 billion this year.
Wang Xin, president of Guangdong Dtech Technology, also appeared on the list. Her company produces specialized drills used in the assembly of printed circuit boards. Growing demand related to the expansion of AI infrastructure helped it join the group of billionaires included in the index.
The heirs of the Lee family, associated with Samsung Electronics, also benefited from the increase in demand for memory chips.
Boo-jin Lee and Seo-hyun Lee joined the list of the world's richest people thanks to the increase in the value of Samsung shares, driven by, among others, demand for memories used in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Samsung's share price rally also helped the family pay off about $8 billion in inheritance taxes following the death of former CEO Lee Kun-hee in 2020.
In Taiwan, Tsai Ming-kai, integrated circuit designer and representative of MediaTek, and Morris Chang, founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., joined the exclusive group.
The AI boom is also one of the elements of technological competition between China and the United States. Beijing's desire to achieve greater technological independence and competition with the US in the field of artificial intelligence have created the fortunes of additional entrepreneurs.
Bloomberg points out in this context, among others: Zou Zhinong of Suzhou TFC Optical Communication Co. and Yuan Fugen of Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co.
Their companies are benefiting from the growing demand for components and infrastructure needed to develop China's technology sector.
