AI brought tech billionaires a record $845 billion in one year — Bloomberg

From January through September 2026, the combined wealth of approximately 100 tech billionaires increased by $845 billion. This group includes representatives of the tech sector from the list of the world’s 500 richest people, and the development of artificial intelligence is cited as the main driver of this growth.

 

This marks a record growth rate for the first nine months of the year. The main drivers were the artificial intelligence (AI) boom and the rapid rise in the value of tech company stocks, primarily in the U.S.

Currently, the combined wealth of tech billionaires stands at $4.6 trillion. This represents 36% of the total wealth of Bloomberg Index participants, even though tech executives themselves account for only about one-fifth of the total number of billionaires.

Entrepreneurs outside the tech sector collectively lost $62 billion during this period. At the same time, Americans accounted for 94% of total gains.

As of September 10, all 10 of the world’s richest people are U.S. citizens. This is the first time this has happened since Bloomberg began tracking these figures in 2012.

The world’s richest person, Elon Musk, increased his fortune by $310 billion in the first nine months of 2026, accounting for approximately 40% of the total increase in the index.

In June, Musk briefly became the world’s first trillionaire after merging SpaceX with xAI and taking the company public.

Specifically, according to the 2026 ranking of the world’s richest people, China has 1,110 billionaires, more than the United States. Together, these two countries account for more than half of all the world’s billionaires.

As a reminder, the global wealth of the wealthy reached a record $98.3 trillion in 2025.

As reported, in September of last year, there were 36 crypto billionaires worldwide—29% more than a year earlier.

The number of crypto millionaires with fortunes of $100 million or more rose by 38% to 450 people, while the total number of crypto millionaires reached a record 241,700.

Source: Bloomberg

As a reminder, Shein CEO Skye Xu’s net worth fell by more than $15 billion.

SpaceX shares rose nearly 8%, restoring Musk’s status as a trillionaire.

Forbes estimated Trump’s net worth at $7 billion.