If 2025 has left us anything, it has been a concentration of wealth in a few hands that had never been observed before. a report Oxfam Intemón estimates the growth of these great fortunes at 16% in 2025, this represents growth three times faster than the annual average of the last five years.
The joint assets of the 20 largest fortunes in the world adds a total of 3.8 trillion dollarswhich represents a figure higher than GDP of most countries of the planet. That is, the fortune of the people who occupy the top 20 on the Forbes list would equal in wealth what countries like France (with a GDP of 3.36 trillion dollars and 68.6 million inhabitants), Italy (with 2.54 trillion dollars and 59 million inhabitants) produce in a year.
To show the dimension of these fortunes in a more visual and easy to understand way, in Visual Capitalist have created a graph of the 20 richest people in the world of 2026 based on data extracted from the Forbes list of millionaires. The graph allows us to see a clear pattern: the AI is making gold to whoever touches it.
The unbeatable Musk
If there is something that stands out at first glance, it is the enormous wealth difference that separates the largest fortune in the world from the second. As of January 6, 2026, the date on which the “photo finish” was made to create this graph, Elon Musk’s estimated net worth was $714.2 billion.
If we go back just five years ago, in 2020 the richest person was Jeff Bezos with a net worth of $145 billion. That is, the Musk’s current fortune is five times what it was in 2020 just five years ago the richest person in the world.
That It’s not the only record that has marked Musk’s fortune in 2025. The businessman of South African origin has been the first person to have exceeded 700,000 million dollars, and is among the most likely candidates to become the first billionaire in history.
Musk’s fortune in 2020 was “only” $24.6 billion, in a year in which the millionaire began to reap the benefits of the good sales results that the Tesla Model 3 were beginning to give, which had already surpassed your production problems. That represents a capital growth of 2,804% in just five years.
Artificial intelligence: King Midas of the 21st century
Five years ago, the “Top 10” of the largest fortunes was dominated by the founders of social networks, electronic commerce platforms and, among them, the undaunted Warren Buffett. On the other hand, today, the wealth of the world’s biggest millionaires is determined by their involvement in the development of AI.
A good example is found in the leading role in that negotiation of the millionaires who occupy the first six positions. Leaving Musk aside, in second position is Larry Page, co-founder of Google and its parent company Alphabet, which thanks to the latest movements in the industry, have turned Gemini into the Apple native AI and in one of the models most influential in the industry.
In 2025, Alphabet shares have appreciated by 63%which has had a favorable impact on the fortunes of the company’s founders. His partner, Sergei Brin, occupies fifth position, although in recent days he has climbed to third position.
Given such a wealth boost, Jeff Bezos he had no choice He had to give up positions, leaving his 251.7 billion in third position in the ranking, although the recent boost in the fortune of Google’s founders has dragged him to fourth position, which to date was occupied by Larry Ellison, with an estimated fortune of 242.6 billion dollars.
Ellison’s rise to the top of this list as one of the biggest fortunes of 2026 is another example of the level of enrichment and power that has provided AI to these millionaires. To put it in context, in just a few days, the founder of Oracle increased his fortune at 102 billion dollars.
The arrival of AI caught Meta immersed in the metaverseand his latest decisions have not been the most applauded by investors. This has caused Mark Zuckerberg’s personal fortune to fall to $226.5 billion in 2026. However, if we look at it with perspective, the founder of Facebook had a net worth of $68.8 billion in 2020, so its increase has been 229% in just five years.
Special mention in this section dedicated to AI goes to Jensen Huang, who occupies eighth position on the list of greatest fortunes thanks to the price of NVIDIA shares. However, Huang’s case is especially revealing of the link between AI and wealth growth of its main architects.
In 2020, the CEO of NVIDIA declared $4.7 billion. In 2025, That fortune is estimated at 162.5 billion dollars. At the current value of his company, Huang stands to lose the equivalent of his fortune in 2020. in a single morning.
There are millionaires beyond AI
We have to reach seventh position on the list of the biggest fortunes in the world in 2026 to find the first millionaire who, at least a priori, is not involved with AI.
This is Bernard Arnault, who since losing his throne as the richest person in the world in 2023 has lived a real roller coaster of rises and falls in the valuation of his fortune due to the crisis of LVMH’s luxury liquor and spirits divisions and the drop in sales in China of his Louis Vuitton flagship brand.
In ninth position we find Warren Buffett, a veteran investor who has been able to read the markets to surf the wave of stock market swings to remain at the top of the list of the greatest fortunes in the world during the years. last 20 years.
However, and to the envy of the S&P 500, the profitability of his fortune in the last five years has been 98.5%, going from $73.4 billion in 2020 to the $147.5 billion at which his current fortune is valued.
Closing the Top 10 of the greatest fortunes in the world we find the only Spanish millionaire with a fortune of more than 100,000 million dollars: Amancio Ortega.
The good financial performance of Inditex in the final stretch of 2025 and the strength of purchases real estate carried out by its investment arm Pontegadeahave put a finishing touch to a five-year period in which the Leonese millionaire has doubled his assetsgoing from 60.5 billion in 2020 to the current 147 billion dollars.
In Xataka | Amancio Ortega: the billionaire who lives like a neighbor (except for private jets and superyachts)
Image | VisualCapitalist
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