Wall Street sign in New York with American flag and Christmas tree lights in the background.
Mwelsh | Istock | Getty Images
Rising stock markets, a return of merger activity and flowing inheritances helped create 287 new billionaires this year, bringing the global total to over 2,900, according to a new report.
Billionaire wealth reached a record $15.8 trillion as of the end of the third quarter, up 13%, according to the UBS Billionaire Ambitions Report 2025. Of the world’s 2,919 billionaires, 2,059 are self-made and 860 inherited their wealth, according to the report.
This year marked the second-highest total of newly minted billionaires recorded by the UBS survey, behind only 2021, when 360 new billionaires were created. Over the past four years, 727 people have become billionaires, increasing the global total by 27%.
While artificial intelligence and tech billionaires may dominate the wealth headlines, the new billionaires of 2025 made their fortunes in a more diverse array of industries – from software and genetics to restaurants, infrastructure and natural gas.
The new cohort includes Ben Lamm, co-founder of genetics and bioscience company Colossal; Michael Dorrell, co-founder and CEO of Stonepeak, an infrastructure investment firm; and Bob Pender and Mike Sabel, who co-founded Venture Global, a liquid natural gas exporter that went public in January.
“There is a lot of room for new, self-made entrepreneurs to create wealth,” said Judy Spalthoff, head of UBS Family Office Solutions Group.
The U.S. led the global billionaire increase, with 92 new self-made billionaires representing wealth of $180 billion, according to UBS. Nearly a third of the world’s billionaires, or 924 people, are in the U.S. Their total wealth soared by 18% over the past year to $17.5 trillion. Three quarters of American billionaires are self-made, the report found.
The great wealth transfer is also minting new billionaires through inheritance. In the past year, 91 people became billionaires through inheritance, receiving nearly $300 billion in wealth, UBS found. Of the inheritors, 64 were male and 27 female. Over the next 15 years, $5.9 trillion will be inherited by children and spouses from billionaires, mostly in the U.S., the report estimates.
Attitudes toward raising the next generation of wealth, however, are changing – especially among family-owned companies. Rather than expecting them to take over the family business, today’s billionaires are hiring professional managers or selling their companies, allowing their kids to be more independent and find their own careers.
“A few decades ago, succession into the family business was the norm, because markets were slower to change and continuity provided stability,” one unnamed European billionaire told UBS for the report. “Today, globalization, faster disruption cycles, and greater risk that existing businesses may not endure in their current form have shifted priorities. With professional management more common, families now see more value in children developing resilience, education and adaptability over inheriting a role.”
When it comes to investing, billionaires remain bullish on stocks, especially in the U.S. Despite signs of an over-heated market and growing concentration among a handful of AI-driven tech stocks, 43% of billionaires plan to add to their public equities in the next 12 months, UBS reports. Only 5% plan to decrease their equities, it found.
Private equity is a mixed bag. Half plan to add to their direct investments in the next year, while 37% plan to add to their private equity funds, according to UBS. At the same time, 28% plan to reduce their investments in private equity funds, likely as a result of poor returns and lack of exits. Most plan to keep their cash holdings the same and a third plan to add to their real estate holdings.
Billionaires’ faith in America as an investment has declined in the past year. The share of those surveyed who see investment opportunities in the U.S. dropped from 80% to 64%. In turn, billionaires are more optimistic about Europe, with the share of respondents saying they see investment opportunity there rising from 18% to 40%. With regard to China, that same share rose from 11% to 34%.
“When we look at the volatility around the marketplace that we had this year, the policy uncertainty and the high valuations, we’re consistently seeing from these billionaire families that they’re looking to diversify to more value trades,” said Daniel Scansaroli, head of portfolio strategy in the UBS Chief Investment Office. “They still have a strong bias towards American exceptionalism. It’s just lost a lot of the shine in the process.”
Along with moving their money, billionaires are also moving their residences around the world. More than a third (36%) of billionaires have relocated, with a quarter of them relocating more than once, according to UBS. Another 9% said they are considering a relocation.
Their chief reason for moving to another country was “to be able to have a better quality of life for me or my family,” according to the report. Spalthoff said that could include better weather, better healthcare or closer proximity to children or family. They also cite geopolitical concerns and tax organization.
Overall, Spalthoff said she expects the billionaire population and wealth to continue to grow next year.
“We see wealth continuing to accelerate,” she said. “In the U.S., especially, with the rapid growth of tech and industrials, we don’t see the growth of billionaire wealth slowing down.”
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/08/rising-stocks-ipos-new-billionaires-2025.html
