Billionaires have swelled in number in the last year and added nearly $2 trillion to their wealth. The Forbes rich list has revealed that their combined wealth totals a staggering $16,000,000,000,000, or $16 trillion. According to reports, this is a new record and the highest overall net worth of billionaires ever. This is not the only record this year as the world now has over 3,000 billionaires, another first.

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Meanwhile, not everyone so-called rich saw an increase in their wealth because of tariffs and artificial intelligence, but the billionaires added a lot more booty to their bags in the past year. Elon Musk emerged as the undisputed king of billionaires with a net worth of $377.9 billion.  

Also Read: Who is world's richest woman and what's her net worth? Forbes 2025 World’s Billionaires List reveals

The difference between Musk and the person in second place is also massive. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is second with a net worth of $216 billion, while Jeff Bezos is third with $215 billion.

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The Forbes report states that 247 more people became billionaires in the year 2024, with the total now standing at 3,028. Together, these people share $16.1 trillion. Of these, America has 902 billionaires, China has 516, including Hong Kong, and India has 205 billionaires.

Also Read: Musk's eerie declaration: Robots will overpower humanity. '10 billion...'

Most of these billionaires also seem to be in Donald Trump's cozy corner. Several of them were seen sitting in the front row during his inauguration and their combined wealth soared over $1,350,000,000,000, or $1.35 trillion in total.

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Musk woos Trump, reaps reward 

Musk, the richest man on the planet, is extremely close to the president. He invested a lot of money in his presidential campaign and even made appearances at some of them. He was rewarded with a non-official position in the administration, being put in charge of a department named DOGE, Department of Government Efficiency. It aims to reduce so-called wasteful expenses and has already reduced the workforce in a few departments.

Meanwhile, a total of 406 women made it to the Forbes list. Walmart heir Alice Walton is the richest woman in the world with a fortune worth an estimated $101 billion. She replaced French L'Oréal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers from the top spot who now ranks second with a net worth of $81.6 billion.