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Last year, the net worth of billionaires skyrocketed three times faster than recent averages, reaching an all-time high, according to the anti-poverty organization Oxfam. The report, released ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, states that the combined wealth of the world’s billionaires increased by 16% in 2025 to $18.3 trillion—a surge of 81% since 2020.
Despite these extraordinary gains, a significant portion of the global population continues to grapple with poverty, with one in four people struggling to access regular food and nearly half living in impoverished conditions. The study, which incorporates academic research and data from sources like the World Inequality Database and Forbes, underscores a stark rise in political influence among the ultra-wealthy. Billionaires are now 4,000 times more likely than average citizens to hold political office.
Oxfam attributes this wealth explosion partly to policies introduced during Donald Trump’s presidency aimed at tax cuts, protecting multinational corporations from international pressure, and reducing oversight on monopolies. Additionally, the rapid valuation of artificial intelligence companies has further amplified the pockets of already affluent individuals.
Amitabh Behar, Oxfam’s executive director, warns that the widening gap between the rich and everyone else isn’t just a moral issue but a dangerously unsustainable political problem. The organization urges governments to implement national strategies to curb inequality, including increasing taxes on extreme wealth and creating stronger barriers between money and political influence—such as reforms on lobbying and campaign financing.
Currently, wealth taxes exist in only a handful of countries, like Norway, while others including the UK, France, and Italy are debating similar measures. Oxfam’s analysis reveals that the $2.5 trillion added to billionaire fortunes last year is roughly equivalent to the total wealth held by the poorest 4.1 billion people worldwide.
The billionaire population surpassed 3,000 for the first time, with Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX CEO, becoming the first individual to surpass a net worth of $500 billion. Behar expressed concern that governments are making the wrong choices by catering to elites—such as cutting aid and rolling back civil liberties—instead of addressing systemic inequalities.
The report also highlights the expanding dominance of ultra-wealthy business tycoons over both traditional and digital media outlets. It notes that more than half of the world’s major media companies are owned by billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Patrick Soon-Shiong, and Vincent Bolloré from France.
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