Rising stocks, IPOs helped create 287 new billionaires this year

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…