The global billionaire population reached 3,795 at the end of 2025, up 8.2% from a year earlier, while combined fortunes rose 12.8% to a record $15.1 trillion, according to Altrata’s Billionaire Census 2026. The increase in billionaire numbers was the steepest in five years, but wealth grew faster than the population as AI-driven gains lifted valuations at technology companies and expanded the holdings of founders and major shareholders. Twenty-nine people with more than $50 billion each held a combined $4.1 trillion, or 27% of all billionaire wealth. Billionaires represented 0.07% of people worldwide with net assets above $5 million but controlled 13% of that group’s total wealth. North America remained the leading region with 1,337 billionaires, followed by Europe with 1,081 and Asia with 881; the United States alone had 1,265, compared with 363 in China. The report also identified New York, Hong Kong, San Francisco, London and Singapore as the leading billionaire cities. Billionaires had an average age of 71, and 62% were self-made. Altrata said $6.6 trillion is expected to be inherited or donated by billionaires over the next decade, with adult heirs receiving inheritances averaging 48 years old and showing strong interest in technology, climate change and impact investing.