Billionaires have never been richer, and they’re putting their money to work—buying sports teams, funding philanthropic causes, and building even bigger platforms for influence.
The number of billionaires in the world hit an all-time high of 3,795 individuals in 2025, according to new data from wealth-intelligence firm Altrata.
Their collective fortune soared by 12.8% to a record $15.1 trillion, nearly a quarter of the collective market capitalization of the S&P 500. We even have 29 “superbillionaires” boasting fortunes over $50 billion. And largely, they have AI to thank; the report found that AI investments were the primary driver of billionaire wealth generation.
Many superbillionaires like Google’s Larry Page, Tesla’s Elon Musk, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos keep getting richer through the AI investment boom. And aside from owning private jets and towering mansions, billionaires’ two favorite hobbies are buying stakes in professional sports leagues and pouring money into philanthropy.
“Sport has long been the most popular interest/passion of the global billionaire class,” the report notes. “This reflects its broad appeal as an active leisure pursuit, for social entertainment and competition, and for the purposes of investment and ownership prestige.”
