Last year, 390 new dollar billionaires appeared in the world — that’s more than one “newcomer” per day, the American Forbes calculated. Two-thirds of the “newcomers” built their fortunes independently, not by inheritance, the publication notes.
As a result, 2025 became the second year by this indicator for the entire period of observations since 2007. The record for the most new billionaires was set in 2021, when the list was replenished with 493 names. Forbes currently lists 3,428 people worldwide with a fortune of over $1 billion.
A little more than half of the newcomers were from the USA, China, and Germany: 106 Americans, 55 Chinese, and 42 Germans. Among them are Beyoncé, who earned $1 billion from music sales, touring, and art collecting, and director James Cameron (“Titanic,” “Avatar”) with a fortune of $1.1 billion.
The total wealth of billionaires increased by $4 trillion over the year, to a record $20.1 trillion.