AI boom adds $845B to tech billionaires' wealth this year

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, roughly 100 of the world's 500 richest people made their fortunes in tech, and their combined wealth rose by $845 billion in the first nine months of 2026 — the largest increase on record for that period. Over the same stretch, billionaires outside the tech sector lost a combined $620 billion, Caixin's Wallstreetcn reported on October 6.

The gains were heavily concentrated at the very top. Elon Musk alone added $310 billion in the first nine months, accounting for about 40% of the index's total increase, and briefly became the first person worth more than $1 trillion after SpaceX and xAI merged and went public. Since September 10, all ten of the world's richest people have been American — the first time that has happened since Bloomberg began tracking the data in 2012. Tech billionaires hold $4.6 trillion in combined net worth; they make up about one-fifth of the index's members but account for 36% of its total wealth. Americans captured 94% of the index's net gains this year. The available excerpt cuts off as it begins to describe the year's wealth increase for Dell founder Michael Dell.

The picture shifted in the fourth quarter. After peaking at $13.4 trillion in mid-June, the combined wealth of the 500 richest people fell 6% to $12.6 trillion, with the report citing growing doubts about some leading AI stocks. The story currently rests there: the first nine months set a record for tech fortunes, while the index's total wealth has since retreated from its peak.