Billionaire Wealth Surge Lifts Fortunes 16% in 2025, Oxfam Says

A billionaire wealth surge drove global fortunes up 16% in 2025 to a record USD18.3tr, widening economic and political divides, anti-poverty group Oxfam said as the World Economic Forum opened in Davos.

Oxfam said billionaire wealth rose at three times its recent pace last year, extending an 81% gain since 2020, even as one in four people struggle to eat regularly and nearly half the world lives in poverty.

The group said billionaires are 4,000 times more likely than ordinary citizens to hold political office, and linked the boom to policies under U.S. President Donald Trump’s second administration as well as windfalls from artificial intelligence stocks.

Oxfam urged governments to raise taxes on fortunes. The billionaire count topped 3,000 and Elon Musk became the first to exceed USD500bn, it said.