3,357 PEOPLE CONTROL USD $19.3T
Who holds the wealth. How it becomes power. Why it never ends.
Who Are The 0.00004%?
Wealth Tiers
$1B–$5B ($5.5T)
2,620
$5B–$10B ($2.8T)
400
$10B–$100B ($5.1T)
170
$100B+ ($5.9T)
15
Billionaire Growth
1987 — Forbes first list
140
2017 (+1,359.29%)
2,043
2020 (+2.55%)
2,095
2021 (+31.50%)
2,755
2022 (−3.16%)
2,668
2023 (−1.05%)
2,640
2024 (+5.34%)
2,781
2025 (+8.88%)
3,028
2026 (+13.21%)
3,428
2027 (+10.85%) PROJECTED
~3,800
Growth is change from prior listed year.
Median Wealth
$2.1 BILLION (50% MORE / 50% LESS)
Age Ranges
Under 50 ($2.0T)
400
50–59 ($3.5T)
620
60–69 ($5.2T)
890
70–79 ($4.8T)
820
80+ ($3.8T)
630
Median Age
66 (50% YOUNGER / 50% OLDER)
Youngest 5
Alexandr Wang ($2B)
27
Pedro Franceschi ($3B)
28
Henrique Dubugras ($3B)
28
Austin Russell ($1.6B)
29
Gary Wang ($1.1B)
30
Oldest 5
Chang Yun Chung ($2.1B)
105
George Joseph ($2.4B)
102
David Murdock ($2.6B)
101
Robert Kuok ($11.1B)
101
Herbert Wertheim ($3.2B)
101
Gender
Male ($16.8T) DERIVED
2,930
Female ($2.5T) DERIVED
425
Billionaire Concentration
Cities
New York ($620B)
110
San Francisco / Bay Area ($820B)
75
Moscow ($350B)
72
London ($310B)
65
Mumbai ($410B)
58
Beijing ($260B)
52
Hong Kong ($240B)
47
Shenzhen ($200B)
42
Singapore ($180B)
38
Los Angeles ($160B)
35
Countries
United States ($6.2T)
815
China ($2.1T)
475
India ($950B)
200
Germany ($650B)
130
Russia ($550B)
105
United Kingdom ($275B)
60
Switzerland ($220B)
45
France ($420B)
45
Italy ($200B)
40
Brazil ($175B)
38
Wealth Becomes Power
From There To Here
Before his nomination to the Supreme Court by President Richard Nixon, Lewis F. Powell Jr. wrote a confidential memorandum for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce titled "Attack on American Free Enterprise System."
The memo warned that the "free enterprise system" was under attack by regulators, consumer advocates, environmentalists, and critics of corporate power.
Powell urged corporate America to become more organized, better funded, and more politically aggressive through media, courts, universities, and public opinion.
Fifty-five years later, Powell's memo reads less like a U.S. artifact than a blueprint for the corporate age: wealth shaping policy, courts, media, markets, and public imagination across borders.
Political Spending
$1.5 BILLION+
Combined giving by the top 6 Republican donors, 2024 cycle
Top 6 Republican donors gave over $100M each in 2024
Largest single donor
$291M
All six backed the Republican side of the 2024 cycle
Money moves directly into candidates, parties, and election infrastructure
Cambridge Analytica / Mercer-backed voter targeting demonstrated how billionaire money can fund psychographic profiling to shape electoral outcomes directly.
Lobbying
$4.45 BILLION
Total U.S. federal lobbying spend, 2024
Federal lobbying spending reached $4.45B in 2024
Three billionaire-linked tech giants alone
$54.61M
Amazon, Meta, and Google together reported $54.61M in federal lobbying spending in 2024
Money moves into Congress and federal agencies through a permanent influence industry, not just election-season donations
Lobbying spending is reported under federal disclosure rules, but the totals are good-faith estimates and do not capture state lobbying, trade-association spending, or broader policy influence outside the federal filing system.
Dark Money
$1.9 BILLION
Dark money in 2024 federal races
$1.3B routed from nondisclosing groups to super PACs
$4.3B+ in dark money since Citizens United
Actual total is likely higher
Media Ownership
50%+ ESTIMATE
Share of major US media owned or controlled by billionaires — Oxfam 2026
Billionaire wealth buys not just assets, but platforms, publishers, and public narratives.
News Corp / Fox
Murdoch
The Washington Post
Bezos
Los Angeles Times
Soon-Shiong
Boston Globe
Henry
TIME
Benioff
The Atlantic
Jobs
X / Twitter
Musk
Meta / Instagram
Zuckerberg
Paramount
Ellison
Meta algorithmic amplification and X as owner-driven narrative platform extend media ownership into algorithmic control of public attention.
Why This Will Never End
Inequitable Tax Treatment
~8.2%
Estimated effective tax rate for the 400 wealthiest US families
The tax system treats wealth differently from wages. That difference is what makes everything below possible.
Wages taxed as earned; capital gains generally not taxed until sale
Capital gains rates generally lower than wage income rates
Borrowing against assets can provide cash without triggering tax
At death, step-up in basis can erase tax liability on prior gains
Unrealised Gains
$2.7 TRILLION+
Estimated unrealised gains held by US billionaires
Wealth grows as shares and assets appreciate in value
Capital gains tax generally not triggered until sale
Subsidies
$11.6 BILLION
Recorded U.S. state and local subsidies awarded to Amazon
Meta
$2.30B
Tesla
$3.16B
Alphabet
$2.32B
Public subsidies do not just rescue failing firms. They can also help dominant companies expand through tax breaks, infrastructure deals, abatements, and megaproject incentives.
US Private Foundations
87,000 PRIVATE FOUNDATIONS
There are roughly 87,000 private foundations in the United States.
Source: NP Trust DAF report
Assets held in the trillion-dollar range
Donation creates an immediate tax benefit
Donor or family typically retains operational control
Generally required to pay out ~5% per year
Assets can grow faster than grants go out — the rule does not meaningfully reduce concentration
Dynastic Transfer
$5.2 TRILLION
Projected to pass from billionaires to heirs by 2040
About $345 BILLION a year
About $945 MILLION a day
Most expected to pass directly to children
The wealth does not return to the public. It moves forward.