Overview
- Global billionaire wealth rose 16% in 2025 to a record $18.3 trillion, adding $2.5 trillion, Oxfam reports.
- The added wealth roughly equals the assets of the poorest 4.1 billion people as poverty reduction stalls and one in four struggle to eat regularly.
- Billionaires are about 4,000 times more likely to hold public office, with 74 serving in executive or legislative roles in 2023.
- Oxfam says billionaires control over half of major media firms and lead many top AI companies, consolidating influence over information and technology.
- The group links the surge to pro‑wealth tax, antitrust and regulatory shifts in the United States and urges wealth taxes, national inequality plans and stricter curbs on money in politics.