The wealth of billionaires worldwide is increasing at the fastest pace on record, buoyed by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
According to the European Union (EU) Tax Observatory on the 9th (local time), the total assets held by the world's billionaires stood at $4.5 trillion (about 6,859 trillion won) 15 years ago, but are now estimated to have grown to about five times that, $20.1 trillion (30,683 trillion won). That is nearly one-fifth of global annual output.
The New York Times (NYT) analyzed that "behind the sudden growth at the very top of the wealth ladder is the AI boom, which has concentrated trillions of dollars of capital investment in a few tech companies."
In fact, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft (MS), Alphabet, Meta, and Taiwan's TSMC each boast corporate values in the trillions of dollars. Founders and early investors in these corporations are said to be capturing a significant share of the massive financial gains.
The concentration of wealth is pronounced in the United States. About one-third of the roughly 3,000 billionaires worldwide reside in the United States. In particular, with the initial public offering (IPO) of rocket and satellite corporation SpaceX, expected to be the largest in history, set for the 12th, there is talk that Elon Musk could become the first person in history with "$1 trillion in assets."
SpaceX's expected corporate value reaches $1.77 trillion (about 2,698 trillion won). With 42% equity in the company, Musk's assets are also expected to surge with the listing. A buoyant stock market is likewise said to be accelerating the pace at which founders of major corporations are increasing their assets.
The NYT also noted that a tax structure favorable to the wealthy has contributed to billionaires' asset accumulation. In the United States, corporate tax rates were cut through tax code revisions over the past decade, and accordingly the tax burden on the ultra-high-income bracket has gradually decreased.
Earlier, Ray Madoff, a tax law expert at Boston College Law School, said, "America's ultrawealthy pay taxes on only a tiny fraction of their income, and most of the assets they have already accumulated—cash, stocks, bonds, gold, art, homes, yachts—are effectively outside the tax base."