The Billionaire Boom of America’s Second ‘Gilded Age’: An Era When Wealth Begets Wealth

 Forbes, a leading global business magazine, published its eagerly awaited annual World Billionaires’ list on 10 March 2026, confirming once again the great and growing divide between the ultra-wealthy and the rest of us. Planet Earth now has a record 3, 428 billionaires in 80 countries and territories-from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe- with an average fortune of $5.8 billion and a combined wealth of $20.1 trillion. This exclusive list is topped by the US (989), followed by China, including Hong Kong (610), and India (229). Women are slowly and steadily catching up, accounting for 481, or 14%, of those listed. Alice Walton, the Walmart heiress, is the richest woman on the list at No. 14. The young are also joining the ranks of the super-rich, with 35 billionaires under the age of 30. The youngest billionaire is a mere 20 years old. The races are unevenly balanced, and only 27 Blacks made the grade this year.  There are 390 more billionaires than in 2025, including 45 AI billionaires, in keeping with explosive growth in artificial intelligence. Furthermore, in the words of Forbes: “There are likely many more billionaires we have yet to unearth”, which is not unsurprising given the natural reticence of the super-wealthy to keep their wealth hidden away from the gaze of covetous tax authorities.

 The World Billionaires’ list was first published by Forbes in March 1987. For the purposes of this year’s list, a billionaire has been defined by Forbes as anyone with an estimated net worth of $1 billion ($1,000,000,000)-a number with ten digits, nine zeroes, and three commas- or more, as of 1 March 2026. Documenting their wealth required interviews with billionaires, their representatives, peers, and rivals; a trawl through “regulatory documents, court filings, probate records and news articles”; and the collation of “all types of assets”, while factoring in known debt and charitable giving. These assets include company ownership and holdings of corporate stock, as well as physical assets such as real estate, ranches, vineyards, art, yachts, car collections, and jewellery- the accoutrements of a luxurious lifestyle.

Billionaires have their own ultra-elites. A record 20 centibillionaires, including five new additions, top the list for 2026, with 12 -digit fortunes that put them in the “$100 Billion Club.”  Members of this club have a net worth of $100, 000, 000, 000, or 100 billion. The US tops this list once again, with 15 centibillionaires. The top six are all tech oligarchs. Ranked in descending order, they include Elon Musk (Tesla), with a $839 billion fortune and “an estimated $497 billion richer than he was a year ago”, followed by Larry Page (Alphabet), Sergey Brin (Alphabet), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), who became the second-ever centibillionaire in 2017, Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), and Larry Ellison (Oracle). Numbers 7 to 10 are a more diverse lot, including, in descending order, Bernard Arnault (LVMH), Jensen Huang (Nvidia), Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway), the “Oracle of Omaha”, and Amancio Ortega (Inditex). Bill Gates (Microsoft), briefly the first-ever centibillionaire in 1999, has now dropped to No 19 in the list, having given much of his wealth away.

 Most billionaires are self-made and enjoy the fruits of the high-growth companies that they have created.  This growth may be the result of technological innovation, creative destruction, strategic acquisitions, monopolisation of industries, diversification of interests, and globalisation of the economy. The categories of technology, finance and investments, fashion and retail, food and beverage, metals and mining, energy, manufacturing, and healthcare account for the bulk of millionaires. Lower down in the list are assorted celebrities from the world of entertainment. Inherited wealth is less likely to create the billionaires of today, although heirs to large fortunes are more likely to reach a net worth of ten digits by the age of 30.

 Today’s billionaires are richer than ever. Their wealth is growing at relentless speed, further boosted by passive and impressive returns on their many financial assets.  At the same time, wealth redistribution is proceeding at a much slower pace. While some are richer than before, the overall effect is that of growing wage and income inequality in society. Wealth creation may not necessarily be a zero-sum game, whereby the rich get wealthier at the expense of others, but there can be little doubt that their accumulation of wealth is being achieved by making inroads into the welfare and income of their workers, who are often paid less than they should be to support the growing wealth of business owners and managers. According to Investopedia, the ratio of median CEO to median worker pay currently stands at 348 to 1. The prospects for equitable wealth redistribution are fast receding as ordinary citizens struggle to pay for housing, groceries, utilities, transport, childcare, healthcare, and the other essentials of a sustainable existence. Meanwhile, the super-rich have more wealth than they could possibly spend in a lifetime.

America’s original ‘Gilded Age’, between late 1870s and 1890s, was marked by unbridled materialism, conspicuous consumption, political corruption, and social inequality, all of which are being replicated today. The net worth of the richest Americans increased by 120% between 2017 and 2025, during which period the number of billionaires in the US rose by 50%. President Trump’s fiscal policies, in both of his administrations, have favoured Big Business and billionaires. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018 and the One, Big, Beautiful Act of 2025 have lowered the tax burden on the ultra-wealthy.  The climate is ideal for billionaires, who can wield inordinate economic power and political influence as part of the new oligarchy. Apart from their highly-influential ownership of social media platforms, billionaires are also busy acquiring media companies, accounting for a rightward political realignment of the published and broadcast media, alongside growing curbs on press freedom. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, bankrolled President Trump’s 2024 electoral campaign to the tune of $250 million, making him the largest single donor, and was rewarded by being called upon to oversee the workings of Trump’s infamous Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Trump, himself a billionaire (at No. 645), values the company of others of that ilk. Many tech CEOs thus graced his inauguration at the White House on 20 January 2025. Trump’s Cabinet is the richest in American history, packed with the wealthy in place of career politicians. It in its original form, the Cabinet included two billionaires in Howard Lutnick (Commerce) and Linda McMahon (Education), and another 11 millionaires. In America, money rules.

The overwhelming reality is that people are neither born equal, live equal, nor die equal. Equality is but a forlorn myth. Having accepted inequality, should we then celebrate billionaires’ success at reaching the pinnacle of the American Dream, and their contributions as the biggest benefactors of that nation’s tax coffers, and as the philanthropists with the deepest pockets, or should we blame them for growing societal inequality, avoiding their fair share of tax, and hoarding their wealth? That decision is entirely yours. The hard fact remains, however, that for most of us it is highly unlikely that the value of our personal wealth will ever exceed six digits and two commas.

Ashis Banerjee