The number of billionaires is on the rise — and they are richer than ever thanks to AI

• The number of billionaires is on the rise — and they are richer than ever.
• The AI-driven stock surge this year has benefited some of the wealthiest billionaires.
• That said, the 196 new self-made billionaires hail from diverse industries.

Artificial intelligence is spawning a new breed — and it's not robots, it's AI billionaires.

The world is now home to 2,919 billionaires — 8.8% more than last year — and they are richer than ever before, according to a new report by Swiss bank UBS.

The bank based its report on surveys of its billionaire clients, as well as its billionaire database with PwC.

Together, their net worth totals $15.8 trillion, up 13% from last year, largely due to the AI-driven surge in tech stocks, including Meta, Oracle, and Nvidia. The Magnificent Seven — a group of high-performing US tech companies — have seen their share prices increase a combined 25% this year.

The wealth of just six US tech billionaires grew by $171 billion, largely tied to their companies' growth in AI. In China, tech billionaires connected to the industry saw their wealth surge.

While the billionaires who got the richest this year — big names like the Alphabet founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang — capitalized on the AI boom, the world's 287 new billionaires had diverse sources of wealth.

About 70% of the new billionaires are self-made. The report highlights bioscience billionaire Ben Lamm, who founded "de-extinction" company Colossal, and brothers Zhang Hongchao and Zhang Hongfu, who founded Chinese fast-food company Mixue Ice Cream & Tea.

The other 91 new billionaires inherited their wealth, including 15 members of two German pharmaceutical families.

That number should grow: Over the next 15 years, $5.9 trillion will be inherited by the children of billionaires, the report predicts.

A nice life for the next-gen, but the cash comes with expectations.

Eighty-two percent of the billionaires with children that UBS surveyed said they want their children to succeed independently, and not rely on their inheritance. No pressure.