The United States has the most billionaires in the world, with over 900 individuals as of 2025. Forbes and other reports indicate that American billionaires control a combined net worth of roughly $6.8–$6.9 trillion. China ranks second with approximately 450–516 billionaires.
The pyramid shows that: half of the world's net wealth belongs to the top 1%, top 10% of adults hold 85%, while the bottom 90% hold the remaining 15% of the world's total wealth, top 30% of adults hold 97% of the total wealth.
Nationwide, it takes an income of $787,712 to be in the top 1% of earners. The median U.S. income is approximately $75,000, with half of Americans earning less. Earning over $1 million annually is required to join the top 1% in three states.
United States. The United States is the world's richest country by a wide margin. It's a global hub for finance, tech, energy, and entertainment. From Silicon Valley to Wall Street, American firms shape worldwide trends.
The American business magazine Forbes produces a global list of known U.S. dollar billionaires every year and updates an internet version of this list in real time. The American oil magnate John D. Rockefeller became the world's first confirmed billionaire in 1916.
As of 2025, India has 284 billionaires, which put the country third in the world, after the United States and China. Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and largest shareholder of Reliance Industries, has been the richest Indian for 14 consecutive years.
This 1% segment of the population owns large portions of major corporations, multibillion-dollar investment funds, islands in the Caribbean, and even rocket ships that take them into outer space. The average net worth of the richest 1% of the global population's households has mushroomed in the last decades.
One percent of 7 billion is 70 million. One percent of any number is that number divided by 100. So, 7,000,000,000 (7 billion) divided by 100 is 70,000,000 (70 million).
Top earners across the United States earn nearly least six figures, with an average income of over $99,971 for those in the top 10% in 2022. Earners in the top 1% need to make $1 million annually in states like California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Washington.
As of late 2024 and into 2025, Elon Musk was the first person to reach a net worth exceeding $400 billion, primarily from his stakes in Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, with Larry Ellison briefly surpassing him in September 2025 due to Oracle's stock surge, though Musk generally remains the wealthiest individual.
As of 2024, there are 756 billionaires living in 43 of the 50 US states or Washington, D.C. The only states with no billionaire residents are Alaska, Delaware, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and West Virginia.
Because of status effects, richer people in fact tend to be happier. Yet, because status is zero sum, rising income for all does not produce greater happiness for all.
