Which billionaire earned the most money in 2025?

While part of the world spent 2025 worrying about budgets and paying bills, another part saw its pockets fill more and more – and by the billions. At the top of the list is Elon Musk. The 54-year-old businessman ended the year not only as the richest man on the planet, but also as the individual who increased his fortune the most during that period.

According to Forbes estimates, Musk ended 2025 with US$677 billion (3.72 trillion reais) in assets. In 2024, it had 342 billion US dollars (1.85 trillion reais), that is, it earned around 335 billion US dollars (1.84 trillion reais) last year.

In November, Tesla shareholders approved a compensation package that could net Musk up to $1 trillion (R$5.43 trillion) in additional stock if the automaker hits certain targets. Among them, the market value increased eightfold in the next ten years.

At the same time, xAI Holdings, which brings together the artificial intelligence startup xAI and the social network

The businessman controls about 12% of Tesla shares and about 42% of SpaceX, valued this year at $800 billion (4.40 trillion reais), since the second week of December, double the value in August.