Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping global wealth creation, with DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng emerging as the world’s fastest-growing billionaire after his net worth surged by 3,850 per cent in just one year, according to a new report by investment research platform BestBrokers.
Key Highlights:
- DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng records the world’s fastest billionaire wealth growth.
- AI entrepreneurs dominate the list of fastest-growing fortunes.
- Anthropic founders increase their wealth nearly 13-fold in one year.
- Oracle’s Larry Ellison records the biggest wealth decline globally.
- Global billionaire wealth rises to $19.6 trillion across 3,356 billionaires.
The report analysed the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List between July 2025 and July 2026 using archived historical data to compare changes in billionaire fortunes.
According to the findings, Liang Wenfeng’s fortune rose from $1 billion in July 2025 to $39.5 billion by July 2026, making him the billionaire with the highest percentage increase in wealth worldwide.
The report attributed the remarkable growth to DeepSeek’s rapid emergence as one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence companies.
Anthropic Founders Join AI Wealth Surge
The report also highlighted the extraordinary rise of the founders of AI company Anthropic, whose fortunes expanded nearly 13-fold within a year.
Tom Brown, Jack Clark, Sam McCandlish, Jared Kaplan, Daniela Amodei, Dario Amodei and Christopher Olah each recorded a 1,191.7 per cent increase in net worth, rising from $1.2 billion to $15.5 billion.
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BestBrokers noted that Anthropic’s valuation climbed to $965 billion, surpassing OpenAI to become the world’s most valuable AI startup.
AI Drives Growth Beyond Technology
The report found that the AI boom also boosted fortunes outside the technology sector.
Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya increased his wealth by 443.5 per cent after a major investment valued the yoghurt company at about $20 billion.
Chinese entrepreneur Yuan Fugen gained 411.8 per cent as demand for optical communication equipment used in AI infrastructure lifted his company’s share price.
Meanwhile, Patrizio Vinciarelli, founder of power electronics company Vicor, saw his fortune increase by 350 per cent, driven by rising demand for power systems used in AI data centres.
Larry Ellison Suffers Biggest Wealth Loss
While AI created new fortunes, it also wiped billions from some of the world’s richest individuals.
Oracle chairman Larry Ellison recorded the largest decline, with his estimated net worth falling from $290.6 billion in July 2025 to $151.9 billion a year later, representing a loss of $138.7 billion, or 47.7 per cent.
According to the report, Oracle’s share price weakened after investors expressed concerns over the company’s heavy spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure and the debt required to finance large-scale data centre expansion.
Global Billionaire Wealth Nears $20 Trillion
As of July 27, 2026, the world had 3,356 billionaires with a combined estimated net worth of $19.6 trillion.
The United States remains home to the largest billionaire population, with 990 billionaires worth a combined $8.43 trillion.
China ranks second with 511 billionaires valued at $2.06 trillion, followed by India with 223 billionaires worth $1.01 trillion, while Germany has 171 billionaires with a combined wealth of $944.8 billion.
In South America, Brazil leads with 71 billionaires worth $291.9 billion.
Commenting on the findings, BestBrokers analyst Paul Hoffman said artificial intelligence has become one of the most powerful wealth-creation engines in modern history.
“AI isn’t just transforming markets; it is creating billionaires at a pace with no real precedent. The fortunes behind DeepSeek and Anthropic show founders going from barely billionaires to tens of billions in a matter of months.”
He added that the AI-driven wealth boom now extends beyond software companies to businesses supplying infrastructure, components and supporting technologies.
