Billionaire wealth surged 16.2% to $18.3 trillion in 2025, with Oxfam warning of dangerous political consequences as elites gather in Davos.
DAVOS: The collective wealth of the world’s billionaires reached a record high in 2025, according to a new report from Oxfam.
The charity warned of “highly dangerous” political consequences from this concentration of wealth as global elites gather for the World Economic Forum.
Billionaire fortunes jumped 16.2% in the first year of Donald Trump’s second term to $18.3 trillion, the NGO stated.
Oxfam linked the surge to policies championed by the Trump presidency, including deregulation and undermining corporate tax agreements.
The world now has more than 3,000 billionaires for the first time, the report added.
The top 12 billionaires, led by Elon Musk, now possess more wealth than the poorest half of humanity, or over four billion people.
Oxfam’s executive director Amitabh Behar said the widening wealth gap is creating a “political deficit that is highly dangerous and unsustainable”.
The charity warned that this wealth is increasingly used to buy political power, pointing to media takeovers by figures like Musk and Jeff Bezos.
Trump’s arrival in Davos with a large US delegation has galvanised around 300 protesters in the Swiss town.
Nathalie Ruoss of the Swiss Young Socialists told AFP it was “unacceptable” that the WEF welcomed “fascists like Donald Trump”.
Oxfam criticised Washington’s decision to exempt US multinationals from an internationally agreed 15% minimum tax rate.
The report argued that the super-rich use their wealth to secure political power and shape economic rules.
“Such power gives billionaires a grasp over all our futures, undermining political freedom and eroding the rights of the many,” Oxfam stated.
