AI startups mint new billionaires at record pace

The rapid rise of AI companies, 100 of which have been founded since 2023, is pushing the sector to generate wealth at an unprecedented speed, CNBC reported citing data from market research firm CB Insights. Combined with soaring stock prices of Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft, and other AI-related firms, this tech surge has created billionaires faster than any other in recent history.

"Going back over 100 years of data, we have never seen wealth created at this size and speed," Andrew McAfee, principal researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said. "It’s unprecedented."

This AI boom follows a similar pattern to the dot-com surge of the late 1990s and early 2000s, which brought companies like eBay and Google to prominence. However, unlike the dot-com era, AI is creating billionaires so quickly that analysts predict it could eventually lead to the world’s first trillionaire, Fortune reported.

In March, Bloomberg reported that four of the largest private AI companies—OpenAI, Anthropic, Safe Superintelligence, and Anysphere—had already minted at least 15 billionaires with a combined net worth of $38 billion. More unicorns have emerged since.

World’s youngest self-made billionaire Alexandr Wang (center) left Scale AI, the company he co-founded, to join Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta in July 2025. Photo courtesy of Wang's X

Forbes reported in April that no group has gained more wealth in the past year than tech moguls, who collectively added $600 billion and 46 new billionaires. As a group, they remain the wealthiest industry on Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list, valued at $3.2 trillion.

Venture capital funding for AI startups has surged. Crunchbase data shows global investment in 2024 exceeded 2023 levels, with AI recording the sharpest increase.

However, much of this new wealth remains locked in private company valuations. Simon Krinsky, executive managing director at Pathstone and former managing director at Hall Capital Partners, said traditional wealth managers face challenges in attracting AI founders.

Krinsky noted that the newly rich from the dot-com era initially reinvested in familiar tech firms through their networks but later turned to diversification and professional management after market downturns. He expects AI billionaires to follow a similar path.

"After people were beaten up or bruised up in the early 2000s, they came around to appreciating some degree of diversification and maybe hiring a professional manager to protect them from themselves," Krinsky said. "I anticipate a similar trend with the AI group."