Andrew Harnik/Getty Images Billionaire wealth in 2025 surged at a rate three times faster than average over the past five years, according to a report released on Sunday by Oxfam. According to the Resisting the Rule of the Rich: Protecting Freedom from Billionaire Power report, the number of billionaires worldwide has surpassed 3,000, and their wealth has reached a record $18.3 trillion—higher than at any point in history. As nearly half of the world’s population lives in poverty, the planet’s twelve richest billionaires now hold more wealth than roughly four billion people—half of the population. The 2025 Forbes list of the world’s richest people places Elon Musk, 54, at the top with $342 billion, followed by Mark Zuckerberg, 41, in second with $216 billion, and Jeff Bezos, 62, in third with $215 billion. The report links the surge in wealth accumulation to the policies of President Donald Trump—himself a billionaire—who, in his second administration, cut taxes, rolled back environmental and financial regulations on corporations, and placed billionaires in positions of political power. “The widening gap between the rich and the rest is at the same time creating a political deficit that is highly dangerous and unsustainable,” said Amitabh Behar, Oxfam’s International Executive Director. Read it at oxfamerica Read more at The Daily Beast.