Ben Lamm, founder of de-extinction biotech firm Colossal Biosciences, debuted on the 2026 Forbes 400 at No. 302 with a $5.7 billion fortune, becoming one of 34 newcomers. Texas dominates the list with billionaires like Elon Musk ($908 billion) and Michael Dell ($263 billion), while the entry threshold surged to a record $4.4 billion, excluding nearly 600 American billionaires from the ranking.
The Forbes 400 richest Americans list raised its entry threshold to $4.4 billion, excluding 590 billionaires including Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, and Sam Altman. Meanwhile, Nigerian investor Femi Otedola's net worth has grown to nearly $2 billion through significant stakes in First Bank of Nigeria.
Zhang Yiming, founder of TikTok parent company ByteDance, has become Asia's richest person with a $105.5 billion net worth, surpassing Gautam Adani. His wealth surge of $12 billion this month was driven by new company valuations and ByteDance's AI investments, which leverage data from its social media platforms to train advanced models. The AI boom is reshaping billionaire rankings globally, with entrepreneurs like Michael Dell and Larry Page also dramatically increasing their wealth through AI-related ventures.
Around 80% of euro area households lack stock or market-based investments, holding roughly a third of €10 trillion in savings as low-yield cash and deposits. The ECB examines barriers to capital market participation and identifies four household archetypes, noting that wealthier Europeans invest significantly less in markets than US counterparts, limiting financing for innovation and economic growth.
Arthur Blank, Home Depot co-founder and sports mogul, tops Georgia's Forbes 400 list this year at No. 99 with a net worth of $13.2 billion, displacing the Cathy family who slip to No. 116. Nine Georgians made the 2026 Forbes 400 ranking, with most experiencing net worth changes from the previous year.
The article argues that AI benefits wealthy people disproportionately because they can afford premium subscriptions and models without budget constraints, allowing them to experiment freely and access better-quality services. Rich individuals can also leverage AI for tasks enabled by their existing resources, like customizing homes or creating multiple experimental projects, while lower-income users face strict limits and lower-tier models.