A delegation of US billionaires accompaniedPresident Donald Trumpto the summit with ChinesePresident Xi Jinpingin Beijing.
The delegation includedElon Musk, the world’s richest man, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes magazine at $839 billion and continues to grow thanks to his lucrative companies: first and foremost Tesla, a manufacturer of futuristic electric cars and robots; SpaceX, an aerospace company that uses its rockets to launch civilian and military satellites into orbit, including those belonging to NASA and the Pentagon; and xAI, a company specialising in the development and applications of Artificial Intelligence. Elon Musk’s net worth exceeds the combined wealth of the 693 ‘poorest’ billionaires.
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Trump was accompanied to China by Elon Musk and other billionaires who head major US companies, including BlackRock (the world’s largest investment management firm), Visa (one of the world’s largest digital payment networks), Mastercard (a US multinational that operates one of the world’s largest international payment networks), Goldman Sachs (one of the world’s largest and most important investment banks and financial institutions), Apple (a multinational at the forefront of the global production of computers, mobile phones, and multimedia operating systems), Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger), Boeing (one of the leading manufacturers of civil and military aircraft), Cargill (the world’s largest company in the food and agricultural sector), and Illumina (a leading multinational in the biotechnology and DNA sequencing sector).
“Never before have billionaires dominated the world so completely, influencing politics, public policy, the stock markets and the artificial intelligence craze — which, in turn, has propelled the world’s wealthiest individuals to heights that were scarcely imaginable even just a few years ago.”
This year’s list of the world’s billionaires features a record 3,428 entrepreneurs, investors and heirs, which is 400 more than in 2025. In other words, the world has gained an average of more than one new billionaire per day over the past 12 months. Even more striking is the fact that, taken as a whole, the billionaire class is $4 trillion richer than last year. Their combined wealth now stands at a record $20.1 trillion. This dominance is most evident in the United States, where a billionaire governs the country and 15 of the world’s 20 richest people reside.
The approximately 3,500 billionaires possess more wealth than the combined wealth of 95% of the world’s population, which totals over 8 billion people. The richest 1% of this small class of billionaires own around 40% of global wealth, and the richest 10% own 75%. The poorest 50% of the world’s population – comprising over 4 billion people – own just 2% of global wealth.
It is therefore no surprise that, as he was about to leave for China, Trump wrote on Truth Social:
“My very first request to Xi will be to open up China so that these brilliant minds can give their very best and help take the People’s Republic to an even higher level!”
Source: Global Research
