How the Wealth of the 5 Richest People in 2000 Compares With the 5 Richest in 2025
Written by
Vance Cariaga
Edited by
Jenna Klaverweiden
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If you want a stat that perfectly illustrates the steep progression of wealth this century, here’s one: The combined net worth of the five richest people in 2000 would add up to less than 37% of the net worth of the single richest person in 2025.
That person is Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose current net worth is about $490.2 billion, according to estimates from Forbes as of Nov. 10.
In 2000, the world’s five richest people had a combined net worth of about $180.6 billion. That compares with a combined net worth of about $1.5 trillion for the five richest people in 2025 — a gain of 729% in the space of a quarter-century.
Here’s a look at how the five richest people in 2000 stack up against the five richest in 2025, and what has contributed to the massive difference.
Also see how long it takes the average American to earn what a billionaire makes in one day.
The Five Richest in 2000
These five individuals topped the list of richest people in the world in 2000, according to Areppim.com, a statistics and data analysis site.
- Bill Gates: $60 billion net worth
- Larry Ellison: $47 billion
- Paul Allen: $28 billion
- Warren Buffett: $25.6 billion
- Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud: $20 billion
Three of those five still rank among the world’s 20 richest people in 2025: Ellison (No. 2 with a net worth of $296.2 billion), Buffett (No. 10, $148.8 billion) and Gates (No. 19, $102.6 billion).
Third on 2000’s list, Allen, co-founded Microsoft with Gates. He passed away in 2018 at age 65.
In 2000, there was a three-way tie for fifth place with a net worth of $20 billion. Alsaud was one of those, and he has fallen to No. 164 in 2025 with a net worth of $15.9 billion, meaning his wealth has declined by about $4 billion over the past 25 years. (S. Robson Walton, former chairman of Walmart, was also tied in fifth place in 2000, and now he and his family have a net worth of $122.5 billion. Theo and Karl Albrecht, also tied at $20 billion in 2000, have passed away.)
The Five Richest in 2025
Forbes ranks these five individuals as the world’s richest as of Nov. 10.
- Elon Musk: $490.2 billion net worth
- Larry Ellison: $296.2 billion
- Jeff Bezos: $256.3 billion
- Larry Page: $236.1 billion
- Sergey Brin: $218.9 billion
One interesting thing about the above list is that even when you account for inflation, all five of them would still rank among the richest people in the world in 2000.
For example, Musk’s 2025 net worth of $490.2 billion would be equivalent in purchasing power to about $260.5 billion in 2000, according to the Official Data Foundation’s CPI Inflation Calculator. That would still make Musk far and away the world’s richest person in 2000.
In contrast, Gates’ net worth of $60 billion in 2000 would be equivalent in purchasing power to about $112.9 billion today — putting him at No. 15 on the current list of world’s richest people.
What’s Behind the Numbers?
Inflation has played a major role in the rapid growth in wealth over the past 25 years. As the Official Data Foundation noted, the dollar had an average inflation rate of 2.56% per year between 2000 and 2025, for a cumulative price increase of 88.14%.
Prices on some items have soared at a much higher rate. For example, the median value of a home in the United States climbed from $119,600 in 2000 to $413,500 in August 2025, according to Census Bureau data. That represents a 25-year gain of almost 246%.
So why has the wealth of the world’s richest people ballooned by 729% over the same time frame? Much of it has to do with the fact that the ultra-wealthy have benefited from massive stock market gains as well as tax structures and business trends.
In 2024, the world’s billionaires got $2 trillion richer, according to an analysis released earlier this year by Oxfam. That equals about $5.7 billion a day.
“Their fortunes increased three times faster than in 2023, with nearly four new billionaires minted every week,” Oxfam explained. “At current rates, the world will see five trillionaires within the next decade.”
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