AI boom creates over 50 billionaires in 2025
What's the story
The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has created over 50 billionaires in 2025, Forbes reported. Most of these new billionaires are founders of start-ups that automate mundane tasks, software as a service (SaaS), and data labeling. Companies such as Sierra (founded by Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor) and ElevenLabs (led by Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dabkowski) have made headlines for their innovative tools like celebrity-favorite voice generators.
New records
Youngest self-made billionaires break records
The year also witnessed a major shift in the "youngest billionaire" club. Brendan Foody, Adarsh Hiremath, and Surya Midha—each just 22—became the youngest self-made billionaires ever with their company Mercor. They broke Mark Zuckerberg's old record. This surge of young talent is changing who holds power (and wealth) in tech right now. Lucy Guo of Scale AI briefly became the world's youngest self-made woman billionaire after Meta bought a large stake in her company.
Wealth distribution
AI billionaires' wealth concentrated in personal ledgers
The wealth generated from the AI boom has mostly been concentrated in the personal ledgers of start-up founders. These entrepreneurs have found themselves with stakes worth 10-figure amounts. However, it's worth noting that most of these new billionaires aren't creators of a digital messiah but are instead associated with enterprise SaaS firms, data labeling start-ups, or companies promising to replace workers with cost-saving AI "agents."