Five ways to increase your odds of becoming a Forbes billionaire

It’s the most exclusive club in the world – and it’s just got bigger – but how can you join the record 3,028 names included in Forbes’ annual World’s Billionaires List?

Unsurprisingly, self-styled tech bro – and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla – Elon Musk tops the list with an estimated wealth of $342bn.

The combined wealth of the members of the 2025 cohort is an eye-watering $16.1 trillion but here are five ways you can improve your chances of joining them.

1. Set up a tech company

Officially, 20 of the world’s richest 100 billionaires come from the tech industry but the real figure is much higher because the likes of Elon Musk are listed under the automotive sector.  Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is in 2^nd place having amassed a $216bn fortune from founding Facebook. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is third with $215bn, one place above Larry Ellison, founder of software giant Oracle ($192m).  Google co-founders Larry Page ($144bn) and Sergey Brin ($138bn) also make the top 10, while Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates sits in 13^th position with $108bn. The UK also has a number of tech entrepreneurs  on the list including telecoms tycoon John Caudwell ($3.4bn); MoneySuperMarket co-founder Simon Nixon ($2bn); and Softcat founder Peter Kelly ($1.3bn). Retail giant Mike Ashley has a fortune of $5.1bn. His business – Frasers Group – owns a significant stake of online retailers AO World, THG and Boohoo Group.

Frasers Group ups stake in THG

2. Live in US, China and India

The United States boast the highest number of billionaire citizens on the list with 902, followed by 516 in China and Hong Kong. India ranks third with 205. 76 nations now have at least one billionaire, including Albania. The UK has 55 names on the list, topped by BlueCrest Capital Management co-founder and CEO Michael Platt ($18.8bn). Gymshark founder Ben Francis ($1.3bn) also makes the list.

3. Get into artificial intelligence

Getting into AI can seriously increase your chances of becoming a billionaire. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic AI, is worth a reported $1.2bn. CoreWeave’s co-founders Michael Intrator ($3.1bn), Brian Venturo ($2bn) and Brannin McBee ($1.5bn) all make the 2025 list, as does CoreWeave’s board member Jack Cogen ($1.2bn). They’re joined by rising star Liang Wenfeng ($1bn), founder of China-based AI firm DeepSeek.

4. Crack crypto

Opinions may be split on crypto but 16 crypto moguls make the Forbes’ annual World’s Billionaires List. Changpeng Zhao, who goes by CZ, is the founder and former CEO of Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. He tops the list with $62.9bn. Chinese-born Justin Sun has built a sprawling crypto empire and has a fortune of $8.5bn.

5. Be a man

Women account for only 406 – or 13.4 per cent – of the planet’s 3,028 billionaires.  Although marginally up on the 2024 figure of 369 (13.3 per cent) it highlights the massive gender wealth disparity. The richest woman on the list is Walmart heir Alice Walton, whose fortune stands at $101bn. In all, nine of the 10 wealthiest women on the list inherited their fortunes. The richest UK woman on the list is Denise Coates ($7.3bn), CEO of Bet365.

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