Billionaires' wealth hits $18.3tn as Oxfam warns of growing political influence

Oxfam's annual survey found the number of billionaires topped 3,000 for the first time during 2025, with their combined wealth reaching $18.3tn. The charity said that since 2020 their collective wealth grew by 81% (about $8.2tn) and that sum would be enough to eradicate global poverty 26 times over.

The report's authors said most governments were failing ordinary people by "capitulating to the increasingly blatant influence of the rich." Max Lawson, a co-author, said: "Governments worldwide are making the wrong choice; choosing to defend wealth, not freedom. Choosing the rule of the rich.

Choosing to repress their people’s anger at how life is becoming unaffordable and unbearable, rather than redistributing wealth from the richest to the rest." Oxfam and its authors said the rich are increasingly open about using wealth to shape politics, including control over media, taking office or donating to campaigns.

Their research estimated billionaires are 4,000 times more likely than an ordinary person to hold political office; more than half of the world's media companies and nine of the top 10 social media platforms are owned by billionaires. According to Oxfam, US research cited in the report found that if the rich support a policy it has a 45% chance of being adopted compared with an 18% chance if they oppose it.

Key Topics

Politics, Oxfam, Billionaires, Wealth Inequality, Kenya, Nepal