The U.S. Now Has More Billionaires Than China. Musk Is Still Tops.

The number of U.S. billionaires in the world reached 870 in mid-January, outpacing the number in China for the first time in 10 years, according to a snapshot of the wealthiest in the world by the Hurun Report.

The U.S. gained 70 billionaires since last year, powered by a rising stock market, a strong dollar, and the insatiable appetite for all things AI, according to the 14th annual Hurun Global Rich List . China gained nine billionaires overall for a total of 823. Hurun is a China-based research, media, and investment group.

“It’s been a good year for AI, money managers, entertainment, and crypto,” Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report, said in a news release. “It’s been a tough year for luxury, telecommunications, and real estate in China.”

Overall, the Hurun list—which reflects a snapshot of global wealth based on calculations made Jan. 15—counted 3,442 billionaires in the world, up 5%, or 163, from a year ago. Their total wealth rose 13% to just under $17 trillion.

In November, New York research firm Altrata reported that the billionaire population rose 4% in 2023 to 3,323 individuals and their wealth rose 9% to $12.1 trillion.

Elon Musk, CEO of electric-car maker Tesla and right-hand advisor to President Donald Trump, topped the list for the fourth time in five years, with recorded wealth of $420 billion as of mid-January as Tesla stock soared in the aftermath of the U.S. election, according to Hurun’s calculations.

The firm noted that Musk’s wealth has since nosedived about $100 billion, falling along with shares of Tesla although the EV car maker is benefiting on Thursday from Trump’s 25% tariff on cars made outside the U.S.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk’s wealth stood at about $336 billion as of the market’s close on Wednesday, although measuring his exact wealth —including stakes in his privately held companies and the undiscounted value of his Tesla shares—is difficult to precisely determine.

The overall list this year contained 387 new billionaires, while 177 dropped off the list—more than 80 of which were from China, Hurun said. “China’s economy is continuing to restructure, with the drop-offs coming from a weeding out of healthcare and new energy and traditional manufacturing, as well as real estate,” Hoogewerf said in the release.

Among those who wealth sank was Colin Huang, the founder of PDD Holdings —the parent company of e-commerce platforms Temu and Pinduoduo—who lost $17 billion.

Also, Zhong Shanshan, the founder and chair of the Nongfu Spring beverage company and the majority owner of Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise , lost $8 billion from “intensifying competition” in the market for bottled water. The loss knocked Zhong from his top rank in China, which is now held by Zhang Yiming founder of Tik-Tok owner Bytedance. Zhang is ranked No. 22 overall.

Hurun’s top 10 billionaires is a familiar group of largely U.S. individuals including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Larry Ellison. The list has France’s LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault in seventh place, three notches down from his fourth ranked spot on the Bloomberg list, reflecting a slump in luxury products last year.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is ranked No. 11 on Hurun’s list as his wealth nearly tripled to $128 billion through Jan. 15. Other AI billionaires found lower down on the list include Liang Wenfeng, 40, founder and CEO of DeepSeek, with wealth of $4.5 billion and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, with $1.8 billion.

Also making the list were musicians Jay-Z ($2.7 billion), Rihanna ($1.7 billion), Taylor Swift ($1.6 billion), and Paul McCartney ($1 billion). Sports stars included Michael Jordan ($3.3 billion), Tiger Woods ($1.7 billion), Floyd Mayweather ($1.3 billion), and LeBron James ($1.3 billion).

Wealth continues to surge across the globe, but Hoogewerf noted those amassing it aren’t overly generous.

“We only managed to find three individuals in the past year who donated more than $1 billion,” he said. Warren Buffet gave $5.3 billion, mainly to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, while Michael Bloomberg —ranked No. 19 with wealth of $92 billion—gave $3.7 billion to various causes. Netflix founder Reed Hastings, ranked No. 474 with wealth of $6.2 billion, donated $1.1 billion.

Market downdrafts tempt people to adjust their investments, but that’s not always a wise choice

If you logged on to your brokerage account today and wish you hadn’t, you’re not alone.

BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink said Monday the asset manager hasn’t received this many client calls since March 2020, when the pandemic was beginning.

Retail brokerages including Fidelity Investments had technical glitches Monday morning as traffic surged from people trying to check their portfolios and place trades.

Studies have found that the more people look at their 401(k)s, the lower their long-term returns are likely to be.

The S&P 500 drops on almost half of trading days, so checking your portfolio more often means you are more likely to see losses. And there have been lots of losses since President Trump rolled out a series of tariffs last week.

In just two trading days last week, the average 401(k) lost 7% of its value, according to Alight Solutions , which tracks employer retirement plans. Individual investors moved money out of stock-heavy target-date funds and into the relative safety of bonds and cash.

That’s understandable, but not necessarily wise. Here are some things financial advisers say to keep in mind right now:

Be realistic

Now that the S&P 500 is down almost 20% from its peak, many people are realizing that their risk tolerance isn’t as high as they thought it was when markets were up 20%, said Chelsea Ransom-Cooper, chief financial planning officer at Zenith Wealth Partners in New York.

“It’s a great time to level-set and reflect on what you’re comfortable with,” she said. However, if you decide to make changes, you should tweak a little at a time to avoid making emotional decisions you regret later, she said.

Sell strategically

In general, you should avoid the impulse to sell when the value of your investments falls, said Martin Lowenthal, financial adviser in Needham, Mass.

He has been telling his clients to stay the course and advising that they pull money from alternative sources such as life insurance plans if they need liquidity in the short-term.

“You shouldn’t be drawing from depressed assets if you have other places to go for income,” he said.

However, falling stock prices can create opportunities to save on taxes. If you find yourself with stocks or funds that are worth less than what you paid for them, you may be able to recognize the losses for tax purposes. Selling at a loss and reinvesting the money can help offset taxes on future capital gains while remaining invested in the market.

Buy cautiously

There may be reasons to add to investments, financial advisers say, especially if you have been sitting on cash. Cash losses value to inflation, which is expected to rise as companies digest new tariffs.

With markets starting to price in rate cuts , now might be a good time to lock in returns with fixed-rate products such as certificates of deposits or bonds, Ransom-Cooper said.

If you are younger and have a longer investment horizon, you can consider making small investments into the stock market at regular time intervals to take advantage of a potential rebound while managing risk.

“If you are concerned about inflation, you want to make sure that your money is at least trying to keep up,” she said.

Do nothing

This isn’t the first time the market has tested investors’ stomach for risk, and history says it won’t be the last. There was the financial crisis, then there was the pandemic, and “this time, it’s the tariff tantrum,” Lowenthal said.

“I’ve got full faith in the American economy to ride this out,” he said.

The U.S. Now Has More Billionaires Than China. Musk Is Still Tops.

The U.S. now has more billionaires than China for the first time in a decade, driven by AI and a booming stock market.

Market downdrafts tempt people to adjust their investments, but that’s not always a wise choice.

Be realistic

Sell strategically

Buy cautiously

Do nothing