3,428 billionaires worldwide. $20.1 trillion combined. A record set in March 2026 — up $4T in one year, driven by AI, market run-ups, and friendlier fiscal policies. (Forbes 2026). The US alone has 989 of them. — charted here, sized by net worth. The green ring marks a US median worker's pay for a year, drawn at the same scale — the dot inside it is smaller than one pixel. That is the story.
The richest 25 Americans paid an effective income tax rate of 3.4% on $401 billion of wealth growth (2014–2018). Warren Buffett's was 0.1%. The same people building the system that produces this gap are simultaneously buying tickets out of it — Mark Zuckerberg has a 5,000-square-foot bunker in Hawaii; Peter Thiel has a 477-acre Wanaka estate and New Zealand citizenship granted after 12 days in the country; Larry Ellison owns 98% of an island.
All net-worth figures, billionaire counts, bunker descriptions, and tax data are drawn from public reporting. Last data refresh: March 2026 Forbes release.
The 10 scenarios are reframed from HumanityReport's catalog of civilizational risks.