The world’s billionaires now hold more wealth than every country in the world except the U.S. and China—and they'd be even richer if it wasn't for tanking stocks

Guests including Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk attend the Inauguration of Donald J. Trump. (Credit: Pool / Getty Images)

• A record-breaking 3,028 people are now billionaires, according to Forbes' latest rankings—their combined $16.1 trillion in wealth rivals that of most nations. But the billionaire club would be even wealthier if not for recent market shake-ups. Jeff Bezos alone saw $29 billion vanish between late January and March.

Money is power, and the world’s elite are grabbing enough to outpace the wealth of most countries. They would be even richer if it weren’t for tanking stocks and a troubled S&P 500.