Two million new millionaires were created last year, largely as a result of soaring stock markets around the world, according to a new report.
Concretely, the Capgemini World Wealth Report claimed that there were 25.3 million millionaires in the world last year, a 7.9% increase compared to 2024.
Overall, their combined wealth grew to $98.3 trillion, an 8.7% inter-annual increase and the fastest pace in five years.
The report went on to note that the gap between millionaires and those considered ultra wealthy (that is, those with a net worth of $30 million or more) grew in the same period.
They now represent 1% of all millionaires and hold 35% of all the group's wealth. Gareth Wilson, global banking industry lead at Capgemini, said this is because they "have access to investments and opportunities that aren't afforded even to the millionaires next door, whether it be pre-IPO investments or private markets."
"When you look at those individuals who have investable assets at that scale, they probably have more influence in terms of access to some of the hedge funds, access to the private markets, and they're probably afforded access to some other kind of pre-IPO investments that us mere mortals probably don't even know about," he added.
The U.S. had 8.73 million millionaires last year after adding 730,000 new members of the group. In this context, more data shows that the stock market now represents a third of all U.S. household assets.
Federal Reserve data noted that 33% of all household wealth comes from stocks. It beats the previous record, 30%, which took place in 2021 and the 27% from before the dot-com bubble in the first quarter of 2000.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite have both been reaching new records over the past weeks, buoyed by increased spending in artificial intelligence. The former has climbed 10% so far this year.
The data noted that the richest 10% of households owned 87% of all household wealth stemming from stock market holdings.
Millionaires across the world are increasing their holdings of stocks, amounting to 25% of their portfolios last year, a 3-point gain compared to the previous year.
"The equities performance is encouraging the movement from lower-risk to higher-risk investments," Wilson said.
"I would say we've probably seen an increase in the risk appetite, and we've also seen the high-net-worth individuals follow the money in terms of equity performance."
