The AI Gold Rush Makes Billionaires at a Record Pace

In 2025, startups in artificial intelligence have created many new billionaires, contributing to an AI surge that is becoming one of the largest wealth booms in recent times. Major fundraising efforts for companies like Anthropic, Safe Superintelligence, OpenAI, and Anysphere have led to substantial new fortunes and driven valuations to all-time highs. 

Currently, there are 498 AI ‘unicorns’, or private AI firms valued at $1 billion or more, with a total worth of $2.7 trillion, as reported by CB Insights. Notably, 100 of these were established since 2023. Additionally, over 1,300 AI startups are valued at more than $100 million, according to the firm.

With the rising stock prices of Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft, and other AI-related public firms, along with the companies building data centres and computing power, plus the large salaries for AI engineers, AI is generating personal wealth on a scale that makes previous tech booms seem minor.

Experts note that, looking back over a century of data, wealth is being created at an unprecedented size and speed. A new wave of billionaires is emerging alongside soaring valuations. 

In March, Bloomberg estimated that four of the biggest private AI firms had produced at least 15 billionaires, with a total net worth of $38 billion. Since then, more than a dozen new unicorns have been recognised.

Mira Murati, who left OpenAI last September, started Thinking Machines Lab in February. By July, she secured $2 billion in the largest seed funding round ever, giving the company a valuation of $12 billion, according to reports.

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Anthropic AI is reportedly in discussions to raise $5 billion, with a valuation reaching $170 billion, which was almost three times what it was worth in March. CEO Dario Amodei and his six co-founders are now likely multibillionaires, as stated by sources familiar with the firm.

Anysphere was valued at $9.9 billion during a June fundraising event. Just weeks later, it received offers valuing it between $18 billion and $20 billion, which likely makes its 25-year-old founder and CEO, Michael Truell, a billionaire.

However, much of the wealth from AI is tied up in private firms, making it hard for founders and equity holders to cash out. Unlike the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, when many firms went public, today’s AI startups can remain private longer due to ongoing investments from venture capital, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and other tech backers.

At the same time, the swift rise of secondary markets is enabling owners of private companies to sell their shares to other investors, creating liquidity. Structured secondary sales and tender offers are becoming common. Many founders can also take loans against their equity.

OpenAI is reportedly in discussions for a secondary share sale aimed at providing cash for its employees. The proposed valuation of $500 billion follows a fundraising round in March that set its value at $300 billion.

Numerous private firms are being acquired or merging, which also enhances liquidity. After Meta invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI, founder Alexandr Wang joined Meta’s AI team. 

According to CB Insights, there have been 73 liquidity events in 2025, including mergers, acquisitions, IPOs, and corporate majority stakes. Following the Meta investment, Scale AI’s co-founder, Lucy Guo, who left in 2018, purchased a mansion in LA’s Hollywood Hills for about $30 million.

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