New AI Billionaires Gained $87B in 2026, Half of It in China

People in the US and China who joined the world’s 500 richest in 2026 through AI-related businesses added about $87 billion to their combined wealth in the first nine months of the year, according to a chart the Kobeissi Letter posted on X on 24 October 2026, which credits Bloomberg. About half of that gain, $43 billion, went to the group in China.

The Kobeissi Letter says the metric “tracks the combined net worth of people who newly entered the world’s 500 richest list in 2026 through AI-related businesses,” and that it “includes 12 billionaires from the US and 5 from China.”

This Week In The AI Supercycle · VIDEO

The Business Engineer’s explainer for this week’s issue, 18 to 24 October 2026: the companies selling AI’s parts say they are booked for years, while the companies paying for the build found money dearer. It does not discuss the billionaire figures.

The Numbers in the Chart

The chart puts the US group’s total net worth at $88 billion on 1 January 2026 and $132 billion on 30 September 2026. It puts the China group at $39 billion on 1 January and $82 billion on 30 September.

By our arithmetic from those values, the US group gained $44 billion, or 50%, and the China group gained $43 billion, or about 110%, rising to about 2.1 times its January total. Together they rose from $127 billion to $214 billion, a gain of $87 billion, of which China’s share is about 49%.

Source: the Kobeissi Letter’s chart of 24 October 2026, which credits Bloomberg. The gains, percentage changes and the “Both” row are our arithmetic from the chart’s values.

What Was Posted on X

The Kobeissi Letter’s post, which this piece reports: it says the combined wealth of new US AI billionaire entrants rose $44 billion to $132 billion in the first nine months of 2026, and that of new Chinese entrants $43 billion, to $89 billion as its text puts it.

A Gap Between the Post and Its Chart

The post’s text says the China group’s wealth rose $43 billion “to $89 billion” and that the combined wealth of both groups rose “to $221 billion.” Its own chart shows the China group at $82 billion on 30 September, and $39 billion plus $43 billion is $82 billion. On the chart’s values the combined total is $214 billion by our arithmetic; the $87 billion gain is the same either way.

What Bloomberg Reported on 5 October

Bloomberg’s report of 5 October 2026, as syndicated by The Edge Malaysia, says the roughly 100 technology fortunes among the world’s 500 richest people gained a combined $845 billion through 30 September, “the most ever for the first nine months of a year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.” It says tech billionaires are worth a combined $4.6 trillion, 36% of the index’s wealth, and that Americans accounted for 94% of the index’s net gains.

The same report says “Bloomberg’s new entrants show how the surge is also minting fortunes among startup founders and the companies supplying AI infrastructure.” It says all seven of Anthropic’s co-founders joined the list in June after a funding round valuing the company at $965 billion, and that founders of Chinese firms including MiniMax’s Yan Junjie and DeepSeek’s Liang Wenfeng were also added.

It also names Zou Zhinong and family of Suzhou TFC Optical Communication and Yuan Fugen of Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing among new Chinese entrants, linking them to China’s push for technology independence and its rivalry with the US for AI dominance.

Connecting the Coverage

Our Anthropic IPO piece of 15 October reported Reuters’ account that some investors discussed a valuation of around $1.5 trillion for the November share sale, down from roughly $2 trillion previously expected. Our Moonshot pricing piece of 23 October reported that Moonshot priced Kimi K3.1 Pro at $2 and $10 per million tokens, half of what Anthropic lists for Claude Opus 5.5 by our arithmetic.

Our Moonshot IPO piece of 19 July reported Bloomberg’s account of a valuation run from about $4.3 billion to $20 billion. Our Skydance piece of 24 October reported Semafor’s account that Elon Musk invested roughly $1 billion in Skydance.

The Structural Read

As we read it, the chart measures only new entrants, so it shows where AI is creating fresh fortunes rather than where existing ones grew: Bloomberg’s 5 October report says Americans accounted for 94% of the index’s net gains overall.

As we read it, Bloomberg’s report ties the new Chinese entrants to China’s push for technology independence and its rivalry with the US for AI dominance, naming founders of MiniMax, DeepSeek, Suzhou TFC Optical Communication and Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing.

As we read it, the post and its chart differ on China’s end total, $89 billion in the text and $82 billion in the chart, and the chart’s values add up: $39 billion plus $43 billion is $82 billion.

Three Implications

FOR THE US The Kobeissi Letter’s chart puts the US group of new AI entrants at $132 billion on 30 September, up from $88 billion on 1 January.

FOR CHINA The same chart puts the China group at $82 billion, up from $39 billion, about 110% by our arithmetic.

FOR THE WIDER INDEX Bloomberg reports that tech fortunes among the 500 richest gained $845 billion through 30 September, the most ever for the first nine months of a year.

The Business Engineer Lens

This story maps onto the Business Engineer framework The AI Supercycle.

The framework puts it this way: “It describes the intersection of three powerful forces: geopolitics, cultural transformation, and economic change. The economy is only one layer of the story.”

As we read it, the chart sits on that intersection: the wealth figures are economic, while Bloomberg’s report links the new Chinese entrants to the rivalry with the US for AI dominance. The framework was published in June 2026 and does not discuss these figures.

What Is Not Established

We could not read Bloomberg’s underlying data for the chart. The US and China totals and the 12 and 5 headcounts come from the Kobeissi Letter’s post and chart, which credit Bloomberg; the 5 October Bloomberg text we read does not give them, and it does not say how a fortune is classed as AI-related. Net worth figures move with share prices and private valuations. We did not contact Bloomberg or the Kobeissi Letter.

The Bottom Line

On the Kobeissi Letter’s chart, which credits Bloomberg, new AI entrants to the world’s 500 richest gained $44 billion in the US and $43 billion in China in the first nine months of 2026, and the China group’s wealth rose from $39 billion to $82 billion.