Billionaires dominate today’s world like never before—and now hold a record $20.1 trillion in collective wealth, according to Forbes’ 2026 World’s Billionaires List.

This year’s ranking features an all-time high of 3,428 entrepreneurs, investors and heirs—20 of whom are now in the ultra-elite “$100 Billion Club.” Among those to hit a dozen digits this year is crypto kingpin Changpeng Zhao, or CZ. And the richest of all is still Elon Musk, who is worth a record $839 billion.

Unsurprisingly, the AI boom has also minted new billionaires, paving the way for younger entrepreneurs to get rich faster than ever. There are a record 35 billionaires under the age of 30.

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Oil prices fell back down to earth on Monday afternoon to near $85 per barrel after a historic rise, as President Donald Trump told CBS News the war with Iran “is very complete.” Trump also reportedly said his administration was considering taking over the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for the world’s oil supply.

Still, the CEO of Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, warned Tuesday that continued war-related disruptions could have “catastrophic consequences” for the global oil market. Amin Nasser called the current turmoil “by far the biggest crisis the region’s oil and gas industry has faced” and said it is “absolutely critical” to resume shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

MORE: Since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran over a week ago, the price for a gallon of gas has increased 50 cents on average, AAA data shows, and on Monday sat at $3.48. The price of diesel has risen even more sharply and G7 leaders have not opted to dip into emergency oil reserves.

Wall Street’s “fear gauge” approached its highest level since April 2025 on Monday, amid concerns about the Iran war. Still, all three stock indexes ended the day positive after Trump’s latest comments indicating an imminent end to military operations.

To meet sky-high demand for its popular GLP-1 drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro, Eli Lilly turned to artificial intelligence. The world’s largest drug company used what’s known as a digital twin, a virtual representation of a factory that uses real-world, real-time data, to make its manufacturing process more efficient and crank up GLP-1 production.

Anthropic sued the Trump Administration Monday, the latest development in the high-profile dispute as it argued the government is trying to “punish” the AI firm for adhering to its core values and “protected speech.” The Pentagon officially designated the tech company a “supply chain risk” last week, banning its use from most federal contracts.

New video footage added to growing evidence that the U.S. military was behind a strike that killed an estimated 175 people in Iran, mostly children at a girls school. U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump, have repeatedly denied the U.S. was responsible for the strike that hit the elementary school.

The American LNG Billionaires Set To Cash In On War With Iran

Iranian drones damaged the world’s biggest liquefied gas complex at Qatar’s Ras Laffan last week. Attacks on oil tankers have closed the Straits of Hormuz, blocking the only path to market for QatarEnergy, which had to shut down its plants and declare force majeure on LNG shipments. It’s unclear when it will restart.

Two of the biggest likely beneficiaries of this development: Robert Pender and Mike Sabel, the cofounders of America’s soon-to-be biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, Venture Global. Incredibly, from its first cargo just four years ago, Venture Global is on track to export about half of what pioneering LNG giant Qatar would have this year, or roughly 40 million tons of supercooled -260 degree LNG. It’s an enormous amount, the energy equivalent of 16 billion gallons of gasoline.

“We probably have the largest number of available cargoes in the market,” CEO Sabel, 59, said in an earnings call last week—which puts him and Pender in the best position of any global energy tycoons to profit enormously from the sudden need to plug the shortfall. Spot prices for LNG cargoes have more than doubled, and gas in Europe is now going for five times the price of pipeline gas in Louisiana, home to Venture Global’s two megaprojects, Calcasieu Pass LNG, and Plaquemines LNG.

It’s the latest gamble that has paid for this duo, who have more personal skin in the global LNG game than anyone. Already the two billionaires, who own 80% of Venture Global’s shares, have seen their fortunes jump nearly 29% to over $12 billion apiece since the U.S. attacked Iran.

WHY IT MATTERS The bigger question is what Venture Global will do with all this cash. Pender and Sabel, who each pocketed more than $50 million last year in salary, bonus and dividends, will likely enjoy a nice payout. Otherwise, Sabel says they’ll keep reinvesting earnings into the next $20 billion of expansion projects. If they keep up the pace of construction, by the time all current projects are complete in a couple years, Pender and Sabel will preside over 81 million tons per year of LNG capacity, even more than Qatar on a good day.

MORE These Trump Supporters, Financiers And Energy Tycoons Could Make Billions From The Venezuela Invasion

Political donations from billionaires and their family members made up 19% of all reported federal campaign contributions in Election 2024, analysis from the New York Times finds. Billionaire spending in politics has skyrocketed since the Supreme Court’s landmark Citizens United case:

$3 billion: How much 300 billionaires and their immediate family members donated to federal elections in 2024

$10 million: The average donation from just one of those billionaire families, equivalent to the contribution of roughly 100,000 typical campaign donors

0.3%: Billionaires’ share of political spending in the 2008 presidential election, prior to the Citizens United decision in 2010

If you are one of the many workers who has recently been laid off, there are a few things you can do right away to protect your financial future. Start by immediately applying for unemployment benefits, and start cutting back on “nice to have” expenses to focus only on necessities. It’s also important to be aware of enrollment deadlines for federal health marketplace plans, which can save you money compared to COBRA.

A Chinese e-commerce billionaire is planning to sell what is typically a luxury item at a significantly reduced price—a fraction of the price of the average car. What product is it?

Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.

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