There has never been a better time to be a billionaire. Thanks to AI’s explosion, sizzling markets and supportive fiscal policies, a record 3,428 entrepreneurs, investors and heirs made Forbes’ 40th annual World’s Billionaires list, 400 more than in 2025. They are richer than ever, worth a record $20.1 trillion, up $4 trillion from last year.
This year is also a sharp contrast in terms of Cyprus’s representation on the list. Only two individuals holding Cypriot citizenship made the cut, down from ten in 2025. Both appear in the top 200, a distinction that highlights the scale of their fortunes even as Cyprus’s overall billionaire count drops dramatically.
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The Cypriot Billionaires on “The List”
John Fredriksen, the Norwegian-born shipping magnate, who renounced his citizenship in favour of Cyprus in 2006. This year, he ranks 118th globally with a net worth of $21.3 billion (€18.2 billion). Now 81, Fredriksen has been a fixture on the Forbes list for years and remains the wealthiest person holding Cypriot citizenship.
His empire includes oil tankers, LNG carriers, dry bulkers, and deepwater drilling rigs. Frontline, which is his oil tanker company and one of the world’s largest, relocated its headquarters from Bermuda to Limassol in late 2022. From his London base, Fredriksen controls his shipping interests through investment firms Hemen Holdings and Meisha. His stakes in publicly traded companies, including Frontline Ltd. and Golden Ocean Group, continue to benefit from elevated freight demand.
Vinod Adani, ranked 121st with a net worth of $20.9 billion (€17.91 billion), is the second Cypriot citizen on the list. The 77-year-old investment banker and older brother of Gautam Adani, India’s second-richest person, holds Cypriot citizenship acquired through the now-defunct citizenship-by-investment program. Currently based in Dubai, Adani acquired most of his wealth from his family’s diversified business portfolio, which includes ports, airports, power generation and transmission, and green energy. His family investment firm operates from the UAE.
A Dramatic Change From 2025
Forbes’ 2025 list featured ten Cypriot citizens, including the Haji-Ioannou family (Stelios, Polys, and Clelia), Russian-born tech entrepreneurs Sergey Dmitriev and Valentin Kipyatkov (co-founders of JetBrains), Israeli real estate investor Yakir Gabay, and Russian nationals Igor Makarov and Vladimir Krupchak.
This year, none of them appear in the published top 200. Forbes has not yet released the full list beyond the top tier. The absence of Cyprus’s native billionaire family and the Russian tech entrepreneurs who relocated to the island following their renunciation of Russian citizenship in 2023 suggests they either fell below the $20.1 billion threshold required for the top 200 or dropped off the list entirely.
Global Context: AI As The Driver Of Record Wealth
The wealth boom continues unabated globally. The U.S. leads with a record 989 billionaires, including 15 of the top 20. China, including Hong Kong, follows with 610, and India ranks a distant third with 229. Nearly two-thirds of the 390 new billionaires in 2026 are self-made, having built fortunes rather than inheriting them.
The technology sector produced 45 new billionaires with wealth largely owed to artificial intelligence. Elon Musk retained the top spot with a net worth of $839 billion, while Larry Page ($257 billion) and Sergey Brin ($237 billion) of Google parent Alphabet claimed second and third place.
Other notable newcomers include musicians Beyoncé and Dr. Dre, and tennis legend Roger Federer, all of whom crossed the billion-dollar threshold through a combination of business ventures, investments, and brand equity.
The Methodology
Forbes used stock prices and exchange rates from March 1, 2026, to compile the list. The collective $20.1 trillion held by the world’s billionaires represents a 25% increase from the previous year, driven primarily by surging stock markets, AI sector valuations, and accommodative fiscal policies in major economies.
When it comes to Cyprus, the drop from ten billionaires to two in the top 200 marks a significant change, though it remains unclear how many Cypriot citizens appear further down the full list of the 3,428 billionaires. The island’s per capita billionaire density, once among Europe’s highest despite its population of 1.2 million, has likely declined.
What is important to note is the general trend in Forbes’ 2026 list. Billionaire wealth is concentrating in technology, particularly AI, and in jurisdictions with less regulatory scrutiny than Cyprus now faces. Whether the island can maintain its appeal to the world’s wealthiest will become clearer in the years ahead.
