The super-rich boom thanks to AI

Washington [US], August 11: The explosion of artificial intelligence (AI) has created wealth at record speeds and made many people billionaires.
Artificial intelligence startups have minted dozens of new billionaires this year, contributing to an AI boom that is quickly becoming the biggest wave of wealth creation in recent history, according to CNBC.
This year's mega-funding rounds from Anthropic, Safe Superintelligence, OpenAI, Anysphere, and other startups have generated huge fortunes and pushed valuations to record levels.
Nearly 500 unicorns
According to CB Insights, a US-based data analytics company, there are currently 498 "unicorns," or private AI companies valued at $1 billion or more, with a combined value of $2.7 trillion. Of these, 100 were founded since 2023. There are currently more than 1,300 AI startups valued at over $100 million.
AI is creating personal wealth on a scale that dwarfs previous technology waves, as evidenced by the soaring stock prices of Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft, and other publicly traded AI companies, along with infrastructure companies building data centers and computing power, and the huge compensation packages for AI engineers.
"Looking back over 100 years of data, we have never seen wealth creation on this scale and at this speed. This is unprecedented," said Andrew McAfee, a principal investigator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA).
A new wave of billionaires is emerging, along with soaring valuations. In March, Bloomberg estimated that the four largest private AI companies had created at least 15 billionaires with a combined net worth of $38 billion. Since then, more private AI companies have been created with valuations of $1 billion or more.
Problems that arise
Much of the wealth from AI is now in private companies, making it difficult for shareholders and founders to cash out.
However, the rapid growth of secondary markets is allowing shareholders in private companies to sell their shares to other investors, creating liquidity. Many founders can also borrow against their equity holdings.
In addition, dozens of private companies are being acquired or merged, also contributing to liquidity.
Attracting the AI-powered wealthy could be a challenge for traditional asset management firms.
Still, analysts say the super-rich AI founders will see demand for the traditional, personalized services that only dedicated wealth management teams can provide, including advice on tax, inheritance and estate planning, as well as philanthropy and portfolio building.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper