Forbes estimated 400 people on its 2026 list held $8 trillion combined, while Federal Reserve data put the top 1% at 32.5% of household net worth in Q2, illustrating concentration at different scales.
The combined estimate was $1.4 trillion higher than Forbes’ $6.6 trillion total for the 2025 list. A fortune of $4.4 billion was needed to qualify in 2026, $600 million above the previous year’s cutoff. Forbes based its calculations on share prices as of Sept. 4, 2026.
Forbes linked the higher entry threshold to expansion in artificial intelligence and data-center businesses and strength in U.S. equities. Chase Peterson-Withorn, Forbes’ assistant managing editor, called the period “a golden era for billionaire wealth creation.”
Federal Reserve data show the top 1% share rose from 22.8% in Q3 1989 to 32.5% in Q2 2026. Over the same span, the bottom half’s share declined from 3.5% to 2.3%. These percentages represent portions of household net worth, not household income or the number of people in each group.
The two measures cover different populations. Forbes estimates individual fortunes, while the Federal Reserve’s Distributional Financial Accounts track net worth shares across household wealth groups each quarter. The accounts draw on the Financial Accounts of the United States and Survey of Consumer Finances data.
A separate Federal Reserve series puts the top 0.1% share at 15.0% in Q2 2026, compared with 8.6% in Q3 1989. Those figures apply to a narrower group than the top 1% figures of 32.5% and 22.8%.
