AEIdeas December 05, 2025 The latest “ Billionaires Ambitions Report ” from UBS, a bank, offers an informative snapshot of how wealth is created at the tippy top. But no need for any populist pearl-clutching. The picture painted by the analysis runs firmly counter to the all-too-familiar political narrative—on both the progressive left and the nationalist right—that billionaire wealth mainly reflects market power, rent-seeking, or more broadly an inherently unfair system that’s fundamentally tilted toward established elites. Instead, the report suggests America remains one of the world’s most reliable economic engines for turning savvy entrepreneurial bets into extraordinary wealth. UBS counted 87 new self-made billionaires in the United States last year. That accounts for nearly half of all new entrepreneurial billionaires worldwide. These stats underscore a system that continues to reward founders who take big swings in high-growth sectors where innovation drives demand and opportunity (even though, as economist William Nordhaus has shown , innovators typically capture only about 2 percent of the total value their inventions generate). Just look at some of the sectors where entrepreneurs struck it rich. Ben Lamm co-founded Colossal Biosciences, a de-extinction and genetics company using advanced gene-editing tools. Michael Dorrell is chairman and CEO of Stonepeak, an infrastructure investment firm that backs critical assets from data centers and broadband networks to energy infrastructure. And Robert Pender and Mike Sabel co-founded Venture Global, a leading U.S. LNG exporter that went public in January 2025. These companies operate in sectors where technological and operational breakthroughs—not regulatory protection—determine success. For all the political rhetoric about billionaire excess, these profiles don’t look much like oligarchy in action. What stands out in the report is not only where new U.S. wealth comes from but where it doesn’t. In contrast to regions where inherited fortunes dominate, UBS’ examples of new U.S. billionaires overwhelmingly arise from building and scaling businesses. In other words, they create huge value. That, even as inherited wealth is rising globally. (Overall, roughly three-fourths of American billionaires are self made, compared with fewer than half across Western Europe.”) From the report: A fresh generation of billionaires is steadily emerging. In a highly uncertain time for geopolitics and economics, entrepreneurs are innovating at scale across a range of sectors and markets. They’re creating wealth as they do so. U.S. policymakers will debate how to regulate or tax these fortunes, but the economic engine UBS documents is hard to mistake. America still produces billionaires in a pro-market way—by creating new industries, new technologies, and new markets. It’s reality that should inform Washington’s decisions. Source: https://www.aei.org/economics/americas-billionaire-engine-still-runs-on-innovation/