Artificial intelligence is creating wealth at an unprecedented speed and scale, spawning a new generation of billionaires.
According to CB Insights data, there are currently 498 AI 'unicorn' companies globally valued at over $1 billion (approximately 327 billion yuan), with a total value of $2.7 trillion (approximately 8 trillion 829 billion yuan). Among them, over 100 companies established in 2023 and later are valued at over $100 million (approximately 3.26 billion yuan).
At the core of this wealth feast is the astonishing fundraising ability and ever-increasing valuations of AI startups. Anthropic is negotiating to raise $5 billion (approximately 163 billion yuan) at a valuation of $170 billion (approximately 554.2 billion yuan), nearly doubling its valuation since March. Thinking Machines Lab, founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, completed a $2 billion (approximately 65.2 billion yuan) seed round financing in July, setting the record for the largest seed round in history.
This round of wealth creation is not limited to startups; the soaring stock prices of public tech giants like Nvidia, Meta, and Microsoft, along with the booming infrastructure companies such as data centers, together form the panorama of this AI wealth explosion.
Andrew McAfee, a principal researcher at MIT, stated, "Looking back at 100 years of data, we have never seen such scale and speed of wealth creation; this is unprecedented."
A new group of billionaires is rapidly emerging.
This year's significant financing rounds are mass-producing new billionaires. According to Bloomberg's estimates in March, the four largest private AI companies have created at least 15 billionaires with a total net worth of $38 billion (approximately 1 trillion 239 billion yuan). Since then, over ten unicorn companies have emerged.
According to media reports citing informed sources, Anthropic AI's CEO Dario Amodei and his six co-founders are likely now billionaires. Additionally, Anysphere was valued at $9.9 billion (approximately 322.5 billion yuan) during financing in June, and weeks later reportedly received valuation offers between $18 billion and $20 billion (approximately 586 billion to 651.2 billion yuan), likely making its 25-year-old founder and CEO Michael Truell a billionaire.
It is noteworthy that most AI wealth currently exists in the form of 'paper wealth' within unlisted companies, making it difficult for founders and equity holders to cash out immediately.
Unlike the late 1990s when many companies rushed to IPO during the internet bubble, today's AI startups are able to remain private for a longer time due to ongoing investments from venture capital, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and other tech investors.
Despite the narrowing of IPO channels, AI nouveaux riches do have ways to convert paper wealth into liquidity. The rapid development of the secondary market provides them opportunities to sell equity, and structured secondary sales or tender offers are becoming increasingly common.
The ongoing secondary stock sale negotiations at OpenAI are a typical example aimed at providing employees with cash. Additionally, many founders can also borrow against their equity.
Mergers and acquisitions are another important liquidity event. According to CB Insights, there have been 73 liquidity events in the AI industry since 2023, including mergers, IPOs, reverse mergers, or majority stake acquisitions.
For example, after Meta invested $14.3 billion (approximately 465.5 billion yuan) in Scale AI, its founder Alexandr Wang joined Meta's AI team. Meanwhile, Scale AI co-founder Lucy Guo, after leaving the company in 2018, used her equity wealth to purchase a mansion in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles for about $30 million (approximately 978 million yuan).
Wealth creation is highly concentrated in the Bay Area.
This wave of AI enthusiasm is geographically concentrated in the San Francisco Bay Area, reminiscent of Silicon Valley during the internet era.
According to data from the Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies, last year companies in Silicon Valley secured over $35 billion (approximately 1 trillion 141.4 billion yuan) in venture capital. Additionally, reports from New World Wealth and Henley & Partners indicate that the number of billionaires in San Francisco has reached 82, surpassing New York's 66. Over the past decade, the population of millionaires in the Bay Area has doubled, while New York's increase was 45%.
The influx of wealth has directly boosted the local economy. According to Sotheby’s International Realty data, the number of homes sold in San Francisco for over $20 million (approximately 65.2 million yuan) reached a record high last year. This city, which faced a 'doom loop' a few years ago, is now experiencing a significant rise in rent, housing prices, and demand due to AI-driven demand.
McAfee stated, "The geographical concentration of this AI wave is astonishing. Those who know how to start, fund, and grow tech companies are all there. For 25 years, I've been hearing people say, 'This is the end of Silicon Valley' or that some place is the 'new Silicon Valley,' but Silicon Valley is still Silicon Valley."
The wealth management industry faces new opportunities and challenges.
Over time and with potential future IPOs, the enormous wealth created by these private AI companies today will eventually become more liquid, bringing historic opportunities to the wealth management industry.
According to tech consultants, all mainstream private banks, large brokerage firms, and boutique investment banks are actively reaching out to AI elites, hoping to win their business.
However, serving this group of nouveau riche is not easy. Simon Krinsky, managing director of Pathstone, pointed out that most AI wealth remains locked in illiquid private company equity. He believes that the proportion of illiquidity in the wealth of new AI billionaires is much higher than that of employees who previously worked at large public companies like Meta or Google.
Krinsky predicts that AI billionaires will follow a similar behavior pattern to the internet nouveau riche of the 1990s: initially investing excess liquidity into similar tech companies they understand through connections, and after experiencing concentrated risks in a highly volatile and speculative industry, ultimately turning to professional wealth management services for diversification and protection.
This article is reprinted with permission from: (Deep Tide TechFlow)
Original title: (AI Creating Wealth at a Record Pace)
Original author: Li Xiaoyin
'There are currently 498 AI unicorns globally! AI is rapidly creating wealth, and new billionaires are emerging.' This article was first published in 'Crypto City.'
