Global Billionaire Report: Elon Musk Leads Wealth Gains, DeepSeek Founder's Wealth Surges 3,850%
A global wealth report by BestBrokers reveals that Elon Musk's net worth increased by $319.5 billion over a one-year period ending July 2026, while DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng experienced the fastest growth rate with a 3,850% surge. The massive surge in Liang Wenfeng's wealth highlights the explosive growth and financial impact of the generative AI boom, particularly the rise of cost-effective Chinese AI startups like DeepSeek. Liang Wenfeng's net worth jumped from $1 billion to $39.5 billion, placing him among the world's top 50 richest people, while Oracle CEO Larry Ellison suffered the largest wealth decline, losing $138.7 billion.
## BACKGROUND
DeepSeek is a Chinese AI company founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, who also runs the hedge fund High-Flyer. The company gained global attention in early 2025 with the release of its DeepSeek-R1 model, which delivered performance comparable to top Western models like OpenAI's GPT-4 but at a fraction of the training cost.