The story

Forbes released its 45th annual Forbes 400 list, showing the 400 wealthiest Americans are collectively worth a record $8 trillion, up $1.4 trillion from last year. The minimum net worth to make the list rose to $4.4 billion, $600 million higher than last year and a new record. Elon Musk holds the top spot for the fifth year in a row with an estimated net worth of $908 billion, the highest ever on the annual Forbes 400 list. Musk briefly became the world's first trillionaire during SpaceX's June IPO. Jeff Bezos ranks second and Larry Page ranks third.

The AI boom drove much of this year's wealth creation. Seven of 34 newcomers to the list built their fortunes in AI, including OpenAI cofounder Greg Brockman, worth an estimated $25.5 billion, and four Anthropic cofounders. Tom Brown, Daniela Amodei, Jack Clark, and Sam McCandlish are each worth an estimated $15.5 billion and tied for number 75. Anthropic was valued at $965 billion after a $65 billion funding round in May. The youngest person on the list is Steven Hao, 30, cofounder of Cognition, whose company closed a $2 billion round at a $48 billion valuation in September.

President Donald Trump's net worth fell to $7 billion from $7.3 billion, dropping him from number 201 to number 245 in his second presidential term. The decline came amid falling prices of his memecoin and Trump Media & Technology Group. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick ranks number 235 with $7.3 billion. Warren Buffett ranks tenth overall with $144 billion. Alice Walton is the wealthiest woman on the list with $118 billion, ranking 13th overall. Twelve states have no residents on the Forbes 400.