The Global Wealthiest's Selling Frenzy: The 2025 World Richest Ranking and Tech Tycoons' Cash-Out Strategies

Over the past year, the global list of the richest people has witnessed an unprecedented wave of asset disposals. Although these tech empire magnates frequently publicly express their unwavering belief in AI technology, in reality, they are selling their company stocks at record-breaking scales. This phenomenon reflects not only the escalating market risks but also the deep strategic game between global wealth rankings and wealth allocation.

The Richest Person Disposition Phenomenon: Over $19 Billion Cash-Out Wave

According to Forbes’ 2025 statistics, during the entire year, the top tech giants in the world’s richest rankings accumulated over $19 billion in cash through direct stock reductions. This figure is particularly astonishing—among the top 20 billionaires, 14 have cashed out at least $500 million.

These cash-outs occurred amid stock prices at historic highs. The entire tech sector experienced valuation increases driven by the AI boom, with many companies reaching new highs. However, just as the market was thriving, key figures in the world’s richest list were quietly planning their “escape.” This indicates a profound skepticism among top billionaires about the sustainability of the current market—actions backed by real cash speak louder than any public statements.

Wealth Rankings and Disposition Strategies: The Wisdom of Selling at Highs

Risk Warning: Lessons from the CoreWeave Case

AI data center company CoreWeave went public in March 2025, shortly after which its executive team demonstrated excellent timing in their disposals. Chief Business Officer Brannon Mebane, Director and Investor Jack Cogen, and Chief Strategy Officer Brian Venturo began large-scale selling shortly after the IPO, cashing out $473 million, $488 million, and $289 million worth of shares respectively.

This decision was fully validated by facts. By August, CoreWeave’s stock was halved, with market concerns over its debt issues and construction progress ultimately leading to a sharp decline. However, these three executives had already preemptively sold shares, successfully avoiding the subsequent downturn. Industry consensus generally views CoreWeave’s stock performance as somewhat reflective of bubble risks in the entire AI industry. From this perspective, their disposals were not only personal wealth management victories but also precise industry cycle timing.

Top Cash-Outs in the Global Wealth Rankings

In the landscape of wealth reduction among the world’s richest, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos leads with a cash-out of $5.6 billion. This global richest person holds multiple sources of funds—some of which are allocated to his mysterious AI startup project “Prometheus Project” (which has raised over $6 billion), others to Blue Origin rockets, and some for real estate and venture capital. This is essentially a strategic reshaping of his diversified empire.

Second place goes to Michael Dell, who cashed out $2.2 billion. Dell adopted a different approach—he pledged to donate $6.25 billion to American children’s charities. This seemingly “generous” decision cleverly combined with his disposals, significantly reducing tax burdens through tax planning. It demonstrates top billionaires’ deep understanding of optimizing wealth structures.

Third is Safra Catz, former CEO of Oracle, a special case. She announced her resignation as CEO in September, transitioning to an advisory role. At this moment, Oracle hit a record high due to its AI data center expansion plans. Catz’s timing was impeccable—she sold $1.9 billion worth of Oracle stock, with her disposals accounting for over two-thirds of her net worth. Compared to other billionaires, Catz’s net worth may be smaller (around $2.8 billion), but her disposal proportion is the highest, showing her firm stance on high-level exits.

Comparing Two Disposition Strategies: Selling Stocks vs. Pledging

In the global wealth ranking disposals, two notable absentees are Elon Musk, the world’s richest, and Larry Ellison, the fourth wealthiest.

Neither directly sold stocks but chose a roundabout route: stock pledges. Musk pledged hundreds of millions of Tesla shares, and Ellison pledged a large amount of Oracle stock. The brilliance of this approach lies in their ability to obtain liquidity equivalent to stock value for various investments and expenses while completely avoiding the massive tax burdens associated with outright disposals. In an era where the rankings of the world’s richest are changing more frequently, this strategy appears even more sophisticated—avoiding locking in gains through sales and avoiding tax costs, while stocks still retain potential for appreciation on paper.

In contrast, those who directly sell stocks adopt a “cash in hand” strategy. They submit pre-arranged trading plans to the SEC, setting specific stock price targets as automatic triggers for disposals, systematically clearing holdings when prices are high. Although this incurs tax costs, it guarantees capital safety and diversification of investments.

Interpreting the Disposers: Wealth Secrets Beyond the World’s Richest List

Throughout 2025, besides top-tier billionaires like Bezos, Dell, and Catz, many entrepreneurs with relatively low presence in the world’s richest rankings have also made large disposals.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sold $1.1 billion worth of stock, ranking fourth. Although his net worth of $152 billion is substantial, his cautious disposals amid the AI chip boom suggest that even in high-growth companies, management remains somewhat reserved about the outlook.

Arista Networks founder Jayshree Ullal sold $1 billion, Applovin co-founder Herald Chen sold $710 million, Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman sold $680 million. While these billionaires are less well-known than internet giants’ founders, their disposal scales are equally large. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong, and others also feature prominently, with disposals of $640 million and $570 million respectively.

The story behind this list is: an increasing number of tech elites are taking concrete actions against current market overvaluation, and these actions are implicitly linked to fluctuations in global wealth rankings.

The Deep Logic of Disposals: Perfect Alignment of Pre-Set Plans and Market Timing

Most disposals are executed through pre-set trading plans established months in advance. This system was originally designed to prevent insider trading allegations, but in practice, the cash-out behaviors of billionaires often align closely with macroeconomic cycles.

This “coincidence” is no accident. The key conditions in trading plans—the frequency, scale, and trigger timing of disposals—are mostly decided by the billionaires or their advisory teams based on predetermined goals. They often set stock price levels as automatic triggers for disposals. This means that, through scientific planning, they ensure that they can initiate disposals when stock prices are high, achieving optimal cash-out timing.

When stock prices remain high (which is the current market state), more preset conditions are triggered, leading to more disposals. This is not coincidence but the result of systematic design.

Conclusion: Wealth Allocation Shifts Behind the World’s Richest List

The 2025 wave of tech billionaire disposals fundamentally reflects the top players’ collective anticipation of market risks in the global wealth rankings. It is not merely individual wealth management decisions but a strategic adjustment by the entire wealth elite after the AI boom.

From the perspective of the world’s richest rankings, these disposers have achieved multi-layered wealth allocation through cashing out, pledging, and charitable planning. Whether it’s Bezos’s diversified layout, Dell’s charitable strategy, or Musk and Ellison’s pledge tactics, each choice demonstrates top billionaires’ unique understanding of risk and opportunity. In an era of ever-evolving wealth rankings, this flexibility in wealth management may well be the true secret to their long-term wealth advantage.