Soaring dynastic wealth contrasts sharply with hunger across the Muslim world
Global wealth ranking highlights vast fortunes held by a handful of Muslim ruling families, even as poverty, hunger, and inequality deepen across much of Muslim world and beyond
WASHINGTON (MNTV) – At a time when conflict, displacement, and climate disasters are pushing millions toward hunger, a small cluster of families, including powerful dynasties from Muslim-majority countries, is accumulating wealth at an unprecedented pace.
According to Bloomberg’s World’s Richest Families 2025 report, the 25 richest families in the world now control $2.9 trillion, after adding $358.7 billion in a single year.
That amount is larger than the annual GDP of many Muslim-majority countries combined. Several of these fortunes are concentrated in the Muslim world.
The Al Nahyan family of the United Arab Emirates, anchored in Abu Dhabi’s oil wealth and state-linked investments, holds an estimated $335.9 billion.
Saudi Arabia’s ruling Al Saud family controls at least $213.6 billion, built on oil revenues, land deals, and close ties to state institutions. Qatar’s Al Thani family, enriched by natural gas exports and global investments, is worth about $199.5 billion.
Bloomberg notes that in Gulf monarchies, wealth and power often overlap, with royal family members holding key political and economic positions, blurring the line between public resources and private fortunes. This concentration of wealth mirrors a broader global trend.
According to international inequality studies, the richest 1 percent of the world’s population owns nearly half of global wealth, while the bottom 50 pc owns barely 2 pc.
In other words, a tiny elite of a few tens of millions controls more resources than the remaining four billion people combined.
The human cost of this imbalance is stark.
United Nations agencies estimate that around 9 million people die every year from hunger and hunger-related causes, while more than 730 million people worldwide face chronic undernourishment.
A significant share of them live in Muslim-majority regions affected by war, sanctions, debt, and climate stress, including parts of Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.
From Palestine to Yemen, from Sudan to Afghanistan, hunger today is rarely the result of food scarcity alone.
It is driven by poverty, conflict, and unequal access to wealth and power. This makes the contrast with soaring elite fortunes even sharper.
Islamic economic ethics place strong emphasis on zakat, sadaqah, and social justice, framing wealth as a trust rather than an entitlement. Yet the Bloomberg data shows fortunes compounding at the very top.
The minimum wealth required to enter the richest families list has jumped to $46.4 billion, up nearly $10 billion from last year, locking global wealth even further into a narrow circle.
As a handful of Muslim and non-Muslim dynasties expand their influence across global markets, millions across the Muslim world struggle for daily bread.
The figures raise uncomfortable questions: not only about inequality, but about responsibility, redistribution, and the moral economy in an age of extreme concentration of wealth.
Key points at a glance
- $2.9 trillion in total wealth is controlled by just 25 families worldwide, according to Bloomberg’s 2025 ranking
- These families added $358.7 billion in new wealth in one year alone, driven by stock markets, commodities, and inherited power
- The Walton family (Walmart) tops the list with $513.4 billion, the largest family fortune ever recorded
- Muslim ruling families feature prominently among the richest:
- Al Nahyan family (UAE): $335.9 billion
- Al Saud family (Saudi Arabia): $213.6 billion
- Al Thani family (Qatar): $199.5 billion
- Bloomberg notes a blurring of state power and private wealth in several Gulf monarchies, where ruling families dominate politics and the economy
- The minimum wealth needed to enter the list has risen to $46.4 billion, nearly $10 billion higher than last year
- Most fortunes are multi-generational, with wealth passing through royal lineages and family dynasties, not first-generation entrepreneurship
- Key sources of wealth include oil and gas, mining, retail, luxury goods, finance and state-linked industries
- The combined wealth of these families exceeds the GDP of many Muslim-majority countries, highlighting extreme global inequality
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