A version of this article appeared for the first time in Inside Wealth Newsletter of CNBC with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the investor and consumer with high shuttle. Register To receive future editions, directly in your reception box.
The highest 10% of the Americans added 5 billions of dollars to their wealth in the second quarter while the stock market rally continued to benefit the largest investors, according to new data in the Federal Reserve.
The total wealth of the most important 10% – or those that have a net value of more than $ 2 million – reached a record of 113 billions of dollars in the second quarter, compared to 108 billions of dollars in the first quarter, according to the Fed. The increase follows three years of continuous growth for those at the top, the 10% higher adding more than 40 dollars of dollars to their wealth since 2020.
All wealth groups have seen earnings in the past year, with the net value of the lower half of Americans increasing 6% in the past 12 months, according to Fed data. However, growth was the fastest for those at the top. The highest 1% saw their wealth increase by $ 4 billions in the past year, an increase of 7%. Their wealth reached a record of $ 52 billion in the second quarter.
The highest 0.1% saw their wealth increase by 10% in the past year. From the pandemic, the highest 0.1%, or those who have a net value of at least $ 46 million, have seen their total wealth almost double for $ 23 billion.
Despite recent faster growth at the top, total actions of wealth held by the upper level have remained quite stable for decades. The highest 1% held 29% of the total household wealth in the second quarter, compared to 28% in 2000. The highest 10% held 67% of the total wealth of households during the quarter, while the lowest 90% held 33%.
The largest engine of wealth gains at the top of this year was the stock market. The value of shares and shares of common funds for companies held by the highest 10% increased from $ 39 billions to more than $ 44 billions in the past year. The highest 10% of Americans hold more than 87% of the stocks of companies and common fundraising shares.
The population of ultra-rich also increases quickly. The number of Americans in Ultra-High-North North, or those worth $ 30 million or more, increased by 6.5% in the first half of 2025, after having increased by 21% last year, according to a new Altrata report. In the United States, 208,090 Ultra-High-Norte individuals, representing 41% of the world total.
The richness that increases at the top has created an increasingly bifurcated consumption economy, with the rich representing an increasing part of overall expenses. Consumers in the highest 10% of the distribution of income represented 49.2% of consumption expenditure in the second quarter, marking the highest level since the data began to be compiled in 1989, according to Mark Zandi at Moody’s Analytics.
The so-called “economy in K has performed well so far, at least according to large economic measures such as GDP and consumption. However, increasing dependence on a small ribbon of consumers at the top has risks.
Zandi said that a deep and prolonged drop in the scholarship, which leads to almost all wealth gains at the top, could send wider undulations in the economy.
“The economy is largely fueled by the expenses of the extraordinarily easy, which are applauded by the growing value of their stock portfolios,” he said. “If the richly (above) stock market was to trip, for any reason, and the affluent see more red on their stock tickers than green, they will quickly become more cautious in their expenses, constituting a serious threat to the already fragile economy.”