There have never been more billionaires on the planet than in 2026: According to an Oxfam report released earlier this year, there are now more than 3,000 people sitting on 10-digit fortunes. Leading the ranks is Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has a net worth of $659 billion, followed by Alphabet cofounder Larry Page at $264 billion.
China is increasingly not the big, bad wolf in the eyes of young people, who are encountering the country through cultural touch points like the ugly-but-cute Labubu dolls and innovations like TikTok rather than national security threats. They're more focused on kitchen table issues such as a discouraging job market for entry-level workers, inflationary pressures pinching their wallets and the growing sense that America's fractured political system doesn't work for them.
The murder of Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in June. An arson fire at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's house in April. The shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York sidewalk in December. Before that, the hammer attack that nearly killed Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul, at their San Francisco home, and two attempted assassinations of President Trump. The events have shaken people on the left and the right.