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For many Americans, 2025 wasnt a great year financially. The affordability crisis and general economic concerns became defining themes of the year as people dealt with rising costs and a worsening job market. But for billionaires, 2025 was a boon to their already exuberant wealth. The 15 richest billionaires in the United States saw their wealth grow by more than $1 trillion over 2025, according to a new analysis from the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank As of the end of 2025, those 15 billionaireseach with assets over $100 billionhave a combined wealth of $3.2 trillion, up from $2.4 trillion a year ago. Thats a gain of 33%, which is more than double the growth of the S&P 500 in the same time period, the Institute for Policy Studies notes. Over 2025, the S&P 500 rose 16%. (A double-digit gain is strong, but it is down from recent years; the S&P 500 returned 23% in 2024, and 24% in 2023.) How the wealth of the top 5 richest billionaires has changed Not only did billionaires get richer in 2025, but more Americans became billionaires. At the end of 2024, there were 813 billionaires in the U.S., according to an Institute for Policy Studies analysis of Forbes data. Those billionaires had a combined wealth of $6.72 trillion. By the end of 2025, there were 935 billionaires in the U.S., and their combined wealth totaled $8.1 trillion. When Forbes first began tracking the 400 wealthiest Americans in 1982, there were just 13 billionaires on the list. The top five wealthiest billionaires have changed over the last year, too. At the beginning of 2025, the top wealthiest billionaires were Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Google cofounder Larry Page. This year, Zuckerberg was bumped off that list, and Google cofounder Sergey Brin joined its ranks; 2025 was the best year for Googles stock since 2009, with shares growing 65%, buoyed in part by the tech giants push into artificial intelligence. In contrast, the stock price for Zuckerbergs Meta Platforms grew about 13%. Though Meta also focused on AI, its strategy was more scattershot, experts have said, leading to internal confusion and the tech company falling behind other AI leaders. In its analysis, the Institute for Policy Studies broke down the current top five billionaires, and how their wealth increased from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2026. They are: Elon Musk of Tesla/X and SpaceX: worth $726 billion, up from $421 billion a year ago Larry Page of Google: worth $257 billion, up from $156 billion a year ago Larry Ellison of Oracle: worth $245.billion, up from $209 billion a year ago Jeff Bezos of Amazon: worth $242.billion, up from $233.5 billion a year ago Sergey Brin of Google: worth $237 billion, up from $148.9 billion a year ago The rich got even richer all around the world. According to a Bloomberg analysis, global billionaire wealth increased $2.2 trillion. (That analysis was released several days before December 31.) An affordability crisis for average Americans This stark increase in wealth among the already wealthy comes as many Americans are struggling with affordability. Nearly half of Americans surveyed in a November 2025 Politico poll said they find it difficult to afford groceries, utility bills, healthcare, housing, and transportation. Last year was filled with these stories: about grocery prices increasing, utility bills skyrocketing, and healthcare premiums surging ahead of the expiration of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies. This crisis is expected to get even worse, experts say, as cuts to programs like Medicaid and food stamps will take effect in 2026. Those cuts are part of President Trumps budget bill, which he called the Big Beautiful Bill and signed into law 2025. The cost-of-living crisis has led to a new public focus on both affordability and wealth inequality. That was seen in the election victory of Zohran Mamdani, who was sworn in as New York City mayor on January 1. Mamdani campaigned on making New York more affordable, and received notable support from public figures, including Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former labor secretary Robert Reich, both of whom have frequently criticized billionaires. More everyday Americans seem to be paying attention to inequality and criticizing billionaires, too. In a 2025 Harris Poll, nearly three-quarters of Americans said wealth inequality is a serious national issue, and 67% said billionaires are “creating more of an unfair society.”
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E-Commerce
Americas National Parks offer some of the countrys most impressive vistas and that fact draws hundreds of millions of people to the parks each year. But more changes are on the way for the National Parks in 2026 and visitors arent likely to be happy with all of them. Anyone traveling to visit a destination thats part of the park system especially from abroad should expect to see an array of new policies implemented under the Trump administration, which already made sweeping cuts to the parks budget and began to weave its America first agenda into some of the countrys most cherished places in 2025. On some level, the Trump administration is trying to reshape the National Parks system into a microcosm of its own ideology, with perks for Americans, higher costs for everyone else, and a new aesthetic that puts a very specific idea of patriotism at its center. Entry changes on the way this year Starting in 2026, the parks will offer more dates with free entry for visitors, but only U.S. residents will get in for free. The Trump administration will remove existing free admission dates on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth, while adding a new holiday for President Trumps birthday. The new patriotic fee-free dates, are as follows: Presidents Day (February 16, 2026) Memorial Day (May 25, 2026) Flag Day/President Trumps birthday (June 14, 2026) Independence Day weekend (July 35, 2026) 110th Birthday of the National Park Service (August 25, 2026) Constitution Day (Sept. 17, 2026) Theodore Roosevelts birthday (Oct. 27, 2026) Veterans Day (November 11, 2026) For days with normal admission, entry into the parks can be obtained through a day pass (previously $35 or less for a vehicle with a lower cost for visitors without a car) or with the annual America the Beautiful pass. While some parks dont charge admission at all, the most visited parks do and thats where park visitors are likely to notice the changes. In many instances, day pass pricing will go up for non-U.S. residents, who will now need to pay $100 per person to get into 11 of the most popular parks. Parks with higher day fees starting this year are Acadia, Bryce Canyon, Everglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Zion National Parks. The annual pass will continue to cost $80 for U.S. residents, but the price will shoot up to $250 for visitors who dont live in the U.S. President Trumps leadership always puts American families first, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said. These policies ensure that U.S. taxpayers, who already support the National Park System, continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations. Motorcycle riders will also get special status under the 2026 changes. Starting this year, one annual pass covers entry for two motorcycles, making national park adventures more accessible for riders and families who travel on two wheels. While that news is a boon for motorcyclists, it may also put an additional burden on parks where two-wheeled accidents are common. Because many of Americas most beautiful places also feature winding roads, dramatic cliffs and quick-changing weather, motorcycle accidents feature prominently in the incident reports that track injuries and fatalities in the National Parks. Changing a well-loved design to be patriotic Controversially, the administration will also change the design for the annual passes, which traditionally feature animals and nature scenes showcasing a particular parks natural beauty. This year, the Trump administration will introduce new, modernized graphics for all annual passes, featuring bold, patriotic designs, a change that has many annual passholders on social media brainstorming workarounds to avoid a possible Trump-centric design, including vinyl stickers that raise money for the National Parks Foundation. Many annual parks pass holders, author included, collect the passes from year to year and enjoy discovering each years fresh nature design. The look and price of the annual pass isnt the only thing changing. This year will be the first to introduce a digital version of the America the Beautiful pass. The system previously relied on National Parks visitors holding onto a credit card-sized pass for a full calendar year, with little recourse if they misplaced it. The digital pass option, new designs notwithstanding, is one of the only new pass changes that even Trumps critics will probably appreciate in 2026. Many changes already swept the National Parks in 2025 2025 was a year of dramatic change to the National Parks system, which is still reeling from the government shutdown, budget cuts and additional strain to its already tight resources. In March, the Trump administration directed the U.S. Department of the Interior to remove any displayed signage, books, monuments or installations that “inappropriately disparage Americans, past or living.” In an executive order, the Trump administration claimed that a corrosive ideology spread by political opponents like the Biden administration unfairly painted a picture of America as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed. Instead of capturing accurate historical accounts that place the national parks into context, the Trump administration prioritizes painting America in a positive light and glossing over the more complex human story of many of the countrys most beautiful places, which often sit on land once occupied by Native American tribes. A rocky year for parks employees New policies reshaping the National Parks in 2026 may do little to address the underlying problems the NPS faces, many of which have been worsened by the Trump administration itself. An investigation by The New York Times found that over 90 National Parks reported problems between April and July 2025 related to federal budget cuts, staff departures and a freeze on hiring. Those problems include reduced visitor center hours, skipped visitor fees, vanishing educational programming and even dirtier bathrooms, as a smaller parks workforce is spread even thinner than before. Since Trump took office, the NPS has lost a quarter of its permanent workers, including many who accepted the administrations buyout offer for federal employees. At least 20 percent of the national parks were understaffed or significantly strained in 2025, according to internal interior department data obtained by the Times. Many parks also face other serious issues that could impact visitor safety, including a growing backlog of trail maintenance tasks and a reduced emergency services response a risky proposition in some of Americas wildest landscapes. Outgoing director of the National Park Service Charles F. Chuck Sams, the first Native American named to lead the NPS, expressed deep concern about the impact on park staff in an interview with Underscore Native News early this year. How can the national parks be healthy and happy if their staff are not healthy and happy? Sams asked. I have great concerns for the staff of the National Park Service. You can feel their angst, their confusion and their frustration and their anger.
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This new year comes with a new moon. Skywatchers are in for a treat this weekend as 2026 rings in the first supermoon of the year, along with a Quadrantid meteor shower. The January full “wolf moon” is forecast to appear overnight into tomorrow morning Saturday, January 3, peaking at 5:03 a.m. ET when it will be at its fullest, according to EarthSky. However, don’t be fooled: It will appear full both nights, due to its close proximity to Earth (making it appear 14% larger), and proximity to Jupiter and Gemini’s twin starsall of which will make it appear even brighter. All that light, however, could make it harder to see the Quadrantid meteor shower: bright, short-lived fireballs that can streak across the sky at up to 120 per hour, and come from debris left behind by asteroid 2003 EH1. January’s supermoon is, technically, the last in a string of four consecutive supermoons that started in late 2025. Simultaneously, it’s the first of three supermoons on deck for 2026. The others follow in November and December. Why is it called a wolf moon? January’s annual “wolf moon” is thought to be named after the animal, which is known to howl during long winter nights, per the Old Farmer’s Almanac. Native Americans used the moons to track the seasons, and the wolf moon may have gotten its name from European settlers. How to view this ‘wolf moon’ To view the wolf moon, look to the eastern horizon tonight at dusk, Friday January 2, right before sunset. “It will appear particularly large while close to the horizon thanks to a phenomenon called the “moon illusion,” a visual effect that makes low-hanging moons seem oversized,” according to Space.com. (Also, check out the sunset on Saturday, January 3, for same effect.) This winter’s supermoon will be easier and more convenient to see because it will be visible low in the sky once its dark, and then climb higher in the sky, according to BBC’s Sky at Night magazine.
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