Entrepreneurship
The World’s Most Innovative Economies
The World’s 10 Most Innovative Economies
In the 21st century, innovation has become the heart and soul of economic policy. Developed and developing nations alike are in the race to leave industrialization behind, adapting instead to technology-focused, entrepreneurial societies.
Customized cancer treatment, faux meat products, and the smart home technologies are frequently positioned as ‘the next big thing’. But which countries are consistently innovating the most?
Today’s graphic comes from the seventh annual Bloomberg Innovation Index and highlights the 10 most innovative economies, and the seven metrics used to rank 2019’s top contenders.
Measuring Innovation
Bloomberg calculated each country’s innovation score using seven equally-weighted metrics.
- R&D Spending
All research and development funding invested in an economy each year. - Patent Activity
Number of domestic patents filed, total patent grants, patents per population, filings per GDP, and total grants awarded measured against the global total. - Tertiary Efficiency
Total enrollment at post-secondary institutions, graduation levels, and number of science and engineering graduates. - Manufacturing Value-added
Manufacturing output levels that contribute to exports and domestic economic growth. - Productivity
Overall productivity levels of the working-age population. - High-tech Density
Number of domestic high-tech public companies, measured against the number of domestic public companies and the global total of public high-tech companies. - Researcher Concentration
Number of professionals currently engaged in research and development roles.
More than 200 countries were initially considered for Bloomberg’s Innovation Index. Any country reporting in less than six categories was automatically eliminated, leaving 95 countries remaining. Bloomberg publishes the results for the top 60 most innovative economies each year.
Notable Countries in the Top 60
The U.S. rejoined the top 10 after dropping to 11th in 2018 for low scores in education. Israel moved up five spots to 5th place, while Romania made the largest overall gain, jumping six spots to rank in the top 30.
| 2019 Rank | Economy | Total Score | Change in Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 87.38 | 0 |
| #2 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 87.3 | 2 |
| #3 | 🇫🇮 Finland | 85.57 | 4 |
| #4 | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 85.49 | 1 |
| #5 | 🇮🇱 Israel | 84.78 | 5 |
| #6 | 🇸🇬 Singapore | 84.49 | -3 |
| #7 | 🇸🇪 Sweden | 84.15 | -5 |
| #8 | 🇺🇸 United States | 83.21 | 3 |
| #9 | 🇯🇵 Japan | 81.96 | -3 |
| #10 | 🇫🇷 France | 81.67 | -1 |
| #11 | Denmark | 81.66 | -3 |
| #12 | Austria | 80.98 | 0 |
| #13 | Belgium | 80.43 | 1 |
| #14 | Ireland | 80.08 | -1 |
| #15 | Netherlands | 79.54 | 1 |
| #16 | China | 78.35 | 3 |
| #17 | Norway | 77.79 | -2 |
| #18 | United Kingdom | 75.87 | -1 |
| #19 | Australia | 75.38 | -1 |
| #20 | Canada | 73.65 | 2 |
| #21 | Italy | 72.85 | -1 |
| #22 | Poland | 69.1 | -1 |
| #23 | Iceland | 68.41 | 1 |
| #24 | New Zealand | 68.12 | -1 |
| #25 | Czech Republic | 68.09 | 3 |
| #26 | Malaysia | 67.61 | 0 |
| #27 | Russia | 66.81 | -2 |
| #28 | Luxembourg | 66.37 | 4 |
| #29 | Romania | 64.78 | 6 |
| #30 | Spain | 64.52 | -1 |
| #31 | Slovenia | 64.11 | - |
| #32 | Hungary | 63.05 | -5 |
| #33 | Turkey | 62.89 | 0 |
| #34 | Portugal | 62.79 | -4 |
| #35 | Greece | 62.05 | -4 |
| #36 | Estonia | 61.79 | 0 |
| #37 | Lithuania | 59.73 | -3 |
| #38 | Hong Kong | 58.9 | -1 |
| #39 | Slovakia | 58.03 | -1 |
| #40 | Thailand | 57.77 | 5 |
| #41 | Bulgaria | 56.36 | 0 |
| #42 | Latvia | 55.46 | -2 |
| #43 | Malta | 55.43 | -4 |
| #44 | Croatia | 54.98 | -2 |
| #45 | Brazil | 53.62 | - |
| #46 | U.A.E. | 52.93 | - |
| #47 | Iran | 52.81 | 2 |
| #48 | Cyprus | 52.05 | -1 |
| #49 | Serbia | 51.35 | -5 |
| #50 | Argentina | 51.31 | - |
| #51 | South Africa | 51.03 | -3 |
| #52 | Tunisia | 48.92 | -9 |
| #53 | Ukraine | 48.05 | -7 |
| #54 | India | 47.93 | - |
| #55 | Kuwait | 47.27 | - |
| #56 | Saudi Arabia | 47.18 | - |
| #57 | Qatar | 46.58 | - |
| #58 | Chile | 46.4 | - |
| #59 | Mexico | 46 | - |
| #60 | Vietnam | 45.92 | - |
Brazil rejoined the list at number 45, after not being included on the 2018 list. The United Arab Emirates made the list for the first time, marking the highest debut ever at number 46.
Tunisia and Ukraine were the two countries with the largest losses, which both fell out of the top 50 this year. To date, South Africa is the only Sub-Saharan nation to be ranked in the index.
Newcomers to the Innovation Index in 2019 are some of the largest emerging economies, such as India, Mexico, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia.
Impact of Global Innovation
Innovation is complex─many factors play a role in the ideation, development, and commercialization of any new technology. And while innovation success can fuel economic growth, it is generally more accessible in high-income economies, where R&D funding is readily available.
“The battle for control of the global economy in the 21st century will be won and lost over control of innovative technologies.”
—Tom Orlik, Bloomberg Economics
The focus of an economy that prioritizes innovation, however, is not simply allocating resources for a group of people─it’s discovering new methods, models, and products that create a better quality of life for society.
AI
Meet the New AI Billionaires of 2025
Who are the new AI billionaires of 2025? Meet the founders, researchers, and investors behind the artificial intelligence gold rush.
Meet the New AI Billionaires of 2025
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Key Takeaways
- According to CNBC, the AI boom is becoming “the largest wealth creation spree in recent history”.
- This list includes several OpenAI alumni who have founded their own companies, as well as Scale AI co-founders Alexandr Wang and Lucy Guo.
In just a few short years, dozens of entrepreneurs and technologists have crossed into billionaire status thanks to the artificial intelligence gold rush.
To learn more about this new class of wealthy founders, we’ve highlighted some of the most notable AI billionaires minted in 2025.
Data & Discussion
This visualization is based on reporting from CNBC, which tracks the emerging fortunes tied to AI companies around the world. Net worth data was collected from Forbes, as of August 2025.
| Name | Company | Estimated Net Worth ($ billions) |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Intrator | CoreWeave | $6.0 |
| Alexandr Wang | Meta | $3.6 |
| Joe Lonsdale | 8VC / Palantir | $3.4 |
| Brett Adcock | Figure AI | $1.5 |
| Michael Truell | Anysphere | $1.3* |
| Lucy Guo | Passes | $1.3 |
| Yao Runhao | Paper Games | $1.3 |
| Dario Amodei | Anthropic | $1.2 |
| Liang Wenfeng | DeepSeek | $1.0 |
| Aravind Srinivas | Perplexity | >$1 |
| Ilya Sutskever | Safe Superintelligence | >$1 |
| Mira Murati | Thinking Machines Lab | >$1 |
*The average Anysphere founder’s stake value is $1.3B.
CoreWeave Co-founder: Michael Intrator
Michael Intrator, co-founder and CEO of CoreWeave, stands out with an estimated net worth of $6 billion. His company provides cloud infrastructure optimized for AI workloads, a sector that has seen explosive demand as AI models become increasingly compute-intensive.
The company launched its IPO in March 2025 at $40 per share, and has seen extreme volatility since then. Shares peaked at $183.58 on June 20, 2025, but are currently trading in the low $90 range.
CoreWeave has a strategic partnership with NVIDIA, which is not only its primary supplier of GPUs, but also a major investor.
Scale AI Co-founders: Alexandr Wang & Lucy Guo
Alexandr Wang and Lucy Guo, co-founders of Scale AI, are currently two of the world’s youngest billionaires.
The pair met when working for social question-and-answer website Quora, and started Scale AI in 2016. The San Francisco-based firm provides data annotation and other services that are used to build, test, and refine AI systems.
Since then, Guo has founded Backend Ventures (a tech-focused venture capital firm) in 2019, and later Passes (a content creator monetization platform) in 2022.
More recently in June 2025, Meta invested $14.3 billion into Scale AI, a deal which also placed Wang at the head of Meta’s Superintelligence Lab.
OpenAI Alumni: Dario Amodei, Ilya Sutskever & Mira Murati
Three of OpenAI’s most prominent alumni, Dario Amodei, Ilya Sutskever, and Mira Murati all helm companies valued in the billions.
Amodei, formerly vice president of research at OpenAI, co-founded Anthropic in 2021. The company is responsible for Claude, which as of January 2025 had 105 million monthly users.
Sutskever, formerly chief scientist at OpenAI, co-founded Safe Superintelligence in 2024. The company is valued at over $30 billion, with investment from firms like Andreesen Horowitz and Alphabet.
Last but not least is Mira Murati, former chief technology officer at OpenAI. She founded Thinking Machines Lab in February 2025, raising $2 billion from a consortium of investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, and AMD. The company is set to announce its first product later this year.
Learn More on the Voronoi App 
If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The Most Popular AI Chatbots in 2025 on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.
Wealth
Mapped: The Richest Person in Every U.S. State
Most of the wealthiest individuals of each state have built their fortunes in the real estate, finance, or retail industries.
Visualizing the Wealthiest Person in Every U.S. State
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
From tech moguls to retail tycoons, the richest person in each U.S. state reflects the industries driving wealth across the country. Some are household names, while others have built quiet fortunes in their home states.
This map shows the richest person in U.S. every state and their estimated net worth, as ranked by Forbes.
Net worths are calculated as of April 25, 2025.
Who is the Richest Person in Every State?
Below, we show the richest person in each U.S. state, their estimated net worth, city of residence, and industry.
| Name | State | Estimated Net Worth (Billions) | Age | City | Industry/Company |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elon Musk | Texas | $388.0 | 53 | Austin | Tesla, SpaceX |
| Jeff Bezos | Florida | $206.0 | 61 | Miami | Amazon |
| Mark Zuckerberg | California | $189.0 | 40 | Palo Alto | |
| Warren Buffett | Nebraska | $165.0 | 94 | Omaha | Berkshire Hathaway |
| Steve Ballmer | Washington | $118.0 | 69 | Hunts Point | Microsoft |
| Rob Walton & Family | Arkansas | $113.0 | 80 | Bentonville | Walmart |
| Michael Bloomberg | New York | $105.0 | 83 | New York | Bloomberg LP |
| Charles Koch & family | Kansas | $67.5 | 89 | Wichita | Koch, Inc. |
| Jeff Yass | Pennsylvania | $59.0 | 66 | Haverford | Trading, investments |
| Lukas Walton | Illinois | $39.0 | 38 | Chicago | Walmart |
| Jacqueline Mars | Virginia | $39.0 | 85 | The Plains | Candy, pet food |
| John Mars | Wyoming | $39.0 | 89 | Jackson | Candy, pet food |
| Abigail Johnson | Massachusetts | $31.5 | 63 | Milton | Fidelity |
| Phil Knight & family | Oregon | $29.0 | 87 | Hillsboro | Nike |
| Miriam Adelson & family | Nevada | $28.6 | 79 | Las Vegas | Casinos |
| Thomas Frist Jr & family | Tennessee | $26.8 | 86 | Nashville | Hospitals |
| Daniel Gilbert | Michigan | $23.7 | 63 | Franklin | Rocket Mortgage |
| Diane Hendricks | Wisconsin | $21.9 | 78 | Afton | Building supplies |
| Steve Cohen | Connecticut | $21.3 | 68 | Greenwich | Hedge funds |
| Harold Hamm & family | Oklahoma | $18.5 | 79 | Oklahoma City | Oil & gas |
| Ernest Garcia II | Arizona | $17.3 | 67 | Tempe | Used cars |
| Todd Graves | Louisiana | $17.2 | 53 | Baton Rouge | Fast food |
| Philip Anschutz | Colorado | $16.9 | 85 | Denver | Energy, sports, entertainment |
| Rick Cohen & family | New Hampshire | $11.5 | 72 | Keene | Warehouse automation |
| David Steward | Missouri | $11.4 | 73 | St. Louis | IT provider |
| Bubba Cathy, Dan Cathy, & Trudy Cathy White | Georgia | $10.7 | 71, 72 & 69 | Atlanta, Atlanta, Hampton | Chick-fil-A |
| Harry Stine | Iowa | $10.2 | 83 | Adel | Agriculture |
| Pierre Omidyar | Hawaii | $10.0 | 57 | Honolulu | EBay, PayPal |
| Carl Cook | Indiana | $9.9 | 62 | Bloomington | Medical devices |
| James Goodnight | North Carolina | $9.8 | 82 | Cary | Software |
| Tamara Gustavson | Kentucky | $8.1 | 63 | Lexington | Self storage |
| Les Wexner & family | Ohio | $7.8 | 87 | New Albany | Retail |
| Dennis Washington | Montana | $7.4 | 90 | Missoula | Construction, mining |
| John Overdeck | New Jersey | $7.4 | 55 | Millburn | Hedge funds |
| Annette Lerner & family | Maryland | $5.5 | 95 | Chevy Chase | Real estate |
| Robert Faith | South Carolina | $5.0 | 61 | Charleston | Real estate management |
| Gail Miller | Utah | $4.4 | 81 | Salt Lake City | Car dealerships |
| Susan Alfond | Maine | $3.7 | 79 | Scarborough | Shoes |
| Jonathan Nelson | Rhode Island | $3.4 | 68 | Providence | Private equity |
| Frank VanderSloot | Idaho | $3.2 | 76 | Idaho Falls | Nutrition, wellness products |
| Thomas Duff & James Duff | Mississippi | $3.0 | 64 & 68 | Hattiesburg | Tires, diversified |
| Glen Taylor | Minnesota | $2.9 | 84 | Mankato | Printing |
| T. Denny Sanford | South Dakota | $2.1 | 89 | Sioux Falls | Banking, credit cards |
| John Abele | Vermont | $2.0 | 88 | Shelburne | Healthcare |
| Ron Corio | New Mexico | $1.7 | 63 | Albuquerque | Solar |
| Jimmy Rane | Alabama | $1.5 | 78 | Abbeville | Lumber |
| Gary Tharaldson | North Dakota | $1.2 | 79 | Fargo | Hotels |
| Brad Smith | West Virginia | $0.9 | 61 | Huntington | Intuit |
| Elizabeth Snyder | Delaware | $0.8 | 77 | Wilmington | Gore-Tex |
| Jonathan Rubini & family | Alaska | $0.4 | 70 | Anchorage | Real Estate |
| Leonard Hyde & family | Alaska | $0.4 | 68 | Anchorage | Real estate |
Elon Musk is the richest person in Texas, and the world, after moving to the Lone Star State from California in 2020. The Tesla CEO has an estimated net worth of about $338 billion.
Other high-profile business leaders who are the richest individuals of their respective state include Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in California with an estimated net worth of $189 billion, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in Florida with $206 billion, and Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett in Nebraska with $165 billion.
Other notable tech leaders on the map include former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in Washington with a net worth of $118 billion. He overtook his former boss, Bill Gates, after Forbes revised its estimate of the 2021 divorce settlement awarded to Gates’ ex-wife, Melinda French Gates.
In all but three states (Alaska, Delaware, and West Virginia), the richest individual was at least a billionaire.
Brad Smith, the retired CEO of Intuit and current president of Marshall University of West Virginia is almost at the billionaire mark, with an estimated $900 million net worth.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
To learn more about some of the richest areas of the U.S., check out this graphic that visualizes the top U.S. cities by number of centi-millionaire residents.
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