Billionaires & Millionaires We’ve Lost This Year

2025’s Strange...Why Are So Many of the Wealthy Passing Away This Year?

We’re barely halfway through 2025, but if you’ve been scrolling the news, you’ve probably noticed a pattern that feels… unsettling.

It’s not just politics, music beefs, or Wall Street drama filling the headlines. The obituary section is stacked with names of the world’s wealthiest — from 100-year-old tycoons who built empires to heirs and entrepreneurs who passed away far too soon.

So what gives? Is this the year of a so-called “billionaire curse”? Or does it just feel like a wave because the spotlight is brighter? Let’s break down the receipts.

Billionaires Lost in 2025

The list reads like a who’s who of global business and influence

• David H. Murdock (Dole Foods & Castle & Cooke), 102 – June 9

• Mary Alice Dorrance Malone (Campbell Soup heiress), 75 – June 16

• Fred Smith (FedEx founder), 80 – June 21

• Leonard A. Lauder (Estée Lauder Companies), 92 – June 14

• Lee Shau-kee (Hong Kong real estate titan), 97 – March 17

• Alexander Mashkevich (Mining investor), 71 – March 22

• Douw Steyn (South African insurance tycoon), 72 – Feb 4

• Sunjay Kapur, 53 – June 12 (tragically killed after swallowing a bee during a polo match)

• Aga Khan IV (Spiritual leader & philanthropist), 88 – early 2025

• S. Daniel Abraham (Slim-Fast founder), 100 – July

• Junior Bridgeman (NBA legend turned businessman), 71 – March 11

• Wallis Annenberg (Philanthropist & media heiress), 86 – 2025

Millionaires & High-Net-Worth Figures

It wasn’t just the billionaires. Millionaires and cultural icons also left us this year

• Gerry Turner (“The Golden Bachelor” star), 72 – January 2025

• T. Boone Pickens Jr.’s heir, 2025

• Steve Albini (legendary music producer), 61 – May 7

• Chris Mortensen (ESPN journalist), 72 – March 3

• Frank Stella (pioneering artist), 88 – May 4

• Richard Serra (world-renowned sculptor), 85 – March 26

• Scott Minerd (Guggenheim Partners investment chief), 66 – early 2025

• Calvin Simon (Parliament-Funkadelic), 82 – February

Why 2025 Feels Like a “Wealth Wipeout”

So why does it feel like the rich are dying off at record pace?

A few reasons

☑ Media Amplification – Every time a billionaire passes, it’s instantly global news.

☑ Cluster Effect – Many of these deaths happened within weeks of each other, creating a wave effect.

☑ Unusual Circumstances – Sunjay Kapur’s tragic bee sting accident is the type of story that lingers in public memory.

☑ Demographics – A lot of these figures were in their 70s, 80s, 90s, and even 100s. Statistically, attrition is expected.

The Bigger Picture

Behind the flashy headlines and business empires, these were still people — parents, spouses, mentors, philanthropists. Their fortunes may have put them in the spotlight, but their passing is felt just as deeply by family and friends as anyone else’s.

The truth? 2025 isn’t cursed. It’s a reminder: wealth can build empires, but it can’t buy immortality.

And while the news cycle will move on, the cultural and business footprints of these billionaires and millionaires will keep shaping the world long after the ink on their obituaries has dried.