Mounting student loan debt has put financial strain on millions of Americans, and the problem only seems to be getting worse.
The federal student loan balance has reached nearly $1.67 trillion as of the third quarter of 2025, which is almost half a trillion dollars more than it was 10 years ago. That said, the number of borrowers hasn’t changed as rapidly, and in recent quarters it has ticked down to 42.3 million borrowers, according to the Federal Student Aid office.
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Still, that means the average borrower owes over $39,000 in federal student loans. The amount could be over $42,000 when including private student loans, per the Education Data Initiative, totaling over $1.8 trillion with federal and private loans combined.
But what if the top 10 richest billionaires decided to wipe out all of that student loan debt? GOBankingRates crunched the numbers to find out if that’s possible — and if they would have any money leftover.
Current State of Federal Student Loan Debt
With such high balances, it’s no surprise that nearly two-thirds of borrowers have had difficulties paying their student loans at some point during their debt periods, and 37% have missed at least one payment, according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau survey.
But while the Biden administration tried to eliminate large amounts of student debt, albeit with mixed results due to court blockings, the Trump administration has largely gone in the opposite direction, such as by resuming collections on defaulted student loans.
The Trump administration is also reportedly considering selling some of the federal student loan portfolio to private market lenders, according to Politico. That could get some of that debt off the government’s balance sheet but also create some uncertainty or confusion for borrowers.
Granted, the administration did recently resume a student debt forgiveness program that’s part of Income-Based Repayment plans that was paused in July, according to CNBC.
The top 10 billionaires in the U.S., however, could theoretically wipe out all Americans’ federal and private student loan debt, with over $600 billion to spare. That’s not to say that any such maneuver is remotely likely, but in theory, higher taxes on wealth could vastly eat into, if not eliminate, student loan debt.
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Billionaires by the Numbers
The net worth of billionaires is typically a moving target, since their wealth is often tied up in the stocks of companies they founded or lead. And some of it is illiquid or perhaps not technically available yet, like with certain stock options that are on track to but haven’t yet vested.
Still, we can estimate whether the top 10 billionaires could wipe out all of America’s student loan debt by looking at Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaire rankings.
As of early October 2025, the following is a list of the wealthiest people in the U.S., along with their world rankings and net worths, according to Forbes. Nine out of the top 10 billionaires in the world are based in the U.S.
- Elon Musk: $484.2 billion
- Larry Ellison: $344.4 billion
- Mark Zuckerberg: $244.3 billion
- Jeff Bezos: $234.5 billion
- Larry Page: $204.7 billion
- Sergey Brin: $189.9 billion
- Jensen Huang: $160.7 billion
- Steve Ballmer: $157.5 billion
- Warren Buffett: $150.1 billion
- Michael Dell: $144.8 billion
As these rankings show, the net worth of these 10 billionaires adds up to nearly $2.5 trillion. Even if taxed at 75% of their net worths, that would roughly cover all current student loan debt in the U.S. and leave even the last person on this list — Michael Dell — with a net worth of over $36 billion.
Final Take To GO
While it’s highly unlikely for billionaires to cancel Americans’ student loan debt, one valuable lesson could be that so many of these ultra-wealthy individuals have seen their net worths soar due to rising asset prices, as opposed to just taking home large paychecks.
So, one thing in your control could be to invest more in historically high-growth assets like stocks. Depending on your specific situation and financial preferences, it might make more sense to pay off your student loans first, especially if you have a high interest rate. But when and/or if you have the ability to set aside even small amounts of your paycheck into investments, those can grow exponentially over time.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Could the Top 10 Billionaires’ Net Worth Wipe Out of All America’s Student Debt?
