Soaring Military Spending Adds $28 Billion to Defense Fortunes

The conflict with Iran, now in its 20th day, highlights a years-long surge in global military spending that’s driving a boom in defense stocks and racking up billions in gains for owners.

Fourteen individuals and families with large stakes in defense firms have added more than $28 billion to their fortunes in less than three months, according to an analysis by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Shares of companies that make missiles, drones, electronic warfare systems — and even the humble fuse — have climbed sharply this year as governments rush to rearm.

A Northrop Grumman B-2 stealth bomber.

Photographer: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

A Bloomberg index of global defense ...