UBS Billionaires Report: Inheritance is more decisive than entrepreneurial spirit

  • From Sonja Hennen
  • Reading duration 1 min

Who becomes a new billionaire depends primarily on inheritance. This is shown by the 2023 UBS Billionaire Ambitions Report, which tracks the world's richest people and their incomes.

For the first time in the history of the study, new billionaires have acquired more wealth through inheritance than through entrepreneurship. In this year's survey period, a total of 150.8 billion US dollars was inherited by 53 heirs. This exceeds the sum of USD 140.7 billion of the 84 new self-made billionaires. In total, 137 people became billionaires for the first time - with a total wealth of USD 291.5 billion.

Over the last 30 years, the number of billionaire entrepreneurs has risen sharply. The increase is mainly due to the boom in the technology sector, the expansion of the financial markets and the rise in property prices, as well as globalisation and growth in emerging markets. As more and more of the early billionaires are ageing, inheritances are playing an increasingly important role in wealth creation.

The UBS authors predict that an estimated USD 5.2 trillion will be passed on from more than 1,000 billionaires to their children over the next 20 to 30 years.

Read the entire report.