Global billionaires’ total wealth grew by 121 per cent between 2015 and 2024, from $6.3trn to $14trn, a report from UBS has revealed.

The financial services firm’s Billionaire Ambitions Report 2024 noted that billionaires had outperformed equity markets during this period, with the MSCI AC World Index reporting a percentage gain of 73 per cent.

Between 2015 and 2024, the number of billionaires rose by more than 50 per cent, from 1,757 to 2,682.

However, the report noted that consolidation among China’s billionaires had slowed the global trend since 2020.

UBS stated it was “no surprise” that the wealth of tech billionaires had grown the fastest over 10 years, with their wealth tripling from $789bn to $2.4trn, while industrial billionaires saw the second largest wealth growth, from $480bn to $1.3trn.

The study also revealed that billionaires were relocating more frequently, with 176 having moved country since 2020, accounting for more than $400bn.

Furthermore, families of billionaires were found to have expanded over the past 10 years, which UBS noted brought greater complexity, with the number of children rising from 4,136 to 6,441.

UBS found that billionaires were increasingly seeking to drive impact across all their activities, including philanthropy, investing, and business.

It noted that they were becoming more strategic and giving, as while less than half (46 per cent) of UBS’s billionaire clients had a strategy when they gave money 10 years ago, 56 per cent had a strategy in 2024.

The report highlighted that Baby Boomer billionaires’ heirs and favoured philanthropic causes stood to inherit $6.3trn over the next 15 years, with the forecast being higher than in 2023 due to more billionaires reaching the age of 70 and rising asset values.

“Since 2015, the number of billionaires has risen by more than half and their combined wealth has more than doubled to $14trn,” said UBS Global Wealth Management head of strategic clients, Benjamin Cavalli.

“But this increase in wealth has levelled off since 2020, notably as conditions have forced China’s billionaire entrepreneurs to retrench.

“The 2024 report also shows that billionaires have been moving domicile since the Covid-19 pandemic and that they increasingly want their wealth to have a positive impact on the world.

“From a demographic point of view, billionaires’ families are growing. And we forecast that there’ll be a major upsurge in inheritance and charitable giving among this group of people.

“Our billionaire clients also gave valuable contributions to the making of this edition: we asked some of them to give us their opinions in a survey we conducted for the third year in a row.

“They see a proliferation of investment risks. But they also appear highly motivated to use all their resources – through philanthropy, investments and business – to benefit the planet and society.”

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