Most billionaires don’t stay that rich

Notably, nearly a fifth (19 per cent) of USA women billionaires are self-made, compared with seven per cent in Europe.

The number of female billionaires in the world is growing – and they’re topping the average net worth of their male counterparts, a new study reveals.

“For Chinese billionaires, their needs regarding their involvement in philanthropy and protecting legacies have been rising in recent years, which pushes up demand for professional services including for foundations, single family offices, and family trusts”, said Karen Chen, President of UBS(China) Limited.

According to the report, Asian women who are classified as billionaires in USA dollar terms tend to be younger at 53, whereas the average age is 59 in the United States and 65 in Europe.

On the other hand, those who made their mark in the technology, consumer and retail, as well as financial services are more likely to see their wealth last over time, the study which gathered data from 1,300 billionaires globally showed.

From 1995’s billionaires, only 40pc have prevailed over the last 20 years.

“The rise of female and Asian billionaires over the last two decades is creating an entirely new billionaire demographic, and I see no signs of slowing”.

Swiss bank UBS, which co-authored the report with accounting firm PwC, said about 90 per cent of its wealth management arm’s top female clients in Hong Kong had inherited their wealth from fathers or husbands.

There are now 145 female billionaires compared with just 22 in 1995. The rest, according to the report, dropped out due to death, family dilution or business failure.

Female high net worth individuals also hold 11pc of the group’s total wealth, or $5.4 trillion roughly the same level over the past 15 years.

The number of female billionaires grew by a factor of 6.6 between 1995 and 2014, while the number of super-rich men rose by a factor of 5.2.

“The 126 prevailing billionaires have created $1 trillion of wealth, approximately 21% of that produced by our entire global billionaire population over the period”.