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Who gets the yacht? More and more people are accessing billions in assets through inheritance

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The world of the super-rich is apparently in a state of upheaval: the creation of new billions in wealth is becoming more difficult in the face of geopolitical upheavals, higher inflation and higher interest rates. Instead, new billionaires are increasingly accessing their assets through inheritance. This is the result of a study by the major Swiss bank UBS.

According to the study, the number of billionaires who owe their wealth to an inheritance increased worldwide last year. After the sharp increase in entrepreneurial activity in recent decades, more and more founders are now getting older and passing on their money to the next generation, according to the UBS study published on Thursday.

According to the report, between April 2022 and April 2023, 137 people worldwide became billionaires. 53 of them have inherited their wealth. According to UBS, the hereditary billionaires also have a larger total wealth for the first time - around 151 billion dollars. The 84 self-made billionaires, meanwhile, raised just under $141 billion. This is also due to the comparatively poor conditions for IPOs last year, the major bank explained. According to the report, for the first time since the UBS investigation began nine years ago, the assets of the heirs were larger than those of the new billionaires.

The trend towards more hereditary billionaires could continue for the foreseeable future. "We expect this topic to become more widespread over the next 20 years, as more than 1000,5 billionaires are estimated to bequeath $2.<> trillion to their children," said Benjamin Cavalli, UBS's super-rich business. Matthew Fleming, partner at London-based asset management firm Stonehage Fleming, also said, according to the Financial Times: "It may be that the period of great wealth creation is over."

Over the next 20 years, 1000,5 billionaires will bequeath $2.70 trillion to their children, according to UBS. That's how much money the billionaires, who are now over <> years old, own.

Overall, the number of billionaires rose by 7 percent to 2544,2022 by April this year, according to the analysis. After shrinking in the previous year, their total wealth grew by 2023 percent to twelve trillion dollars between April 9 and April <>.

For the first time, Europe was the largest contributor to growth. This was driven by the post-pandemic buying frenzy, which caused the share prices of France's luxury goods and cosmetics companies to rise. This has benefited their owner families. Corporations such as LVMH, Kering, Hermes and L'Oreal are based in the country, which now has a total of 34 billionaires. Germany has 109 (details in the current list of the richest in manager magazin), Switzerland 75 billionaires.

While technology and healthcare companies in particular have amassed wealth over the past decade, owners of retail and consumer goods manufacturers have benefited in the last twelve months. In the meantime, however, a shift is already emerging, from which industrialists should benefit. Governments in a number of countries promoted the energy transition and increased defense spending.

cr/Reuter, AFP