Who are they and where does the money come from? – executive summary

Among the most prominent names at the top of the list of billionaires are Bernard Arnault (75 years old), Jeff Bezos (60), Elon Musk (52), Mark Zuckerberg (40), Larry Page (51), Bill Gates (68), Sergey Brin (50), Steve Ballmer (68), Larry Ellison (79) and Warren Buffett (93). These 10 leaders represent a pattern in which significant wealth tends to accumulate over decades.

According to North American Federal Reserve data, the majority of millionaires under the age of 30 are rare. Net worth generally increases with age. In 2023, the baby boomers (1946-1964) are the wealthiest, with a combined wealth of $76.17 trillion (about 70 billion euros), followed by Generation X (1965-1980) with a wealth of $37.77 trillion (34 billion euros). 1981-1996) and Generation Z (1997-2012) have a combined net worth of $13.5 trillion (about 12 billion euros).

Despite the general trend, some young people have already made it onto Forbes' list of billionaires thanks to their large inheritances:

• Mistry brothers Zahan (25 years old) and Firoz Mistry (27 years old) have a fortune estimated at 6.2 billion euros each, which they inherited from Tata Sons.
• Del Vecchio brothers – Clemente (20), Luca (22) and Leonardo Maria del Vecchio (28) have a net worth of around 4.4 billion euros each, which they inherited from their father, Leonardo del Vecchio.
• Kevin David Lyman – He is 21 years old and is worth an estimated 3 billion euros, coming from the DM pharmacy chain.
• Remy Dassault – With a fortune estimated at 2.3 billion euros, he inherited it after the death of his father, Olivier Dassault.
• Andersen sisters – Katharina (28 years old) and Alexandra (27 years old) own 42% of the “Fard” investment company, with assets worth 4 billion euros.
• Kim Jong's sisters – Kim Jong-eun (20) and Kim Jong-min (22) each inherited 9% of online gaming company Nexon, adding a fortune of US$1.230 billion each.
• The Voigt sisters – Livia (19) and Dora (27) own 3.1% of WEG, the main electric motor company in Latin America, with assets worth more than approximately 900 million euros.

Experts predict that over the next two decades there will be a “massive transfer of wealth,” with assets worth US$66 billion being transferred via inheritance.