Finance sector dominates UK billionaires list
New analysis of the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List shows that finance has more billionaires than any other industry. Meanwhile, the UK lags the world in terms of wealth distribution between genders, with less than one-in-ten billionaires being a woman.
The world is home to more than 3,000 billionaires, sitting on a combined pot of over £14 trillion. Two in three of those individuals built their wealth themselves from the ground up – but family wealth still plays a large role, with the rest inheriting this wealth.
Spread across different industries, countries and demographics, asset finance experts at Anglo Scottish Asset Finance have analysed data from the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List, to break down exactly where this wealth is coming from and who’s reaping the benefits. According to the experts, finance and investments stood out as the industry generating the most opportunities.
While the feverish hype around artificial intelligence means that technology remains the richest industry, with its billionaires worth a staggering £3.91 trillion, there are fewer individuals in that cohort (500). Globally, the finance and investment sector accounts for £2.42 trillion in trillionaire wealth – but that is spread across 513 of 3,000 billionaires.
Carolyn Simpson, senior marketing manager at Anglo Scottish Finance, explained, "Finance and investments remain the backbone of billionaire wealth. Globally it produces more billionaires than any other sector – and in the UK it leads on both numbers and value. What’s changing is the nature of that money. Alongside traditional finance fortunes, we’re seeing a younger, fintech-driven generation come through, making finance the engine of much of the newest self-made wealth.
In terms of national markets, it probably comes as no surprise that the US is home to the most billionaires in the world. The US alone accounts for almost 30% of the world’s billionaires, with a combined net worth of approximately £6.48 trillion. China follows with 517 billionaires and £1.52 trillion.
The UK’s 50 billionaires are worth approximately £215.56 billion combined, while finance again leads with its headcount of 11 billionaires, followed by fashion and retail with nine. In terms of wealth, meanwhile, finance also leads with an approximate combined amount of £62.83 billion, followed by manufacturing, which boasts £32.93 billion despite there only being four recorded UK billionaires in this sector.
Breaking down who those billionaires are, however, Anglo Scottish Finance uncovered some key differences with the global picture. The experts identify a 92% portion of the UK’s billionaires as “self-made”, which is well above the global average of 66.8%.
However, less impressively, women make up a little over 5% of the listed UK billionaires. Of the total 58, only three were women – compared to 469, or 14%, of the global average. And while on the global stage, men are more likely to be ‘self-made’, class hierarchies in the UK see that reversed – with every single woman who is a billionaire identified as “self-made”, compared to 89% of men.
"The gender gap in extreme wealth is stark everywhere, but the UK lags behind other major economies," Simpson added. "Closing that gap means tackling the barriers earlier in the pipeline: improving women’s access to growth capital and investment and backing more female founders through the scale-up stage where many businesses stall. The talent is clearly there; the funding and support structures need to catch up."
