Ultra-rich ‘super billionaires’ have quadrupled their share of global wealth over the last decade
The planet has more billionaires than ever before. According to a new report, the total wealth of the super-rich is growing, but that doesn’t mean wealth is being spread evenly across the population—or across generations for that matter. In fact, a large percentage of billionaires are well into their golden years. The data comes from the 2026 Billionaire Census Report , conducted by the global…
The ultra-wealthy, known as "super billionaires," have quadrupled their share of global wealth over the past decade, according to a new report by Altrada, a global wealth intelligence company. These elite members of the billionaire class, with more than $50 billion in assets, now make up only 0.7% of all billionaires but hold 27% of all billionaire wealth, a figure that increased by 16.3% in just two years.
The report, released in 2026, reveals that the number of super billionaires has also grown from 10 in 2017 to 29 globally. This hyper-concentration of wealth at the very top underscores the growing disparity in wealth distribution worldwide. While the super wealthy are growing in number, the overall wealth of the planet is not being evenly distributed.
Most of the world's wealth is concentrated in the United States, with 1,265 billionaires holding $6.688 trillion. China follows with $1.438 trillion spread over 363 billionaires. The vast majority of billionaires are men, with just 13% being women, and the average age of a billionaire is 71, with almost half of them being over 70.
Only around 9% of billionaires are under the age of 50. Additionally, nearly 40% of the world's wealthiest individuals inherited their wealth, with $6.6 trillion expected to be transferred globally in the next decade.
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