Since last year, the world’s billionaire population has grown by 7.1 percent, according to the“Wealth-X and UBS Billionaire Census 2014.”
In other words, there are now 2,325 billionaires in the world who together have over $7 trillion, but most of them just have a couple billion each. Above we’ve provided Wealth-X’s video that visualizes the state of the world’s billionaires.
So what raises your chances of eating a slice of the billion-dollar pie? Here we’ve compiled six things that most billionaires have in common, according to Wealth-X and UBS’ data. (Of course, correlation does not necessarily mean causation.
Control your birth
Almost a quarter of the world’s billionaires are in the U.S., but Liechtenstein’s population is the most billionaire-dense and none of them are foreign-born. Only 300 billionaires are female and they’re more likely to have inherited their wealth, but 60 percent of male billionaires are completely self-made.
Wait your turn
The “typical billionaire” — if a billionaire could be considered typical — is 63 years old and has just over $3 billion, but they didn’t make their first million until they were almost 50.
Go to college
While most billionaires have a college degree — 65 percent — over 40 percent of those with a college education just have a bachelor’s degree. The University of Pennsylvania educated the highest number of today’s billionaires — 25.
Invest in finance and big business
Of the total, 19.3 percent of billionaires made their money through the finance and banking industry, and 12.1 percent through “industrial conglomerates.” However, 7.6 percent have their money in real estate and 4.9 percent in apparel and luxury. And most have their hands in multiple cookie jars.
Get married
Most billionaires are married — 86.1 percent — and have kids. Only 3.1 percent have never been married. And most billionaires have a pretty broad social group.
Find a hobby
Billionaires like sports and are generous. According to the data, 68.3 percent are involved in sports, 51.9 percent philanthropic endeavors, 23.4 percent outdoorsy activities and 23.1 percent the arts.
