An analysis by TradingPedia based on Forbes’ latest real-time billionaire list spotlights distribution of billionaires by region, country and gender. Although female billionaires make up only 390 or 13.5% of the 2,889 global total, it’s still a significant share, and apparently growing, with some particularly important national concentrations.
Unsurprisingly, the US has the highest number, both by total and by gender – 748 male and 120 females. The female share in the US accounts for 30.77% of the global total for the gender.
However, China has the third highest share of female billionaires worldwide at 43 against 351 males. Only Germany has more female billionaires than China, at 46 versus 124 males. India, meanwhile, has 17 female billionaires and 186 male, and Hong Kong has 13 female and 52 male billionaires.
The figures for China, which also has the second highest overall total in a single country, already appear significant, and are even more striking on a regional basis. Asia as a whole has 105 female billionaires versus 134 in North America and 129 in Europe. And Asia’s overall billionaire total of 1,015 outranks North America and Europe, which have 964 and 768, respectively.
What to make of these figures? For one thing, even though the TradingPedia analysis does concede that many female billionaires, especially in Europe, inherited their fortunes rather than making them, it is most likely that the proportions will continue to grow. And the Asian share of that total will only increase, along with Asia’s total number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
Currently, only one Asian female, India’s Savitri Jindal, ranks in the top ten global female billionaires, with a net worth of some US$33.6 billion. More Asian women will likely be joining her in future.
Should wealth managers adjust their strategies and client servicing approaches accordingly?
This doesn’t mean female uber wealthy have gender-specific priorities. But it does suggest that any wealth or asset manager which publicly adopts or supports gender-discriminatory policies or positions risks alienating a significantly large and influential client base.
It will be interesting to see, for instance, how this plays out in the US regarding the Trump administration’s policies towards issues such as female reproductive rights.
It’s worth noting also that the Forbes figures show a sharp monthly decline in the total number of billionaires from 3,028 as of March 15 to 2,889 a month later as their wealth was driven down by Trump’s tariff shocks and bearish markets.
