For millionaires (defined as people with >$1MM of capital goods that can be easily reinvested), Capgemini claims that "only 16% of high net-worth individuals inherited their stash"[1]. I'm not sure what the precise definitions are since it's not defined in the article.
The Millionaire Next Door claims that 80% of millionaires in the USA are the first generation in their family to be rich.[2]
I also did my own research looking at (non-Forbes) biographies of the top 10 richest people in the world according to Forbes in 2009. 3 out of 10 came from millionaire or richer families (Eike Batista, Bernard Arnault, Stefan Persson).
If you trust Forbes, you can simply go through their website[3], it classifies each billionaire's wealth as self-made, inherited, or inherited + grown.
Bill Gates also came from a millionaire-or-richer family, so that'd make 4, if that's the cutoff you're using. (He inherited several million from his grandfather, in a generation-skipping trust fund, although I don't believe he yet had access to that money at the time of founding Microsoft.)
Yeah, my logic was that he didn't have/use those resources while building Microsoft. I was trying to divide billionaires into those who built up their wealth without relying much on other resources, vs. those who took existing wealth and grew it.
Comments
For millionaires (defined as people with >$1MM of capital goods that can be easily reinvested), Capgemini claims that "only 16% of high net-worth individuals inherited their stash"[1]. I'm not sure what the precise definitions are since it's not defined in the article.
The Millionaire Next Door claims that 80% of millionaires in the USA are the first generation in their family to be rich.[2]
I also did my own research looking at (non-Forbes) biographies of the top 10 richest people in the world according to Forbes in 2009. 3 out of 10 came from millionaire or richer families (Eike Batista, Bernard Arnault, Stefan Persson).
If you trust Forbes, you can simply go through their website[3], it classifies each billionaire's wealth as self-made, inherited, or inherited + grown.
[1]: http://www.economist.com/node/17929057
[2]: http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0810/7-Millionair...
[3]: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2010/10/billionaires-2010_Carlos...
Bill Gates also came from a millionaire-or-richer family, so that'd make 4, if that's the cutoff you're using. (He inherited several million from his grandfather, in a generation-skipping trust fund, although I don't believe he yet had access to that money at the time of founding Microsoft.)
Yeah, my logic was that he didn't have/use those resources while building Microsoft. I was trying to divide billionaires into those who built up their wealth without relying much on other resources, vs. those who took existing wealth and grew it.
Having a safety net can boost your confidence..