"Which universities are known for producing the wealthiest graduates?  Which industries are most common among wealthy alumni, and what drives them to support their alma mater? Universities, do you know what makes today’s wealthy and influential alumni segments unique?"

With increasing budget pressures, securing support from high-net-worth alumni has become essential for modern universities. Those institutions that successfully engage  with philanthropically minded graduates have the potential to create lasting educational and societal impact. 

This report explores the universities with the most ultra wealthy alumni and senior executives at the world’s largest companies. Understanding alumni profiles and their connections is crucial for teams working to attract major donations from UHNW alumni. 

Some key insights from the report

• Some 29% of Fortune Global 500 senior executives has an MBA degree. This rises to 33% of chief executive officers (CEOs) and 40% of chief financial officers (CFOs). Harvard University is again the clear leader, followed by the University of Pennsylvania. 

• Millennial and Gen Z, tech-focused and female wealthy graduates with a high affinity for giving to the education sector have unique and particular traits. Banking and finance is, by far, the main industry focus among younger wealthy.

Earned Media on this report:

• PR Newswire: Self-Made, Under 50, and Giving Back: Altrata Reveals the Rise of the Next-Gen Donors in University Alumni Report 2025

• South China Morning Post: Singapore’s NUS, China’s Tsinghua University among world’s top producers of rich alumni

• MarketWatch: These top U.S. colleges and universities produce the most multimillionaires and billionaires. Is your school one of them?

How many billionaires are there in the world? How much wealth do billionaires have? Where do they live?"

For anyone working with UHNW clients, understanding where wealth is concentrated and how it’s shifting globally is key to anticipating opportunity and tailoring a data-driven strategy. 

This report offers a comprehensive overview and deliver clear insights into the global billionaire population — its size, composition, key characteristics, and how their geographical presence is shifting over time. 

A few findings:

• • The global billionaire population grew by 5.6% in 2024 to reach a new high of 3,508 individuals  

  • 26 ‘super billionaires’ account for a combined 21% of total billionaire wealth, up from just 4% a decade ago

The report generated strong media interest and led to multiple press collaborations, attracting considerable attention from journalists at major outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and Germany’s Die Zeit.

For this analysis, we leveraged Altrata’s proprietary wealth database, the world’s largest curated collection of information on high-net-worth individuals. The database provided insights into their financial profiles, careers, networks, family backgrounds, education, philanthropic activities, and interests, enabling a detailed and data-driven examination