Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Oprah Winfrey will leave the WeightWatchers board and donate her company shares, author Marianne Williamson reenters the presidential race, and women will reshape how wealth is allocated, according to a new survey. Have a terrific Thursday!
– Closing the wealth gap. The Great Wealth Transfer that is expected to occur over the next two decades will see more than $80 trillion changing hands between generations in the U.S. alone, according to some estimates. Women are expected to receive a big share of that, in large part by inheriting money from male spouses who pass away, on average, years earlier. Millennial women are also set to inherit a fair share.
A new report from women’s investing platform Ellevest finds that the ‘feminization of wealth’ will have a profound impact not just on the individual women who receive it, but on society as a whole.
For the report, Ellevest surveyed 2,041 adults earning at least $150,000 per year or with a net worth of at least $750,000—the type of people who are most likely to benefit from the Great Wealth Transfer, given the current unequal distribution of wealth in the U.S.
The survey finds that “a fundamental shift occurs when women receive a financial windfall:” It significantly increases women’s confidence. In fact, it almost doubles it: 45% of all women said they’re confident with money, while 81% who received a windfall said the same—making them even more confident than men. Investing was the top priority for those who came into money, with millennials and Gen Xers also ranking “investing for impact” highly.
“It’s not that women have less money because they have less confidence, as so many assume,” Ellevest notes. “Instead, it’s the gender wealth gap itself that drives the money confidence gap. And the very act of getting a windfall, or expecting a windfall, is enough to wipe this out.”
Sallie Krawcheck, Ellevest’s CEO and cofounder, says while women are still discounted as an economic force, the Great Wealth Transfer could lead to a seismic shift. Progress in women’s financial empowerment has stagnated in recent years, Krawcheck says. Despite efforts like Lean In and the media’s focus on gender wage and wealth gaps, the needle has hardly moved. Women are still underpaid relative to men, and women leaders remain rare at the largest companies and in government. Krawcheck sees the Great Wealth Transfer as a real catalyst for enduring change.
“Women’s longevity is going to do what Lean In did not,” Krawcheck tells Fortune, and “get money into the hands of women.”
When that happens, expect the beneficiaries of money to change, Krawcheck says, pointing to wealthy women like MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates, Laurene Powell Jobs, and Dr. Ruth Gottesman, who announced this week she is giving away $1 billion left to her by her husband to make tuition free for all students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. These women are giving away their wealth to important causes and helping to reshape society, Krawcheck says.
Many other wealth managers expect other women who inherit money in the coming decades to do the same, and research backs up that thinking (of course, not every woman will give away all of her wealth; but the differences between men and women are notable). Ellevest points to others who stand to benefit: People who do business with women, whose customers are women, who are funded by women, the list goes on.
“It may feel like a stretch, but women are more likely to donate to causes that support the climate, to nonprofits that support women and girls, that support education,” says Krawcheck. “What is a world when wealth is feminized? It is a better world, for everybody.”
Alicia Adamczyk
alicia.adamczyk@fortune.com
@AliciaAdamczyk
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Joseph Abrams. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Oprah out. WeightWatchers investor and board member Oprah Winfrey says she will not seek reelection to the company's board in May and will donate all her WW stock (and proceeds from any future exercises of her WW stock options) to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Winfrey in December said she was using a weight loss medication; WW now connects users with weight loss drugs like Ozempic, a pivot away from its longstanding focus on willpower. Fortune
- Passing go. Passes, a creator monetization platform, has raised $40 million in Series A funding from a group of investors including Skims cofounder Emma Grede. CEO Lucy Guo, who previously cofounded data startup Scale AI and built it into a $7.8 billion unicorn, says Passes is safer for influencers than competitors like Patreon and will allow small content creators to turn themselves into "large businesses" that don't have to rely on brand deals. Fortune
- Tagging back in. Author Marianne Williamson reentered the race for the Democratic presidential nomination after winning 3% of the vote in Michigan's democratic primary Wednesday. Williamson dropped out of the race three weeks ago after performing poorly. NBC News
- Safety first. FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposed a new rule on Wednesday that would force producers of internet-connected cars to comply with FCC laws protecting survivors of domestic violence. Rosenworcel says the Safe Connections Act could ensure that survivors aren’t tracked or harassed through their cars. Reuters
- Majority support. A new Axios-Ipsos poll revealed that two-thirds of Americans do not believe that frozen embryos like those used for in vitro fertilization should be considered people. Republicans were split evenly at 49%. Axios
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Coterie appointed Jess Jacobs to chief brand officer. Save the Children named Cynthia Jamison and Neela Seenandan to its board of directors and announced Anne Mulcahey as chair emeritus.
ON MY RADAR
Returning from parental leave can be stressful. How some employers aim to fix that The Wall Street Journal
Keily Blair, OnlyFans: ‘We are an incredible UK tech success story’ The Financial Times
How’d I find my happily ever after? Divorce The Washington Post
PARTING WORDS
"I think a lot of times when women say no, especially in entertainment, it’s seen as bitchy. And I’ve definitely heard that about myself. But I’m never going to disrespect anyone, and I’m also never going to disrespect myself."
—Mean Girls actress and pop star Reneé Rapp on learning to put a voice to her discomfort on set
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