- Many of the world’s billionaires are far older than the tech-founder stereotype. At 103 years old, George Joseph is still actively involved in his company, Mercury General. In fact, young billionaires (under age 50) make up just 10% of the global billionaire population. And as these aging billionaires prepare to pass on their fortunes, an estimated $124 trillion will be transferred by 2048—mostly to millennials.
When people envision billionaires, they may think of the young tech founder stereotype launching unicorn companies left and right. Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Mark Zuckerberg are all within their forties and fifties, but they’re considered youthful when it comes to the exclusive club of the world’s upper-class.
In fact, one in five billionaires is already in their eighties and nineties, according to an analysis by Forbes. In America alone, a record 36 billionaires are over 90.
Wilma Tisch, age 98, has a net worth of $2 billion. She inherited her wealth from her husband and brother, who started Lowes Corporation in 1946 when Laurence Tisch persuaded his parents to invest $125,000 to buy a resort hotel in Lakewood, N.J. Then there’s Alice Schwartz, who at 99 has a net worth of $2 billion. She is one of the founders of Bio-Rad Laboratories, a science and diagnostics company she launched with her husband in 1952.
And though many of the ultrawealthy could afford to spend their days playing golf or tending to their rose gardens, some aging billionaires are still clocking in to their offices.
Take George Joseph, for example. The founder of insurance company Mercury General has a net worth of $2.3 billion and still shows up to work at the age of 103. The World War II veteran remains actively involved in the company and has approximately 35% ownership. He’s expected to turn 104 next week and is the oldest billionaire in America.
And despite announcing his retirement from the helm of Berkshire Hathaway at 95, billionaire Warren Buffett insisted he’s not going to sit down and “watch soap operas.” Instead, he wants to stay engaged with his business passions.
While “young” billionaires (under the age of 50) make up just 10% of the billionaire population, around 150 of them are in their eighties, including former Victoria’s Secret CEO Les Wexner and former New York City mayor and Bloomberg cofounder Michael Bloomberg.
Aging billionaires may be beneficial to the Great Wealth Transfer
This may all be good news for some millennials and Gen Xers who are about to benefit from one of the greatest wealth transfers in history. With the oldest generation of workers staying employed for longer, that pot will only get bigger.
As it stands, the Great Wealth Transfer is set to flood $124 trillion in assets and wealth from the baby boomers to the younger generations, according to a report from Cerulli.
The oldest working cohort were, at their peak, the largest living generation in the history of the world, snatching up property and investing in the booming stock market to amass their fortunes. Their families can expect to inherit the majority of this wealth, about $105 trillion, with just $18 trillion estimated to go to charity.
More than half of the overall total volume of transfers, $62 trillion, is expected to come from the highest echelons of society, many of whom are billionaires and the ultrawealthy.
For those lucky 2% of all households, the report found that millennials will inherit the most over the next 25 years, around $46 trillion.