The World’s Billionaires Come From These Countries
Have you ever wondered which colleges a majority of the world’s billionaires have attended – or which countries they live in?
A new global study was just released by education analytics publisher Essayhumanizer, informed by the Forbes Billionaires List published this March.
Essayhumanizer considered 3,184 billionaires to determine just which countries have the most billionaire‑producing universities. Any school that had at least one billionaire who earned a degree there met the criteria.
Before diving into the rankings, it helps to understand how the study was designed. Essayhumanizer pulled publicly-available education data for each billionaire. Then, they grouped their degrees into broad fields like Business and Economics, Engineering, and Computer Science, and mapped those individuals back to the universities they attended.
THE TOP 10 COUNTIRES WITH THE MOST BILLIONAIRES
| Rank | Country | Number of Universities | Percentage of Universities |
| 1 | United States | 195 | 39.48% |
| 2 | China | 59 | 11.95% |
| 3 | India | 29 | 6.08% |
| 4 | Germany | 21 | 4.25% |
| 5 | Russia | 21 | 4.25% |
| 6 | United Kingdom | 19 | 3.85% |
| 7 | Canada | 11 | 2.23% |
| 8 | Italy | 11 | 2.23% |
| 9 | Australia | 8 | 1.62% |
| 10 | Brazil | 8 | 1.62% |
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
Looking at the results, the U.S. is miles ahead of every other country, home to 195 universities that have graduated billionaires.
Among the U.S. schools that have graduated the most billionaires, Harvard is the clear winner. This school’s alumni hold $1.235 trillion in wealth, which is 9.09% of global billionaire wealth. Oddly enough, the University of Maryland actually ranks No. 1 in average wealth per billionaire at $34.34 billion, more than 3.7 times larger than Harvard’s average.
China trails behind in second place, with 59 universities producing 11.95% of the world’s billionaires. The country’s expansive growth in technology, e-commerce, manufacturing, and finance have created enormous pathways to wealth, while its massive domestic market gives entrepreneurs the scale to build companies at remarkable speed.
Together, the U.S. and China account for 51.43% of all billionaire‑producing universities, meaning more than half of the global pipeline is concentrated in just these two countries.
In third place is India, home to 29 universities that have graduated billionaire alumni. This accounts for 6.08% of the world’s billionaires. India has a long tradition of family‑run businesses and multigenerational ownership, where wealth is often built slowly over decades.
The study also reveals something important about what people study before they become ultra‑wealthy.
Looking at their industries, more than one third of billionaires, 35.11%, have a Business and Economics degree. Engineering degree holders account for 13.63%, while fields like Computer Science make up a much smaller share.
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