A new report from UBS and PwC has revealed that growth in the number of female billionaires has outpaced males.

Analysis from the report also shows the “fleeting nature” of wealth with only 44% of global billionaires from 1995 still billionaires today.

The Billionaire Report found that the female billionaire population grew faster than their male peers with their number growing by a factor of 6.6 compared to a factor of 5.2 for men.
Female billionaires are driving their families' businesses with 57% in the US, 63% in Europe and 96% in Asia active wealth creators.

The prevailing billionaires grew their assets from an average of US$2.9 billion to US$11 billion, outperforming both equity markets and global GDP.

The UBS and PwC report, “The changing faces of billionaires,” reveals that women have been controlling greater average wealth than men and becoming more influential in family businesses, philanthropic enterprises and governance.

Josef Stadler, head of global Ultra High Net Worth, UBS said: “The rise of female and Asian billionaires over the last two decades is creating an entirely new billionaire demographic, and I see no signs of slowing.”

Michael Spellacy, global wealth leader at PwC US: "The report suggests that we need to revisit the old saying ‘The first generation builds the business, the second makes it a success, and the third wrecks it’.

“Our findings reveal that it is in fact the second generation that all too often undermines the value of the business the first generation created. To prevent this, business decisions must move from the kitchen table to the board room.”

Asia has seen the strongest growth of female billionaires in the past 10 years, their numbers grew by a factor of 8.3 from only 3 to 25 today. This compares to a growth factor of 2.7 (from 21 to 57) in Europe and 1.7 or 37 to 63 in the US.

In 1995, the report counted 289 billionaires. From this group of billionaires, only 126 remain today. Over the same period, 1,221 new billionaires were created bringing the total number to 1,347 billionaires in 2014. Two-thirds of billionaires are over 60.

The survey of over 1,300 billionaires analysed data from the last 19 years across the 14 largest billionaire markets, accounting for 75% of global billionaire wealth.