Harvard professor reads a newspaper before the commencement exercises at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Elite colleges and universities enroll — and graduate — some of the wealthiest people on earth.

Each year, research firm Wealth-X identifies the colleges and universities with the highest number of “ultra high net worth” (UHNW) alumni, defined as those with a net worth of greater than $30 million.

Wealth-X first collects a sample of ultra-wealthy individuals known to have a diploma, including both undergraduate and graduate degrees, from colleges and universities around the world, and tallies their total wealth as a group. Researchers then use this sample and Wealth-X’s database to estimate how many super-rich alumni each school has graduated in total.

Here are the 20 universities around the world with the most ultra-wealthy alumni:


Harvard University
DenisTangneyJr | iStock | Getty Images

1. Harvard University

Known UHNW alumni: 1,830
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $1.9 trillion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 13,650
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $4.8 trillion

2. Stanford University

Known UHNW alumni: 775
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $1.1 trillion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 5,580
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $2.9 trillion

3. University of Pennsylvania

Known UHNW alumni: 744
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $731 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 5,575
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $1.8 trillion

4. Columbia University

Known UHNW alumni: 516
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $621 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 3,925
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $1.5 trillion

5. New York University

Known UHNW alumni: 456
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $279 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 3,380
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $712 billion

6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Known UHNW alumni: 351
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $380 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 2,785
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $990 billion

7. University of Cambridge

Known UHNW alumni: 259
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $115 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 2,760
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $390 billion

8. Northwestern University

Known UHNW alumni: 365
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $145 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 2,725
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $389 billion

9. University of Southern California

Known UHNW alumni: 319
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $188 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 2,645
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $548 billion

10. University of Chicago

Known UHNW alumni: 326
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $286 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 2,405
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $707 billion


The Sterling Memorial Library on the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut.
Craig Warga | Bloomberg | Getty Images

11. Yale University

Known UHNW alumni: 358
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $311 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 2,400
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $777 billion

12. University of California, Berkeley

Known UHNW alumni: 295
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $249 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 2,385
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $760 billion

13. University of Oxford

Known UHNW alumni: 218
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $120 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 2,290
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $349 billion

14. Cornell University

Known UHNW alumni: 299
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $179 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 2,245
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $483 billion

15. The University of Texas at Austin

Known UHNW alumni: 332
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $185 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 2,195
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $463 billion

16. Princeton University

Known UHNW alumni: 309
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $496 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 2,180
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $1.1trilllion

17. University of Notre Dame

Known UHNW alumni: 316
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $61 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 2,085
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $179 billion

18. University of Michigan

Known UHNW alumni: 281
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $282 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 1,970
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $691 billion

19. INSEAD

Known UHNW alumni: 174
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $107 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 1,965
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $356 billion

20. University of California, Los Angeles

Known UHNW alumni: 277
Known UHNW alumni wealth: $140 billion

Estimated total UHNW alumni: 1,945
Estimated total UHNW alumni wealth: $375 billion


UCLA Al Seib | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

Harvard stands out as having the highest number of ultra-wealthy alumni by far. According to Wealth-X’s projections, the Ivy League school has an estimated 13,650 alumni who are worth more than $30 million, more than double the number of super-rich alums from Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania, which landed in second and third place on Wealth-X’s rankings, respectively.

All but three of the 20 schools are in the U.S.. Cambridge, Oxford and INSEAD were the only institutions outside of the U.S. to produce enough super-rich alumni to make the list.

Even though Harvard tops the list of the most super-rich alumni, the University of Chicago stands out as having the highest percentage of “self made” alumni, with net worths above $30 million, as opposed to those who have reached this status through inheritance. Wealth- estimates that 84% of University of Chicago alumni who are worth more than $30 million made their fortunes on their own.

Source from: CNBC
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/31/wealth-x-these-20-universities-produce-the-richest-grads.html