The Numbers
Of the world's 3,000+ billionaires, only about 400 are women—roughly 13%. And of those, the majority inherited their wealth rather than building it themselves.
Self-Made vs. Inherited
| Category | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Self-Made | 85% | 35% |
| Inherited | 15% | 65% |
The gap is even starker for self-made billionaires: only about 140 women have built billion-dollar fortunes from scratch.
Factors Behind the Gap
1. Industry Concentration
Billionaires cluster in tech, finance, and real estate—industries where women are underrepresented in leadership.
2. Funding Gap
Female founders receive only 2% of venture capital funding, limiting their ability to scale companies.
3. Time in Workforce
The billionaire pipeline starts decades ago. Women's workforce participation has increased but hasn't yet produced proportional billionaires.
4. Inheritance Patterns
Historically, wealth passed to sons rather than daughters.
Signs of Change
- More female founders: Women are starting companies at record rates
- Changing inheritance: Wealth is increasingly split equally among children
- Self-made growth: The number of self-made female billionaires is growing faster than male
The Chronos Score Perspective
Female billionaires tend to be older (more inherited wealth, later career starts), resulting in lower average Chronos Scores. But as more young women build tech fortunes, this is changing.
Conclusion
The billionaire gender gap reflects decades of inequality in business, funding, and inheritance. It's closing, but slowly. At current rates, gender parity among billionaires is still decades away.
Explore billionaire demographics with our rankings.