The Great Wealth Transfer Has Already Begun: What Changes for Real Estate as the Next-Gen Inherits

Today, 75% of UHNWIs worldwide built their fortune from scratch (self-made), 20% inherited wealth and grew it through their own ventures, and only 5% inherited their entire fortune, according to Altrata data collected in my HNWI Trends 2026. But this balance is about to shift: by 2040, Gen X and the Next-Gen together will make up 80% of the global UHNWI class, up from 33% today.

The generational shift, generation by generation. Baby boomers, who today dominate the UHNWI population (45% of the total) and post the highest share of self-made entrepreneurs (77.6%), are about to hand over the baton: by 2040 their share will drop to 17%, while the Next-Gen — today only 8% of the total — will reach 35%. It's the same shift the World Economic Forum estimates at around $80 trillion over the next decade.

Why it matters for anyone selling a property today. A Next-Gen buyer has a higher share of pure heirs (8.1%) compared with Gen X (5.2%) and baby boomers (5.4%) — a figure that signals a higher frequency of wealth transfers already underway, not just projected. For anyone selling a prime property, it means the negotiation behind many current transactions already involves more than one decision-maker, with differing priorities between those who built the wealth and those receiving it.