According to the New York Times, the new wardrobe colour for the "ultra wealthy" is beige. It is a lovely picture - a person in a beautiful creamy-beige linen-sort-of pant suit, something to be worn once and then cleaned. Not sure if it is male or female, given the current models. But that's not where I was going. I lit on the phrase ultra wealthy!
Here's something I don't know about. Ultra-high-net-worth-individuals - UHNW. The floor is $30 million in investable assets. Then very high net worth is $5 million and high net worth is $1 million. These are terms from the financial services industry. "This financial status not only impacts investment strategies but also entails unique considerations in wealth management, tax planning, and estate structuring. How many are there? 220,000 in 2023 in the US and 626,600 around the world. But if we look at how man people in the U.S. have over $1 million, that's 22 million people.
So that's the ultra wealthy set. But what about the "super rich". Fortune Magazine is the source we can go to. They quote that it is now $100 million that is the "new yardstick for anyone who wants to keep their head held high at private equity parties." But then the article falls flat and ends. Isn't that a big gap between 30 million and a billion? There are 748 billionaires in the U.S. in 2023.
My thinking is that the numbers for the $30 million group is off. Out of 8 billion people, there are only half a million who have over $30 million? And in the US, out of 340 million people, only a quarter million have over $30 million?
I am still trying to figure out who the market is for all those luxury brands who pander to the New York Times about the latest colour for the rich. I've lost the logic in there somewhere.
