Where Does Family Office Wealth Come From?

How many family office principals are entirely self-made? Deloitte Private’s Family Office Insights Series – Global Edition: Defining the Family Office Landscape, 2024, answers this question and others, providing a snapshot of how wealthy people who have family offices differ from those who do not.

Deloitte’s survey found that almost 70% of family office principals have at least some inherited wealth:

  • 30% of those with a family office are entirely self-made multimillionaires or billionaires.
  • 51% of family office principals have wealth that is a mix of inheritance and their own earnings
  • 18% of family office principals have wealth that is entirely inherited

In the general population of wealth holders (defined as those with $100 million or more), including those who do not have a family office, two-thirds are entirely self-made.

The survey also looked at which industries are the most common sources of family office wealth:

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  • Banking and finance (26%)
  • Industrial conglomerates (17%)
  • Real estate (8%)
  • Food and beverages (8%)
  • Business and consumer services (6%)

The Deloitte survey also looked at the demographics of family office principals. It found that their average age is 68, with some regional variation: The average age was 65 in Europe and South America and 71 in North America.

In addition, the survey found that women are principals of 15% of family offices globally despite being just 10% of the wealth holders with over $100 million.

“That means that if you had equal proportions of men and women with wealth, women would be slightly more likely to have that family office and be the principal of it,” says Rebecca Gooch, global head of insights for Deloitte Private.

The survey also provided a regional look at how many women head family offices:

  • North America: women are principals of 12% of family offices
  • Europe: 20%
  • Asia Pacific: 18%*
  • Middle East: 10%
  • South America: 17%
  • Africa: 21%

* Note: The figure for Asia Pacific includes 22% for Oceania-based countries such as Australia and New Zealand, and 16% for Asia.

About the Author

Margaret Steen

Margaret Steen is the editor of FO Pro, The Family Office Professional. Based in Silicon Valley, she has written for Family Business Magazine for more than 15 years.


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