Billionaire wives are about to inherit a huge slice of the $6.6 trillion great wealth transfer—and 1,235 women stand to cash in by 2035

The world’s richest households are heading into a handoff on a massive scale. By 2035, about 5,000 spouses and adult children are expected to inherit $6.6 trillion of billionaire wealth, according to a new Altrata report. That’s a little over a third of the $15.1 trillion billionaire fortune it says has been amassed globally.

Women are positioned to take the biggest slice. Current billionaires are still overwhelmingly male, with women making up only 13% of the total. But Altrata says more than 1,235 female spouses — about 90% of billionaire partners — stand to inherit over the next decade as men over 60 dominate the ultra-rich cohort.

This isn’t just money changing names on a trust. Altrata expects the next generation to inherit a mix of real estate, listed shares, private businesses and investment portfolios, along with the less tidy job of running family firms that have been passed down for years. The report says 23% of expected adult child heirs, usually around age 48, already work with their wealthy parents in the main family business.

Gen X is the big surprise here. The attention often goes to millennials and Gen Z, but Altrata says the Gen X cohort is the most numerous group in line to inherit from wealthy parents. Some of them will take over businesses in manufacturing, consumer goods, finance and retail. Others will be pushed toward different priorities, including new technology, climate response and impact investing.

All of this is happening against a rougher backdrop than the usual succession-planning glossy brochure. Altrata points to geopolitical tension, climate pressure, tech change and the AI era as forces that will make wealth preservation harder. But it also thinks that same volatility could give next-generation billionaires room to move — in business, in investing and in philanthropy.