Entrepreneurship has driven economic development throughout time, from the smallest communities to the mightiest cities and countries. In democratic countries, entrepreneurs have driven the modernization of national economies, innovated and created jobs.
The world's billionaires bequeath $30.9 trillion to new generations
Over the years, economic and industrial dynasties have emerged that have transformed entire industries and economies. Families with significant private capital have developed various ways to invest and protect their accumulated wealth. Such a method is also represented by “family offices”. These are legal entities whose purpose is to preserve and grow a family's wealth over generations and provide the legal framework for implementing family governance decisions. These family offices have various missions, from investment management, liquidity management and tax planning, to implementing family governance and succession plans.
Globally, there is a major intergenerational shift, particularly in the transition of wealth from one generation to the next. Over the next two decades, it is estimated that more than $80 trillion will be transferred from the current generation to heirs, who are the majority of millennials and Gen Xers. By 2033, it is estimated that approximately $30.9 trillion will be transferred to the new generations who will take over the stewardship of family fortunes.
Worldwide, fortunes have doubled in just 10 years
In the report EY Family offices: The new architects of private capital, this generational shift is anticipated to support innovation by providing capital to the venture capital and scale-up capital ecosystems and to the firms founded by the younger generations of the respective families. In the coming years, family offices are expected to play an even more important role in capital allocation, directing inherited wealth to new investments, asset classes, but also to investments with higher societal impact.
Private equity markets have seen steady growth in recent years. Total assets under management (AUM) in private markets worldwide have risen from approximately $10.8 trillion in 2013 to $26.6 trillion in 2023, showing a compound annual growth rate of 9.4%.
According to EY's analysis, family offices have established themselves as dominant players in private equity during this period, and there are more than 10,000 family offices globally. These family offices managed approximately $6.3 trillion in assets in 2023. Projections show that the $9.6 trillion mark will be reached in 2027. In the EMEIA region, family offices account for approximately 37% of the private assets under management (AUM) market. This percentage represents more than twice the share of traditional private equity funds (18%) and well above that of venture capital funds (7%). This clearly shows that large capital families are increasingly planning their investment strategies through family offices.
Some of the Romanian billionaires have already passed on their wealth to their heirs
In Romania, entrepreneurship started to develop immediately after the revolution. Despite economic and political instabilities, the private sector has steadily grown and formed family businesses that have reached operational maturity and financial stability. Today, 36 years after the revolution, a good part of family businesses in Romania have made the transfer to the new generation or are in the process of preparing it.
The Barometer of Entrepreneurship study shows that 52% of the family firms that participated in this study have informally discussed with the family or have already planned the succession. For many of the entrepreneurs in Romania, the succession, but especially the preservation of wealth, is also done through education. More than a third of respondents (32%) mentioned that the succession plan is focused on a financial education of the heirs.
At the global level, the importance of family offices is increasing, and this trend is just beginning in Romania. EY data show that 16% of Romanian respondents have as a wealth preservation strategy the establishment of family offices. The top two strategies used by local entrepreneurs are keeping earnings within the business for reinvestment and development (52%) and diversifying family investments outside the business (48%).
The global wave of generational wealth transfer shows the growing importance of family offices. In Romania, where many family businesses enter the succession stage, the mix of financial education, investment diversification and the establishment of family offices can ensure the preservation of wealth and the continuation of family influence in the long term.
European countries with the most billionaires
The richest German is Dieter Schwarz, the founder of the Lidl and Kaufland group, with an estimated fortune of 35 billion euros ($41 billion). He is also ranked 37th in the world.
In second place in Europe is Italy, with 74 billionaires and a total wealth estimated at 289 billion euros ($339 billion). Italy's richest person is Giovanni Ferrero, the heir to the Ferrero confectionery empire, who has a fortune of 32.6 billion euros ($38.2 billion), ranking 41st globally.
The United Kingdom is in third place with 55 billionaires, who accumulate 203 billion euros ($238 billion), and the richest Briton is Michael Platt, the founder of the BlueCrest Capital fund, whose fortune is estimated at 14 billion pounds (16 billion euros), ranking 106th in the world.
France completes the top four European countries, with 52 billionaires in 2025. The richest of them is Bernard Arnault, the chairman of the luxury conglomerate LVMH, which owns famous brands such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Sephora, his wealth in 2025 is estimated at 152 billion euros ($178 billion), which places him in 5th place in the world, after occupying the first position in 2024.
The richest Romanians
Romania ranks 20th in Europe, with six billionaires included in the Forbes list for 2025, in this order:
* Ion Țiriac – 2.1 billion dollars
* Dragoș Pavăl – 2 billion dollars
* Daniel Dines – $1.4 billion
* Adrian Pavăl – 1.3 billion dollars
* Matei Zaharia & Ion Stoica – 2.5 billion dollars together.
Forbes estimates that, globally, there are more than 3,000 billionaires, with a total wealth of 16.1 trillion dollars (13.7 trillion euros) and that more than half of this wealth is concentrated in the United States, China and India, countries that also gather the largest number of billionaires.
The Forbes list is based on estimates in US dollars and reflects individuals' citizenships, not their actual country of residence.
