The University RICH list

A new league table from Wealth-X has published the ultimate university rich list, where the earnings of graduates are compared by university. This produces a top 10 of universities that produce the highest earning graduates.

By no surprise at all, Oxford tops it with 401 “ultra high net worth” individuals among its alumni population whom rack up a net worth of £33 billion. These lucky guys have a net worth of £20 million after accounting for property, art collections, aircraft (!), cash and other assets. The study also found that two-thirds of Oxford’s wealthiest alumni are self-made millionaires, so maybe our ‘Rich Daddy’ stereotypes need to be reworked (although 14% have inherited their money), yet only 6% are women. This suggests your background may not necessarily make you rich, or confine you to the lifestyle of your parents, but gender could come into play here.

Cambridge is just behind as is has a smaller number of richer graduates, 361 to be precise. Other universities to boast a high number of rich graduates include LSE, Imperial College London and London Business School, so maybe all those Social Science and Business students aren’t having it too bad with their 8 hours a week as their degree choice could lead them to a wealthier adulthood.

The University of Birmingham had the highest percentage of self-made wealthy alumni at 84%

Only 17 out of the 24 Russell Group Universities were used, excluding Southampton, but  “it reflects the ability of such prestigious institutions to attract high calibre individuals, who proceed to create financial success”, according to Mike Byrne, European sales director at Wealth-X. This shows how crucial that the decision your 18-year old self makes as to what university to attend is. You could be choosing between coming a self-made billionaire or a ‘standard office job graduate’. Obviously if money doesn’t make you happy, then that’s fine, do something that you enjoy, that gives you fulfillment or that makes a difference to the world, unless you’re like me where money is the centre of your universe (thanks Dad).

Top 5 UK universities by wealthy alumni

More information on the report can be found here.