The National University of Singapore (NUS) and Tsinghua University are Asia’s top universities for generating ultra-wealthy alumni, according to research by Altrata.
The alumni population of NUS contains an estimated 3,400 ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs), defined as people with fortunes of at least US$30 million, the data company said in a report on Wednesday. Tsinghua has produced an estimated 1,400 such graduates.
NUS ranks 17th on a global basis and third on a ranking that excludes US universities, while Tsinghua ties with the University of Manchester for sixth on the non-US ranking but would be outside the top 20 of the overall global ranking, according to the report.
US schools dominate the global list, topped by Harvard University with an estimated 18,000 UHNWIs, or 4 per cent of the world’s estimated population of 483,500 such individuals, the report said. Of the top 20 universities, 17 are in the US, including second-placed University of Pennsylvania with 9,300 UHNW alumni, followed by third-ranked Stanford University with an estimated 8,400 UNHW alumni.
“The number of UHNW alumni from all of the top 20 non-US universities – an estimated 34,400 – is lower than the combined total of just the top three US institutions,” lead authors Maya Imberg, Maeen Shaban and Bettina Lengyel said in the report.
“This reflects the country’s status as by far the biggest UHNW market and underlines the strong academic reputation and appeal of the US university system, with its large number of prestigious institutions providing a well-established pathway to wealth.”
Among non-US schools, the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge top the list, with an estimated 4,900 and 4,700 ultra-wealthy alumni, respectively. They rank sixth and seventh on the all-inclusive global ranking.
The non-US top 20 includes six other Asia-Pacific universities: Peking University, Delhi University and Mumbai University are tied for ninth (along with Canada’s McGill University) with 1,200 UHNW alumni, while the University of Hong Kong, University of New South Wales and University of Sydney are tied for 15th (along with American University of Beirut and London Business School) with 900 ultra-rich graduates.
New York-based Altrata said its rankings were based on the sum of known and confirmed ultra-wealthy alumni, plus estimates of “yet to be identified” ultra-wealthy alumni.
Banking and finance are the primary professional focus for a quarter of ultra-rich alumni who graduated in the past 20 years, the report said.
“However, its relative importance has declined somewhat over time, down from a share of 29 per cent among the older graduate cohort,” the report said. “Restructuring and tighter regulation in the post-financial-crisis era have clipped the size and influence of the global financial services sector, but it remains a major driver of wealth generation.”
Meanwhile, representation in the technology industry almost doubled, with one in 10 wealthy graduates over the past 20 years devoting most of their professional time to tech-related innovation, products and services, Altrata said.
“The potential for large, scalable gains in a sector with low barriers to entry and cross-border digital adoption is an enticing prospect, not least among a burgeoning wealthy class in Asia and other populous emerging markets,” the report said.
This article was originally published by SCMP on May 14, 2025. Read the original here.
