UHNW entrepreneurs around the world significantly lag behind in building personal wealth, a new UBS report found.
The second edition of the UBS Global Entrepreneur Report 2026, published today and previewed exclusively by Spear’s, suggests many founders have prioritised growing their companies over building wealth outside them.
Nearly a third (32 per cent) of entrepreneurs say they have not built up as much personal wealth beyond their businesses as they could have. The figure is even higher in the US (47 per cent) and Latin America (39 per cent), compared with around a fifth in Europe (21 per cent) and roughly a quarter in Switzerland (26 per cent) and Asia-Pacific (24 per cent).
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The findings draw on responses from ultra-wealthy entrepreneurs around the world. The report surveyed 215 founders across 26 markets whose businesses generated a combined $34.3 billion in revenue in 2024.
‘Entrepreneurs have clearly underinvested in their personal wealth,’ Benjamin Cavalli, the head of strategic clients and global connectivity at UBS, told Spear’s.
The gap reflects a familiar entrepreneurial mindset, where founders often reinvest profits back into their businesses instead of diverting capital into personal portfolios.
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More than half (56 per cent) of those who say they have not built up their private wealth point to business growth as the main reason.
However, that focus may be about to shift, as around 42 per cent say they plan to turn their attention to building personal wealth after exiting or selling their business.
For many founders, the challenge lies in shifting from running a business to managing wealth. ‘The skills that make you a great entrepreneur don’t necessarily map one-for-one to the skills that make you a great investor,’ Matthew Carter, investment strategist at UBS, told Spear’s.
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He also noted that successful entrepreneurs are often used to concentrating their time and capital on a single idea, but that mindset can translate into concentration risk when applied to investing. ‘That type of principle […] is not necessarily the recipe for long-term success in investing,’ Carter said.
For many entrepreneurs, underinvesting in personal wealth also comes down to control, Carter explained. They’ve spent their careers ‘with their hand firmly on the tiller,’ making every decision themselves, but ‘even if you’re a hugely successful entrepreneur, you can’t move the market,’ he added.
Public markets offer far less influence, which is why some founders prefer private markets and direct deals, where they can understand an asset more closely or work directly with the people running it, the UBS executive noted.
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But diversification should remain a top priority, especially for entrepreneurs still in full-on wealth-creation mode. Cavalli pointed out that while founders naturally focus their time and capital on growing their businesses, it’s important to spread assets more widely.
‘The reason why clients build up meaningful investment portfolios with us is also to counter some of that entrepreneurial and business risk they take in their own companies,’ he said. A well-structured portfolio can give UHNW entrepreneurs ‘stability and peace of mind’, Cavalli added, while also letting them focus on running their businesses without neglecting their personal wealth.
Optimism persists despite geopolitical instability
The report also found that entrepreneurs were heading into 2026 with confidence, with 68 per cent reporting they expected their businesses to grow over the next 12 months, buoyed by rising demand, and 64 per cent anticipating stronger appetite for their products or services. However, it is worth noting that the UBS report, based on responses from Q4 of 2025, captures a moment before recent geopolitical shifts, including the most recent outbreaks of conflict in the Middle East.
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Carter pointed out that while current geopolitical risks are ‘clearly top of mind’ today, entrepreneurs are used to uncertainty. ‘They have to deal in uncertainty, it’s the nature of going out on your own to set something up,’ he said.
‘Many entrepreneurs are used to having to do scenario thinking rather than linear thinking’, Carter explained, a mindset they especially put to work since 2020. ’Entrepreneurs faced the profound shock of the Covid pandemic, and they’re now approaching current conflicts with those same qualities of resilience.’
