How the World’s Richest People Spend Their Money, Per New Data

The rich get richer — and when they do, they spend that money extravagantly.

The ultrawealthy, considered anyone worth more than $30 million, spent $290 billion on luxury goods last year, according to a new report by wealth intelligence firm Altrata. The estimate is based on Altrata’s Wealth X database and insights from Bain & Company.

The ultrawealthy make up 1% of the world’s millionaires — and .006% of the world’s total population — but their wealth is outsize. Their cumulative wealth totals nearly $60 trillion, accounting for about one-third of the wealth held by all millionaires. That total is driven by business leaders like Elon Musk and Larry Ellison, whose net worths are each well into the 12 figures.

It makes sense, then, that these millionaires’ spending is proportionally high, comprising 21% of all luxury good expenditures by individuals in 2024.

Luxury transportation represented the bulk of their spend. The uberrich poured $129.5 billion into the category, spending $100.9 billion on luxury cars, and $28.6 billion on private jets and yachts.

Sales of jets and yachts — two categories almost entirely bankrolled by the ultrawealthy —  grew 13% last year, according to a January report by Bain.

Another $115.6 billion went toward smaller-scale luxury goods, such as jewelry, watches, fashion, fine wines, and furniture, Altrata found. Fine art, its own category, counted for $19.6 billion of the ultrawealthy’s luxury spending last year.

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As spending from aspirational shoppers — entry-level consumers — has contracted, luxury brands have homed in on the ultrawealthy in recent years.

Brands reserved for the ultrarich, like Hermès, have thrived, while companies like Gucci, which expanded with more accessible partnerships, have struggled.

“There’s been a kind of a refocusing, probably an over-correction of the strategy, to focus on the top of the pyramid that was more resilient in a moment of turbulence,” Claudia D’Arpizio, Bain’s global head of fashion and luxury, told Business Insider last year.

In line with a general shift to the “experience economy,” the ultrawealthy are spending more — $25.3 billion — on luxury hospitality, Altrata found. Wellness tourism, like yoga retreats or spa destinations, and more “experience-driven” trips, like safaris, are increasingly popular for luxury travelers, according to Bain’s 2025 Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study.

It’s not all Champagne wishes and caviar dreams. While Altrata didn’t calculate the ultrawealthy’s 2024 charitable giving, they spent $207 billion on donations in 2023 — nearly as much as they spent on their yachts and watches.