[SatvikBeri]

For millionaires (defined as people with >$1MM of capital goods that can be easily reinvested), Capgemini claims that "only 16% of high net-worth individuals inherited their stash"[1]. I'm not sure what the precise definitions are since it's not defined in the article.

The Millionaire Next Door claims that 80% of millionaires in the USA are the first generation in their family to be rich.[2]

I also did my own research looking at (non-Forbes) biographies of the top 10 richest people in the world according to Forbes in 2009. 3 out of 10 came from millionaire or richer families (Eike Batista, Bernard Arnault, Stefan Persson).

If you trust Forbes, you can simply go through their website[3], it classifies each billionaire's wealth as self-made, inherited, or inherited + grown.

[1]: http://www.economist.com/node/17929057

[2]: http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0810/7-Millionair...

[3]: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2010/10/billionaires-2010_Carlos...

[_delirium]

Bill Gates also came from a millionaire-or-richer family, so that'd make 4, if that's the cutoff you're using. (He inherited several million from his grandfather, in a generation-skipping trust fund, although I don't believe he yet had access to that money at the time of founding Microsoft.)

[SatvikBeri]

Yeah, my logic was that he didn't have/use those resources while building Microsoft. I was trying to divide billionaires into those who built up their wealth without relying much on other resources, vs. those who took existing wealth and grew it.

[galfarragem]

Having a safety net can boost your confidence..