Which universities do the world’s richest women come from?

Over a third of the world’s richest women studied in China, according to the list of Richest Self-Made Women in the World by Hurun, a Shanghai-based luxury publishing group. This list only includes 100 female billionaires who made their own wealth instead of inheriting it. New analysis from Money.co.uk shows where these self-made billionaires received their education, and the results may surprise you.

Most of these successful women went to university in China (35%) or the US (28%). Interestingly, a majority (32%) of these female self-made billionaires did not attend university. As most of you would remember, high school graduate Kylie Jenner famously clinched the title of the world’s youngest self-made billionaire last year.

Haven’t we gone over this?

Self-made: Having succeeded in life unaided.https://t.co/g0ZHDSkVfu https://t.co/3O48zKsInN

— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) March 5, 2019

Top 10 universities producing the world’s richest women

Chinese institutions dominate the top 10 universities that educated the most self-made female billionaires, including “Pharma Queen” Zhong Huijuan and “Property Queen” Wu Yajun. Zhejiang University and Tsinghua University are tied for the top spot. Other top Chinese universities also make an appearance on the list, including Sun Yat-sen University, Peking University, and China Europe International Business School.

In the US, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Nevada, Oklahoma State University, and Harvard Business School all contribute two graduates to the list. Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman and Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg are among the notable billionaires who received an American education. Aside from China, the US, and the UK, the world’s richest female self-made billionaires went to university in Russia, Australia, India, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Spain.

Of the 100 billionaires evaluated, 30 went to university in China, while 28 opted for the US. A significantly smaller group of five came from British institutions, including the University of Cambridge, the University of Sussex, and the University of Exeter. This includes Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling, who is an Exeter alumna.

As a society, we are fascinated by billionaires because wealth is perceived as a factor of happiness. Some emulate celebrity fashion sense or imitate their business approach. Though their academic background is rarely an obsession, it’s good to know how the successful women of our time got to where they are today.