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    Wealth

    Top 1% of Harvard grads richer than America's 1%

    Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
    Michael Fein | Bloomberg | Getty Images
    Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

    Harvard has topped many of the "rich lists" that rank universities: Richest endowment, most billionaire graduates, richest students. Now, it adds another rich distinction: The largest number of alumni worth $30 million or more.

    According to a new report from Wealth-X, 3,130 of Harvard's alumni are "ultrahigh net worth individuals" worth at least $30 million—the most of any university. That's about 1 percent of its total graduates.

    By comparison, the top 1 percent of all Americans by wealth have a minimum net worth of around $7.8 million—meaning the richest 1 percent of Harvard grads are nearly four times as wealthy as the richest 1 percent of Americans.

    The cause and effect, of course, is unclear. Are alumni rich because they went to Harvard, or does Harvard have a larger number of students who are already wealthy?

    Either way, wealth in America is highly concentrated among the top universities. According to Wealth-X, the top 10 schools for ultrahigh net worth alums account for 5 percent of the world's 211,275 people worth $30 million or more.

    Here are the top 10 schools for ultra-wealthy alumni.

    Top 10 schools for ultra-wealthy alumni

    Rank
    Name of institution
    UHNW alumni population
    1 Harvard University 3,130
    2 University of Pennsylvania 1,580
    3 Stanford University 1,240
    4 Columbia University 940
    5 New York University 860
    6 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 670
    7 University of Chicago 665
    8 Northwestern University 575
    9 Yale University 570
    10 Cornell University 560
    Wealth-X