UBS Global Entrepreneur Report 2026: 156 Entrepreneurs with $34.3 Billion Total Revenue & $167 Million Average Revenue, 68% Optimistic on Business Outlook, Top 3 Concerns for Next 12 Months are Political Instability & Uncertainty, Trade Policy Changes, Global Recession, Top 3 Technologies with Biggest Commercial Opportunities are AI (Artificial Intelligence), Automation & Robotics, Big Data Analytics, Top 3 Ways to Sell / Exit Business are Sale to Strategic Buyer in Same Industry, Transfer Business to Next Generation, Sale to Financial Investor (Eg. Private Equity), Top 3 Challenges for Wealth Transfer – Tax-Efficient, Preparing Next Generation to Manage Wealth Responsibly, Preserving Family Wealth Across Generations
20th March 2026 | Hong Kong
UBS has released the UBS Global Entrepreneur Report 2026, providing key insights into 215 entrepreneurs with $34.3 billion total revenue & $167 million average revenue. Business Outlook Optimistic – 68%. Top 3 Reasons for Being Optimistic – Growing customer demand, Advancements in technology & innovation, Economic conditions favourable for business. Top 5 Concerns for next 12 months – Political instability & uncertainty, Trade policy changes, Global recession, Major geopolitical conflict, Financial market crisis. Top 5 concerns for next 5 years – Political instability & uncertainty, Global recession, Major geopolitical conflict, Financial market crisis, Higher taxes. Top 3 Actions to reduce negative impact – Increasing operational efficiency / cost controls, Diversifying markets & customer base, Investing in new technologies / innovation. Top 3 Technologies with biggest commercial opportunities – Artificial Intelligence (AI), Automation & Robotics, Big Data Analytics. Top 3 Biggest Impact of AI in next 5 years – Increasing operational efficiency / automation, Strengthening data analysis & decision-making, Reducing costs & improving margins. Top 2 Main barriers to adopting AI – Shortage of skilled employees, Lack understanding of how to use AI in business. Increase workforce in next 12 months – 51%. Increase workforce in next 5 years – 79%. Will relocate business or expand to another location / country – Yes 44%. Top Reason to relocate business or expand to another location / country – Access new customer markets. Top 3 Ways for Entrepreneur to Sell / Exit Business – Sale to strategic buyer in same industry, Transfer business to next generation, Sale to financial investor (eg. private equity). Wealth outside business – 69% Enough / right amount. Top 5 Challenges for wealth transfer – Tax-efficiency, Preparing next generation to manage wealth responsibly, Preserving family wealth across generations, Right legal structure, Deciding what to do with operating business. See below for key findings & summary | View report here
“ UBS Global Entrepreneur Report 2026: 156 Entrepreneurs with $34.3 Billion Total Revenue & $167 Million Average Revenue, 68% Optimistic on Business Outlook, Top 3 Concerns for Next 12 Months are Political Instability & Uncertainty, Trade Policy Changes, Global Recession, Top 3 Technologies with Biggest Commercial Opportunities are AI (Artificial Intelligence), Automation & Robotics, Big Data Analytics, Top 3 Ways to Sell / Exit Business are Sale to Strategic Buyer in Same Industry, Transfer Business to Next Generation, Sale to Financial Investor (Eg. Private Equity), Top 3 Challenges for Wealth Transfer – Tax-Efficient, Preparing Next Generation to Manage Wealth Responsibly, Preserving Family Wealth Across Generations “
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UBS Global Entrepreneur Report 2026: 156 Entrepreneurs with $34.3 Billion Total Revenue & $167 Million Average Revenue, 68% Optimistic on Business Outlook, Top 3 Concerns for Next 12 Months are Political Instability & Uncertainty, Trade Policy Changes, Global Recession, Top 3 Technologies with Biggest Commercial Opportunities are AI (Artificial Intelligence), Automation & Robotics, Big Data Analytics, Top 3 Ways to Sell / Exit Business are Sale to Strategic Buyer in Same Industry, Transfer Business to Next Generation, Sale to Financial Investor (Eg. Private Equity), Top 3 Challenges for Wealth Transfer – Tax-Efficient, Preparing Next Generation to Manage Wealth Responsibly, Preserving Family Wealth Across Generations
UBS has released the UBS Global Entrepreneur Report 2026, providing key insights into 215 entrepreneurs with $34.3 billion total revenue & $167 million average revenue. See below for key findings & summary | View report here
UBS Global Entrepreneur Report 2026
Summary
- Profile – 156 entrepreneurs with $34.3 billion total revenue & $167 million average revenue
- Business Outlook Optimistic – 68%
- Top 3 Reasons for Being Optimistic – Growing customer demand, Advancements in technology & innovation, Economic conditions favourable for business
- Top 5 concerns for next 12 months – Political instability & uncertainty, Trade policy changes, Global recession, Major geopolitical conflict, Financial market crisis
- Top 5 concerns for next 5 years – Political instability & uncertainty, Global recession, Major geopolitical conflict, Financial market crisis, Higher taxes
- Top 3 Actions to reduce negative impact – Increasing operational efficiency / cost controls, Diversifying markets & customer base, Investing in new technologies / innovation
- Top 3 Technologies with biggest commercial opportunities – Artificial Intelligence (AI), Automation & Robotics, Big Data Analytics
- Top 3 Biggest Impact of AI in next 5 years – Increasing operational efficiency / automation, Strengthening data analysis & decision-making, Reducing costs & improving margins
- Top 2 Main barriers to adopting AI – Shortage of skilled employees, Lack understanding of how to use AI in business
- Increase workforce in next 12 months – 51%
- Increase workforce in next 5 years – 79%
- Will relocate business or expand to another location / country – Yes 44%
- Top Reason to relocate business or expand to another location / country – Access new customer markets
- Top 3 Ways for Entrepreneur to Sell / Exit Business – Sale to strategic buyer in same industry, Transfer business to next generation, Sale to financial investor (eg. private equity)
- Wealth outside business – 69% Enough / right amount
- Top 5 Challenges for wealth transfer – Tax-efficiency, Preparing next generation to manage wealth responsibly, Preserving family wealth across generations, Right legal structure, Deciding what to do with operating business
UBS Global Entrepreneur Report 2026
Profile:
- 215 entrepreneurs
- Total revenue – $34.3 billion
- Average revenue – $167 million
1) Entrepreneur Business Outlook:
Business Outlook:
- Very Optimistic – 21%
- Somewhat Optimistic – 47%
- Neutral – 21%
- Somewhat Pessimistic – 10%
- Very Pessimistic – 0%
Top Reasons for Being Optimistic:
- Growing customer demand – 64%
- Advancements in technology & innovation – 34%
- Economic conditions favourable for business – 34%
- Adopted more sustainable practices – 23%
- Increased investment & funding in the industry – 21%
- Government policies & incentives are supportive of industry – 18%
- Supply chain & logistics environment for business improved – 14%
- Competition in industry reduced – 11%
- Abundance of skilled labour or talent for industry – 5%
Top 15 concerns for next 12 months:
- Political instability & uncertainty – 42%
- Trade policy changes – 36%
- Global recession – 35%
- Major geopolitical conflict – 35%
- Financial market crisis – 28%
- Higher taxes – 27%
- Higher inflation – 27%
- Currency exchange rate fluctuation – 27%
- Supply chain disruptions – 20%
- Cost of financing – 19%
- Higher interest rates – 17%
- Debt crisis – 14%
- Oil / Energy price volatility – 13%
- Real estate market correction – 12%
- Climate change – 3%
Top 15 concerns for next 5 years:
- Political instability & uncertainty – 46%
- Global recession – 39%
- Major geopolitical conflict – 38%
- Financial market crisis – 30%
- Higher taxes – 33%
- Trade policy changes – 24%
- Higher inflation – 24%
- Currency exchange rate fluctuation – 22%
- Supply chain disruptions – 24%
- Cost of financing – 20%
- Higher interest rates – 24%
- Debt crisis – 22%
- Oil / Energy price volatility – 13%
- Real estate market correction – 14%
- Climate change – 13%
Top Actions to reduce negative impact:
- Increasing operational efficiency / cost controls – 66%
- Diversifying markets & customer base – 60%
- Investing in new technologies / innovation – 55%
- Adjusting business strategy, product & service offerings – 54%
- Building up cash reserves / improving liquidity position – 34%
- Strengthening governance / management structures – 25%
- Diversifying suppliers, materials & components – 24%
- Revising supply chain strategy – 17%
- Hedging / optimizing our financial risk management – 17%
- Delaying / scaling back capital investments – 15%
2) Technology Opportunities & AI
Top 6 Technologies with biggest commercial opportunities:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) – 61%
- Automation / Robotics – 38%
- Big Data Analytics – 32%
- Enabling Technologies – 18%
- Virtual / Augmented Reality – 7%
- Blockchain Technology – 6%
Biggest Impact of AI in next 5 years:
- Increasing operational efficiency / automation – 67%
- Strengthening data analysis & decision-making – 55%
- Reducing costs & improving margins – 54%
- Supporting marketing & sales effectiveness – 49%
- Enhancing customer experience & more personalized products / services – 44%
- Accelerating product / service innovation – 37%
- Improving financial forecasting & planning – 28%
- Optimizing supply chain & logistics – 26%
- Enhancing cybersecurity / risk management – 22%
- Improving talent acquisition & workforce planning – 20%
- Help to enter new addressable target markets / create new revenue streams – 18%
- Supporting sustainability & environmental goals – 8%
Main barriers to adopting AI:
- Shortage of skilled employees with the relevant expertise – 46%
- Lack understanding of how to use AI in business – 41%
- Complexity of integrating AI with our legacy systems – 29%
- Unclear return on investment / business case for using AI – 27%
- Concerns about data privacy and/or security – 27%
- Limited availability or quality of data / lack of access to relevant datasets – 25%
- Regulatory and/or legal uncertainty – 17%
- High implementation costs – 17%
- Shortage of trusted and/or reliable external partners or vendors – 16%
- Ethical concerns and/or reputational risk – 5%
- There are no barriers to my current main business adopting AI – 10%
3) Entrepreneur Business Insights
Workforce in next 12 months:
- Increase – 51%
- Same – 37%
- Decrease – 11%
Workforce in next 5 years:
- Increase – 79%
- Same – 11%
- Decrease – 10%
Will relocate business or expand to another location / country:
- Yes – 44%
- No – 56%
Top Reasons to relocate business or expand to another location / country:
- Access new customer markets – 64%
- Be closer to our partners, suppliers &/or clients – 30%
- Operate more favourable regulatory environment – 25%
- Reduce operating costs – 24%
- Optimize infrastructure &/or supply chains – 23%
- Geopolitical instability – 22%
- Access skilled talent – 20%
- Optimize tax affairs – 13%
- Relocate personally – 4%
4) Entrepreneur Selling / Exiting Business
- Sale to strategic buyer in same industry – 40%
- Transfer business to next generation – 23%
- Sale to financial investor (eg. private equity) – 13%
- Management buyout / buy-in – 8%
- Merger with another company – 6%
- Public listing (IPO) – 6%
- Gradual phased transition while retaining partial external ownership – 2%
5) Entrepreneur Personal Wealth
Wealth outside business:
- More than enough – 25%
- Right amount – 44%
- Not enough – 32%
Challenges for wealth transfer:
- Tax-efficiency – 53%
- Preparing next generation to manage wealth responsibly – 51%
- Preserving family wealth across generations – 42%
- Right legal structure – 39%
- Deciding what to do with operating business – 28%
- Managing expectations & aligning the family when creating a succession plan – 23%
- Managing uncertainty around future economic / policy changes – 23%
- Communicating succession plan – 22%
- Distribution of wealth – 19%
- Philanthropic goals and ensuring met effectively – 16%
- Geographical complexities – 13%
- Not having the time or capacity to plan the wealth transfer effectively – 11%
UBS Global Entrepreneur Report 2026
This second edition of the UBS Global Entrepreneur Report reflects the opinions of entrepreneur clients and members of our Industry Leader Network – an exclusive global network of highly successful CEOs and founders. We surveyed 215 entrepreneurs between 29 October and 10 December 2025, with a series of in-depth interviews supplementing their online answers. Taken together, the businesses of the entrepreneurs surveyed earned USD 34.3 billion in full-year revenues in 2024, equating to an average of USD 167 million each. For the first edition of the report, published in 2025, we surveyed 156 entrepreneurs accounting for USD 19.1 billion of total full-year revenue. The participating entrepreneurs were based in the following 26 markets (in alphabetical order): Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Cyprus, France, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Italy, Lebanon, Mainland China, Malaysia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, United Kingdom, Uruguay, United States.
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