A decamillionaire has at least US$10 million, and a centimillionaire has at least US$100 million. "UHNW" usually means net worth of at least US$30 million, so it includes people between those thresholds as well as centimillionaires. Check whether a figure refers to net worth or liquid investable wealth, because reports use both measures.
The thresholds
A decamillionaire is someone with wealth of US$10 million or more. A centimillionaire is someone with wealth of US$100 million or more. The terms describe different points on a scale: every centimillionaire is also a decamillionaire, while many decamillionaires do not meet the centimillionaire threshold.
UHNW stands for "ultra-high-net-worth individual." Knight Frank defines a UHNWI as someone with net worth of at least US$30 million, and an HNWI as someone with net worth of at least US$1 million (Knight Frank, 2025). That means a person with US$30 million to less than US$100 million in net worth qualifies as UHNW but is not a centimillionaire. A person with at least US$100 million in net worth qualifies as both.
What changes with each measure
The thresholds can look inconsistent because wealth reports do not always count the same things. Henley & Partners' centimillionaire figures use liquid investable wealth, including listed holdings, cash and debt-free residential property (Henley & Partners, 2024). Knight Frank's US$100 million-plus figure uses net worth. The two totals should not be compared as if they were measuring an identical group.
The scale of the difference is clear in one comparison: Henley counted 29,350 people worldwide with at least US$100 million in liquid investable assets in 2024, while Knight Frank reported that the number of people with net worth above US$100 million had surpassed 100,000 (Henley & Partners, 2024; Knight Frank, 2025). Those figures use different definitions and methods, so the gap does not mean one count is necessarily wrong.
A practical way to read the labels
When someone uses one of these terms, ask what is being measured and whether the threshold is inclusive. "US$100 million net worth" is not automatically the same as "US$100 million in liquid investable wealth." This distinction matters for families considering wealth management or a family office, since the label alone does not tell you how much wealth is readily available to invest.
Richard C. Wilson describes the centimillionaire book audience as people with "100 million plus net worth." That is a useful example of how the term is often used in conversation, but it should not replace a report's stated definition.
From Family Office Club events
"The subtitle says 100 million plus net worth individuals in case people don't know what a centimillionaire is"
Sources
- Henley & Partners, Centi-Millionaire Report 2024. henleyglobal.com
- Henley & Partners, definition of wealth in Centi-Millionaire Report 2024. henleyglobal.com
- Knight Frank, The Wealth Report 2025. knightfrank.com
- Family Office Club event transcript
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