05 August, 2013

Who's the Richest In the World?

Melbourne Herald Sun, Thursday August 1, 2013

I'm always fascinated by these "Richest Person in the World" lists. Let's face it, they are pretty meaningless - if someone has $1 billion or $40 billion, it does not make much difference from my perspective - or yours either, I imagine. It's still a hell of a lot more than we will ever possess.

But on the other side of the coin, imagine losing it - like Eike Batista, who lost $33 billion over the last year. Yup, this Brazilian entrepreneur was pushing towards the world's top last year, now he's down to 100 on the Forbes Richest 100 list.

Of course it's all figures in a computer, just how much anybody actually owns. Look at a character I've featured before, Ingvar Kamprad (add an E and an A to those initials and you'll know who I mean). He passed from the top of the list to the - well - lower middle. Then he was worth $42 billion and is now a mere $3.3 billion. Not that the money has gone - it is now tied up in complex trust arrangements in Luxembourg and legally not his, though I'm sure they'd provide him a room if he ever needed it.

These rich do enjoy giving their money away - and seem to end up with more than they started with. Take Bill Gates, the world's most generous philanthropist. His world-girdling Bill Gates Foundation has now given out more than $28 billion, yet Forbes reports him as the world's second-richest person at $67 billion. So you can't even throw it away.

By the way I'm quoting US dollars here because with such stellar figures, a few cents in the exchange rate won't really matter to you or me.


The richest man once again is a Mexican, Carlos Slim Helu. At a net worth of around $73 billion he has held top spot for three years and his communications empire, based in Latin America, is rapidly expanding into Europe and the United States, so expect to be hearing more of him.

In retail, do you make money out of lots of low-cost sales, or less high-cost items? Well looking at the rich list, both are true. Number three is Amancio Ortega, the Spanish grandee of Zara. His fashionable, timely, but affordable stock has generated phenomenal sales around the world. From New York to Tokyo, Sao Paolo to Sydney, it seems every smartly-dressed woman has contributed to Ortega's billions, even some well-known royals.

But the higher-priced items can also make you rich. Liliane Bettencourt stared as an apprentice mixing perfumes in her father's factory at the age of 15; now at 91 she ranks as richest woman in the world, with some $30 billion.

Her empire, L'Oreal, is the biggest cosmetics company in the world and controls brands like Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, Lancome, The Body Shop, Ralph Lauren - far from the cheap end of the market.

The truly luxurious brands also come from France. Bernard Arnault is boss of LVMH, which you have to roll out with a rich French accent: Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy. There is a little dispute about whether his wealth is $30 or $40 billion - no-one is readily offering a ledger for outside scrutiny.

The richest person in Asia is Li Ka-shing of Hong Kong. Worth $31 billion, he is the world's largest operator of container terminals.

Americans round off the list - oil and engineering brothers Charles and David Koch of Kansas; Larry Ellison of Oracle; and of course Warren Buffett, the magician who can seem to make any upward or downward stockmarket trend create him ever more billions.

ray@ebeatty.com

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