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March 09, 2016 at 12:29 AM
Imagine that you are the No. 1 advisor to one of the world’s billionaires. How would you handle this ultra-high-net-worth client?
Market fluctuations and the dramatic drop in oil prices have resulted in drastic changes to the list of the world’s top billionaires for 2016. According to Forbes, which has compiled the list now for 30 years, some of the billionaires’ wealth dropped ten figures for the first time since 2009. You’ll see a noteworthy difference in the rankings if you take a look at last year’s billionaires.
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The list also shrunk, dropping from 1,826 billionaires in 2015 to 1,810 this year. Perhaps as a result, the billionaires in this year’s list have an aggregate net worth of $6.48 trillion, $570 billion less than last year. Forbes also found that the average net worth of a billionaire dropped to $3.6 billion, or $300 million less than last year.
Most of the billionaires on this list are aged 60 or older, with many of them well into their 70s and 80s. Only five of the billionaires are younger than 60 years old, which begs the question: What will happen when these billionaires pass? Who will inherit their fortunes? And, more important still, what will happen to their business empires and the people who have helped forge them?
To learn more about the wealthiest people in technology, finance, media and retail, among other industries, read on.
25. David Thomson and family: $23.8B
Country: Canada
Industry: Media (Thomson Reuters)
2015 rank: Same (No. 25)
Difference in fortune from 2015: -$1.7B
Founded by David’s grandfather, Roy Thomson, Thomson Reuters is a media and publishing conglomerate. David serves as chairman and holds 58 percent of its stake. David Thomson also has stakes in other enterprises, including Bell Canada and the Toronto-based Globe and Mail newspaper. He has a private holding company named Woodbridge, is part-owner of the National Hockey League team the Winnipeg Jets and has a diverse art collection that includes pieces from Pablo Picasso.
(Photo: Thomson Reuters offices in Canary Wharf, London. Thomson Reuters Facebook.)
24. Phil Knight: $24.4B
Country: United States
Industry: Retail (Nike)
2015 rank: No. 35
Difference in fortune from 2015: n/a
Ex-chairman of the shoe giant Nike, which he originally founded as Blue Ribbon Sports in 1962, Knight finally broke onto the top 25 billionaires list this year. Last year, he made No. 17 on the Forbes 400 list.
(Phil Knight, co-founder and chairman of Nike, Inc., watches Oregon play Oregon State from the sidelines during an NCAA college football game in Corvallis, Ore., Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014. AP Photo/Troy Wayrynen)
23. George Soros: $24.9B
Country: United States
Industry: Finance (Soros Fund Management)
2015 rank: No. 29
Difference in fortune from 2015: n/a
At $29 billion, the amount of assets that Soros Fund Management holds is impressive, but it is the chariman’s personal story that truly inspires. According to Forbes, Soros fled Hungary and put himself through the London School of Economics. He worked as a railway porter and waiter before starting in finance at a merchant bank. He moved to New York in 1969 and established his own hedge fund with $12 million.
Soros became known as “the man who broke the Bank of England” after shorting the Bristish pound and making an impressive profit.
(Photo: George Soros, Chairman of Soros Fund Management, talks during a television interview for CNN, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015. AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
22. Sheldon Adelson: $25.2B
Country: United States
Industry: Casinos (Las Vegas Sands)
2015 rank: No. 18
Difference in fortune from 2015: -$6.2B
Adelson is the chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, the largest casino company in the United States. He was in the news last year after his family quietly bought the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper for $140 million.
He is also known as being a sort of godfather to the Republican Party. Each election year he holds an unofficial “Sheldon Adelson Primary,” where he blesses a political candidate with a hefty endorsement.
(Photo: In this May 5, 2015, file photo, Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson testifies in court in Las Vegas. The family of billionaire casino mogul Adelson confirmed in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that they are the new owners of Nevada’s largest newspaper, ending a week of speculation and demands by staff and politicians to know the identity of the new boss. AP Photo/John Locher, File)
21. Beate Heister and Karl Albrecht Jr.: $25.9B
Country: Germany
Industry: Supermarkets (Aldi Sued)
2015 rank: No. 37
Difference in fortune from 2015: n/a
The children of Karl Albrecht Sr., Beate Heister and Junior own at least 75 percent of Aldi Sued, a European supermarket chain similar to Wal-Mart, through the family foundation, Siepmann Stiftung. The rest is owned by charitable foundations.
(Photo: Aldi’s Facebook)
20. Li Ka-shing: $23.8B
Country: Hong Kong, China
Industry: Diversified (CK Hutchison Holdings)
2015 rank: No. 17
Difference in fortune from 2015: -$9.5B
Li Ka-shing is one of many casualties from the oil bust: He lost $6 billion in 12 months after shares of Canadian oil giant Husky Energy dropped in value by more than 50 percent. He is still one of the most powerful people in Asia, with interests in ports, utilities, communications, real estate and more.
(Photo: Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, chairman of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., and Cheung Kong [Holdings] Ltd., gestures during a press conference to announce his companies’ annual results in Hong Kong Friday, Feb. 28, 2014. Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., posted net profit for 2013 was up 20 percent from the previous year. AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
19. Jorge Paulo Lemann: $27.8B
Country: Brazil
Industry: Beer (Anheuser-Busch InBev)
2015 rank: No. 26
Difference in fortune from 2015: n/a
Jorge Paulo Lemann owns the world’s largest brewer through his private equity firm 3G Capital, along with his longtime partners Carlos Sicupira and Marcel Herrmann Telles. The trio also has stakes in Burger King, and in 2013 they bought H.J. Heinz & Company together with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.
Lemann is a former Brazilian tennis champion and has lived in Switzerland since 1999, according to Forbes, after an attempted kidnapping of his children.
(Photo: A beer vender holds up Budweiser and Bud Light at Wrigley Field before Game 4 in baseball’s National League Division Series between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals in Chicago. AP Photo/Paul Beaty, File)
18. Wang Jianlin: $29.6B
Country: China
Industry: Real estate (Dalian Wanda Group)
2015 rank: No. 29
Difference in fortune from 2015: n/a
Wang Jianlin started his real estate firm, Wanda Commercial Properties, as a commercial real estate developer, building shopping plazas and hotels. He also had a movie theater chain called Wanda Cinema Line. Wang has purchased a number of international companies, including the organizer of the Ironman Triathlons, and the Spanish soccer team Atletico Madrid, of which he owns 20 percent. In 2013, he bought U.S. movie theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings.
(Photo: Wang Jianlin, chairman of Wanda Group, delivers a speech at the Ninth Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, Jan. 18, 2016. AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
17. S. Robson Walton: $31.9B
Country: United States
Industry: Retail (Wal-Mart)
2015 rank: No. 12
Difference in fortune from 2015: -$7.2B
The eldest son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, Robson stepped down as chairman of the superstore last year, though he remains on the board with his brother Jim.
16. Alice Walton: $32.3B
Country: United States
Industry: Retail (Wal-Mart)
2015 rank: No. 11
Difference in fortune from 2015: -$7.1B
Sam Walton’s daughter, Alice, has dedicated her life to curating art and opening the Crystal Bridges Art Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas, instead of working for the family business like her brothers.
15. Jim Walton: $33.6B
Country: United States
Industry: Retail (Wal-Mart)
2015 rank: No. 9
Difference in fortune from 2015: -$7B
The youngest of the four Walton siblings, Jim currently sits on the board of the retailer, which brought in $486 billion in revenue last year.
(Photo: Children of the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder the late Sam Walton, from left, Jim Walton, Alice Walton, and Robson Walton, right, in this 2012 photo. AP Photo/April L. Brown)
14. Bernard Arnault: $34B
Country: France
Industry: Luxury brands (LVMH)
2015 rank: No. 13
Difference in fortune from 2015: -$3.2B
Arnault is chairman and CEO of the luxury goods umbrella LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) which has brands such as Dom Perignon, Bulgari, Louis Vuitton, Sephora and Tag Heuer.
(Photo: Bernard Arnault poses prior to the presentation of the 2014 year results in Paris, France, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015. AP Photo/Francois Mori)
13. Sergey Brin: $34.4B
Country: United States
