Richest in the world: Gates still world's richest

Thai-American woman running largest woman-run business in US is new billionaire. Thailand's richest are a familiar set of names.

PERSONAL NET WORTH

Richest in the world: Gates still world's richest 

21/03/2017

NEW YORK - The 2017 list of the world's richest people as compiled by Forbes is out, with 233 new billionaires among 2,043 listed by the magazine.

China accounted for the largest number of new entrants on the Forbes list, with 76 mainland China billionaires listed for the first time.

The collective net worth of all the men and women on the Forbes list is US$7.67 trillion, up from US$6.48 trillion in 2016.

THAILAND'S BILLIONAIRES

Thailand has 20 billionaires on the list.

Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, owner of property firm TCC Land and Thai Beverage, famous for Chang beer, topped the billionaire list.

Dhanin Chearavanont, owner of agribusiness conglomerate CP Group, came in second. 

Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha owner of King Power which has a monopoly over duty-free sales at all airports in Thailand came in third.

Owners of retail powerhouse Central Group came in fifth, sixth, and seventh.  

Thailand's billionaires run as follows:

Rank - Name, Net Worth in US dollars

62 - Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, $15.8 bln
132 - Dhanin Chearavanont, $9.7 bln
414 - Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, $4.2 bln
460 - Vanich Chaiyawan, $3.9 bln
564 - Sumet Jiaravanon, $3.4 bln
581 - Jaran Chiaravanont, $3.3 bln
581 - Montri Jiaravanont, $3.3 bln
717 - Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth, $2.8 bln
896 - Krit Ratanarak, $2.3 bln
1234 - Thaksin Shinawatra, $1.7 bln
1376 - Kiat Chiaravanont, $1.5 bln
1376 - William Heinecke, $1.5 bln
1376 - Wichai Thongtang, $1.5 bln
1468 - Keeree Kanjanapas, $1.4 bln
1567 - Thongma Vijitpongpun, $1.3 bln
1678 - Somphote Ahunai, $1.2 bln
1678 - Rit Thirakomen, $1.2 bln
1795 - Harald Link, $1.1 bln
1795 - Prayudh Mahagitsiri, $1.1 bln
1940 - Surin Upatkoon, $1 bln

The Thais on the Forbes list, by ranking and net worth, are listed at Forbes here.

THAI-AMERICAN WOMAN RUNS LARGEST WOMAN-OWNED US BUSINESS BY SALES

The sole American self-made woman newcomer is Thai Lee, who was born in Thailand but moved to the US as a child.

She now runs tech reseller SHI, reportedly the largest woman-owned business by sales in the US.

According to her Forbes profile:

"The daughter of a prominent Korean economist, she was born in Bangkok, Thailand but spent most of her childhood in Korea. She and her older sister moved to the U.S. for school when they were teens. She eventually enrolled at Amherst College, returned to Korea to work at an auto parts maker and save enough money for an MBA, and came back to the U.S. where she attended Harvard Business School" (from Forbes here & also see Wikipedia here).

BILL GATES STILL NUMBER ONE

According to Forbes, Bill Gates is the number one richest for the fourth year in a row.

Bill Gates has been the richest person in the world for 18 out of the past 23 years.

He has a fortune of $86 billion, up from $75 billion last year.

AMAZON FOUNDER BEZOS HAD BEST YEAR OF ANYONE

Amazon's Jeff Bezos, now owner and publisher of the Washington Post newspaper, had the best year of any person on the planet (on earth).

Forbes said he added $27.6 billion to his fortune.

Now worth $72.8 billion, he moved into the top three in the world for the first time, up from number five a year ago.

US PRESIDENT TRUMP WOULD ONLY PLACE FIFTH IN THAILAND

US President Donald Trump came in at No.544 on the list, with a net worth estimated by Forbes of $3.5 billion - double that of Thaksin and behind Thailand's four richest men.

Warren Buffett had the second-best year, and the biggest gain since Donald Trump was elected president in November 2016.

Buffet's $14.8 billion jump in 12 months was enough for him to grab back the number two spot from Amancio Ortega, founder of Spanish clothing chain Zara.

Ortega's fortune was up $4.3 billion since last year, but he still fell to fourth in the world, unable to keep up with the outsized gains of others.

FACEBOOK FOUNDER ZUCKERBERG MOVES TO NUMBER FIVE

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg moved up to number five for the first time, after his fortune rose $11.4 billion in 12 months.

Meanwhile, Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico, the biggest investor in The New York Times and once the world's richest man, fell to number six, the first time he's been out of the top five in a dozen years.

CHINA THEN US WITH MOST NEW BILLIONAIRES

Mainland China had the most new ten-figure (billion dollar) fortunes with 76. The US was second with 25.

Notable newbies include:

Patagonia sportswear founder Yvon Chouinard;

Viking Cruises founder Torstein Hagen of Norway;

US hedge fund tycoon Cliff Asness and two of his business partners; and

John and Patrick Collison, Irish citizens who co- founded (co-founders of) San Francisco-based Stripe, which enables online payments.

John Collison, age 26, is now the world's youngest self-made billionaire, just two months younger than Snapchat's Evan Spiegel.

15 NEW WOMEN MADE THE LIST

There are also 15 new self-made women, all but one of whom are from Asia Pacific.

That includes 10 from China and the first ever from Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, who took her budget airline, VietJet Air, public in February 2017.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1218205/billionaires-row-gates-still-worlds-richest-man

https://www.forbes.com/profile/thai-lee/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_Lee

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