CFI Top 40 Billionaires in Emerging Markets 2012

The list is dominated by billionaires from the BRIC economies (65% out of the total number of billionaires).

Of these, the Russian (and one Ukrainian) makes up more than half of the billionaires from BRIC economies and 38% of the total. They almost all made their fortunes in steel, mining and oil.

Latin America (represented by Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Colombia) has one in four of the world’s top 40 emerging markets billionaires.

The populous China (including Hong Kong) and India makes up a further 23% of the billionaires.

The Middle East and Africa only represents 10% of the list.

The richest on the list with $74 billion in net worth made his initial fortune primarily in mobile telecom. However, the single Malaysian representative was the only other billionaire to advance through telecom. The majority of the top 40 billionaire’s monies appear to have been made in steel, mining and oil. The boom in the prices and world-wide demand for commodities have translated into extraordinary successes for some and created the majority of the top new billionaires from emerging markets.

Still, many of the billionaires have made their monies from “old fashioned style” finance, including banking, investments, real estate and diversified holdings.

Top 5: C. Helu, L. Mittal, E. Batista, M. Ambani, L. Ka-shing

Table 2: CFI Top 40 Billionaires in Emerging Markets 2012

RankNameWealthAgeIndustryCountry
1Carlos Slim Helu & Family$74 B72TelecomMexico
2Lakshmi Mittal$31.1 B61SteelIndia
3Eike Batista$30 B55Mining, oilBrazil
4Mukesh Ambani$27 B54Petrochemicals, oil & gasIndia
5Li Ka-shing$26 B83DiversifiedHong Kong
6Vladimir Lisin$24 B55SteelRussia
7Thomas & Raymond Kwok & family$20 BN/AReal estateHong Kong
8Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud$19.6 B56InvestmentsSaudi Arabia
9Iris Fontbona & family$19.2 BN/AMiningChile
10Lee Shau Kee$19 B84Real estateHong Kong
11Alexei Mordashov$18.5 B46SteelRussia
12Mikhail Prokhorov$18 B46InvestmentsRussia
13Vladimir Potanin$17.8 B51Nonferrous metalsRussia
14Alisher Usmanov$17.7 B58Steel, telecom, stocksRussia
15Azim Premji$16.8 B66SoftwareIndia
16Oleg Deripaska$16.8 B44AluminumRussia
17Rinat Akhmetov$16 B45Steel, coal minesUkraine
18German Larrea Mota Velasco & family$16 B58MiningMexico
19Shashi & Ravi Ruia$15.8 B68DiversifiedIndia
20Mikhail Fridman$15.1 B47Oil, banking, telecomRussia
21Vagit Alekperov$13.9 B61OilRussia
22Aliko Dangote$13.8 B54Sugar, flour, cementNigeria
23Roman Abramovich$13.4 B45Steel, investmentsRussia
24Jorge Paulo Lemann$13.3 B72BeerBrazil
25Savitri Jindal & family$13.2 B61SteelIndia
26Viktor Vekselberg$13 B54Oil, metalsRussia
27Robert Kuok$12.5 B88DiversifiedMalaysia
28Mohammed Al Amoudi$12.3 B67OilSaudi Arabia
29Alberto Bailleres Gonzalez & family$11.9 B80MiningMexico
30Joseph Safra$11.4 B73BankingBrazil
31Viktor Rashnikov$11.2 B63SteelRussia
32Luis Carlos Sarmiento$10.5 B79BankingColombia
33Horst Paulmann & family$10.5 B77RetailChile
34Nasser Al-Kharafi & family$10.4 B68ConstructionKuwait
35Eliodoro, Bernardo & Patricia Matte$10.4 BN/APaperChile
36Gautam Adani$10 B49Commodities, infrastructureIndia
37Iskander Makhmudov$9.9 B48Mining, metals, machineryRussia
38German Khan$9.6 B50Oil, banking, telecomRussia
39Dmitry Rybolovlev$9.5 B45FertilizerRussia
40Ananda Krishnan$9.5 B73TelecomMalaysia

Source: CFI, Forbes, Other


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