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9 billionaires who rule their countries' economies
There are billionaires that a country cannot do without. They may not be the Presidents or Prime Ministers of nation but they are considered to be either equally or more important.
Take an example of Bidzina Ivanishvili. He has wealth that equals to 32 per cent of his country’s (Georgia) GDP. He runs schools, colleges, hospitals, and all important basic infrastructure that rival the Georgian government’s programme.
Let’s take a look at such billionaires who have significant fortune as percentage of their country’s GDP.
Source: Forbes
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9 billionaires who rule their countries' economies
Bidzina Ivanishvili
Country: Georgia
Net worth as percentage of country GDP: 32 per cent
Net worth: $5.2 billion
Bidzina Ivanishvili started his business career by selling computers in Russia in 1990s. Later, he started buying companies, turning them around and selling them for a huge profit in Russia. His major source of wealth comes from metals and banking.
After returning to his home country, he also served as Prime Minister of Georgia for about a year.
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9 billionaires who rule their countries' economies
Najib & Taha Mikati
Country: Lebanon
Net worth as percentage of country GDP: 14 per cent (6.9 per cent each)
Net worth: $6.2 billion ($3.1 billion each)
Mikati co-founded the telecommunications company Investcom with his brother Taha in 1982, which he sold to South Africa's MTN Group for $5.5 billion.
He has also served as as the Prime Minister of Lebanon two times.
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9 billionaires who rule their countries' economies
Aliko Dangote
Country: Nigeria
Net worth as percentage of country GDP: 9 per cent
Net worth: $25 billion
Aliko Dangote is the richest man in Africa and owner of the Dangote Group. The company has interests in commodities with operations in many countries including Benin, Cameroon, Togo, Ghana, South Africa and Zambia.
His company dominates the sugar market in Nigeria. He is also into food processing, cement manufacturing, and freight businesses.
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9 billionaires who rule their countries' economies
Rinat Akhmetov
Country: Ukraine
Net worth as percentage of country GDP: 7 per cent
Net worth: $12.5 billion
Rinat Akhmetov is the founder and President of System Capital Management (SCM).
The company has over 100 businesses including metals and mining, power generation, banking and insurance, telecommunications, media and real estates.
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9 billionaires who rule their countries' economies
Stefan Persson
Country: Sweden
Net worth as percentage of country GDP: 6 per cent
Net worth: $34.4 billion
Stefan Persson is the chairman and main shareholder in fashion company H&M, which was founded by his father Erling Persson in 1947.
He also owns a substantial stake in the Swedish technology company, HexagonAB.
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9 billionaires who rule their countries' economies
Binod Chaudhary
Country: Nepal
Net worth as percentage of country GDP: 6 per cent
Net worth: $1.1 billion
Binod Chaudhary is the current chairman of Chaudhary Group (CG), a conglomerate that consists of nearly 80 companies.
Besides business, Chaudhary has been involved in various other government and social sectors, according to Wikipedia.
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9 billionaires who rule their countries' economies
Carlos Slim Helu & family
Country: Mexico
Net worth as percentage of country GDP: 6 per cent
Net worth: $72 billion
Carlos Slim is the second richest person in the world. He has investments in many Mexican companies through his conglomerate Grupo Carso. Some of the sectors include communications, technology, retailing, and finance.
Presently, Slim is the chairman and chief executive of telecommunications companies Telmex and America Movil.
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9 billionaires who rule their countries' economies
Suat Gunsel
Country: Cyprus
Net worth as percentage of country GDP: 6 per cent
Net worth: $1.2 billion
Suat Gunsel has made his wealth in real estate and education. He is the founder of the Near East University.
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9 billionaires who rule their countries' economies
Petr Kellner
Country: CzechRepublic
Net worth as percentage of country GDP: 6 per cent
Net worth: $11 billion
You can call him the Warren Buffett of CzechRepublic. Kellner owns about 94 per cent of the PPF financial group. He started his career at the Czech company Impromat, which imported and sold of Ricoh photocopiers.
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