Top 10 Richest People In Europe – 2012
After Asia, it is time to search out for the richest people in Europe. These guys seem to be even richer as compared to Indians. Let us see what has made them appear in our today’s post.
10.Vladimir Potanin
He was born on January 3, 1961 and has a net worth of $14.5 billion. He is a Russian businessman and an oligarch. By oligarch, I am referring to those businessmen who got very rich in a very short period of time during the privatization in Russia. During the time of presidential elections of 1996, government was in Queer Street and needed funds desperately. For this they leased the state-owned assets at very less price which turned out to be sale as the leased assets were never returned to the government. This whole scheme was called loans-for-share scheme. Mr.Potanin, is believed to be the brainchild of this scheme and arguably the primary beneficiary.
9. Vladimir Lisin
Born on 7 May 1956, Mr.Lisin is considered to be the richest man in Russia with a net worth of $15.9 billion. He is the 41st richest person in the world and its line of business is steel. He is also the chairman of Novolipetsk Steel.
8. Rinat Akhmetov
Mr.Akhmetov is a Ukrainian businessman and was born on 21 September 1966. He has a net worth of around $16 billion. He is the owner and President of System Capital Management and Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk, albeit he is believed to be involved in criminal activities but nothing has been proved yet. Apart from being in business, he is also a member of the parliament and belongs to the Party of Regions political party.
7. Alisher Usmanov
He was born in Uzbekistan on 9 September 1953 but is a Russian citizen. His net worth is around $18.1 billion and is the world’s 28th richest person. The provenance of his huge wealth is mining, lumber and investment. Mr.Usmanov is also the major shareholder of Metalloinvest which is a behemoth Russian conglomerate. In the media sector, he is the co-owner of 7TV and Muz-TV federal television channels and 33 regional TV broadcasting stations. The famous London football club Arsenal is also owned by this man by virtue of majority shareholding.
6. Michele Ferrero and family
The sixth richest person is from Italy with a net worth of $19 billion. He has derived his wealth from an Italian manufacturer of chocolates and confectionary products called Ferrero SpA. The size and worth of this company can be gauged from the fact that according to an estimate, the sales for the year 2012 of this entity is around $19 billion. Under the main head of Ferrero SpA, there are several brands in line such as Nutella, Mon Chéri, Kinder Chocolate, Ferrero Rocher, Tic Tacs and Kinder Eggs.
5. LilianeBettencourt
Liliane Bettencourt is 89 years of age and was born on 21 October 1922. Several tags can be attributed to Bettencourt as she is involved in numerous activities. She is a French heiress and business woman. Moreover, she is also a philanthropist and social personality who loves to attend different upper-class events. You all have heard about L’Oréal; she is the major shareholder of this entity. Her net worth is estimated to be $24 billion and by this, she is one of the wealthiest persons in the world.
4. Karl Albrecht
The country of a resplendent football team and the number four richest person of Europe, Germany is the next down the line in the top ten list. Mr.Albrecht is a German entrepreneur who was born on 20 February 1920. With a net worth of around $25.4 billion, he is the 10th richest person in the world according to the Forbes list of 2012. He is the co-founder of supermarket chain Aldi which is short for ‘Albrecht Discount’. It consists of two major divisions named ALDI Nord and ALDI Sud. ALDI is a retail business in nature and the products being sold are groceries and other related items of daily use.
3. Stefan Persson
Born on 4 October 1947, Mr.Persson is the richest person in Sweden and number 8 in the world. His net worth is estimated to be $26 billion. He is the Chairman and major shareholder of an entity of 94,000 employees called Hennes & Mauritz which is a Swedish retail-clothing company known for its latest fashion trends for women, men and teenagers. It is operating in 43 countries and has over 2,300 stores across the globe. An English village named Linkenholt is also owned by Mr.Persson.
2. Amancio Ortega
The founding Chairman and fashion executive of a Spanish clothing manufacturer Inditex, Mr.Ortega is the fifth richest person in the world and second in Europe. He was born on March 28 1936 and has a net worth of around $35.5 billion. He started off from Confecciones Goa, an entity involved in the manufacturing of just bathrobes and ended up in founding Inditex which is a group of several brands such as Zara, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Zara Home, Kiddy’s Class, Tempe, Stradivarius, Pull and Bear/Often and Bershka and has more than 92,000 employees.
1. Bernand Arnault
He was born on 5 March 1949, he has a net worth of $41 billion. He is the Chairman and CEO of LVMH, a company formed in 1987 after a successful merger of fashion house Louis Vuitton with Moët Hennessy. LVHM is multinational company which deals in apparels and accessories and is based in Paris, France. The majority shareholder of Christian Dior is Mr.Arnault which in turn controls LVMH with a shareholding and voting rights of 42.36% and 59.01% respectively. Arnault was named Commander of the Legion of Honor in the year 2007 which is the highest order of France.
