Six Indonesians in 'Forbes' top 200
Six Indonesians in 'Forbes' top 200
NEW YORK (Agencies): The Wonowidjojo family, owner of Gudang Garam cigarette giant, is one of six Indonesians listed in this year's Forbes' world's top 200 billionaires, AP reported yesterday.
The magazine put the family's net asset at $7.3 billion, and ranked it 24th in the list of the world's richest individuals and families.
Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates heads the list for the third straight year and he's pulling away from the pack as his software empire rides the stock market's record-setting wave.
Gates' net worth doubled to $36.4 billion over the past year. That put him nearly $9 billion ahead of the second-place Walton family, the $27.6 billion heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune, Forbes said in its 11th annual rankings, released Sunday.
Other Indonesians in the Forbes' 200 are Eka Tjipta Widjaja (ranked 45th), Liem Sioe Liong (68th), Mohamad (Bob) Hasan (99th), Putera Sampoerna (142nd) and Mochtar Riady (176th).
Last year, Asians made up half the top 10 list, but this year only two were members: Hong Kong real estate magnates Lee Shau Kee, No. 4 with $14.7 billion, and the Kwok brothers, No. 8 at $12.3 billion.
Of the American entries, investor Warren Buffett was No. 3 at $23.2 billion and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen stood at No. 6 with $14.1 billion. The other Americans in the top 10 were the Haas family of Levi Strauss, seventh with $12.3 billion, and the Mars candy family, at No. 9 with $12 billion.
In fifth place were the Oeri, Hoffman and Sacher families of Switzerland, heirs of the Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche, with $14.3 billion. Rounding out the top 10 was the Quandt family of Germany, which owns half of BMW and is worth $11.7 billion.
Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, the Japanese real estate and transportation mogul who was once the world's richest businessman, slid to No. 22 from seventh last year as his country's property market continued to falter.
Hong Kong placed seven billionaires on the list, including Nina Wang, the world's second richest woman. Her net worth of $7 billion from running the Chinachem real estate empire ranks second behind Liliane Bettencourt, the $8.4 billion heiress to the L'Oreal cosmetics fortune.
Forbes provided a separate ranking of dictators and royalty, excluding them from the global billionaires list since they have no direct role in managing businesses.
The Sultan of Brunei, worth $38 billion, heads the list. Cuban president Fidel Castro is No. 10 with $1.4 billion.
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