The Forbes world billionaires list 2018 includes also four Greeks altogether worth 9.6 billion US dollars. As in last year, the richest Greek is as last year, shipping & banking tycoon, Spiros Latsis. The world’s billionaires, 2,208 people, are altogether worth $9.1 trillion, a record up 18% form a year ago.
The 20 richest people on the planet are worth a staggering $1.2 trillion, a sum roughly equivalent to the annual economic output of Mexico. In aggregate, they may represent less than 1% of total billionaires but their riches amount to 13% of the total fortune of all billionaires worldwide.
Jeff Bezos is the richest person on the planet and the first centi-billionaire atop our annual ranking. Shares of his e-commerce giant Amazon rose 59% in 12 months, helping boost his fortune by $39.2 billion.
Bezos is followed by Bill gates ($90 billion) and Warren Buffet ($84 billion).
Meet the Greeks
Spiros Latsis – rank 727 in the world. Banking and shipping. With $3.2 billion the 71-year-old is the richest Greek.
- Spiro Latsis has been managing the family fortune since his father, Greek shipping tycoon John S. Latsis, passed away in 2003.
- The family still has a foot in the shipping business through Latsco Shipping, though they’re now also invested in banking, real estate and oil.
- The Latsis family owns stakes in oil company Hellenic Petroleum and Lamda Development, a publicly traded real estate developer in southeastern Europe.
- They also have a stake in EFG International, a Zurich-based private banking group of which Latsis is a board director.
- Latsis is a three-time graduate of the London School of Economics and a board trustee of Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study.
Philip Niarchos
- Philip Niarchos, the oldest son of the late shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos, inherited much of his father’s art collection.
- The collection was purchased in 1957 for $3 million from actor Edward G. Robinson and includes some of the world’s most recognizable pieces.
- It is said to be the largest private collection of Van Gogh’s work, notably his ear-less self portrait, and includes Picasso’s iconic “Yo, Picasso.”
- Since inheriting the collection, Philip has added post-war and contemporary works, including pieces by Andy Warhol and Maurizio Cattelan.
Aristotelis Mistakidis, self-made
- Aristotelis Mistakidis, known as “Telis,” is the director of Glencore’s copper business and owns a 3% stake in the commodities and mining giant.
- Mistakidis got his start in commodities at Cargill and joined Marc Rich & Co. in 1993. Later, the firm was bought by management and renamed Glencore.
- An LSU graduate, he worked in what would become the zinc, copper and lead department, eventually rising to become co-director in 2000.
- A citizen of both the United Kingdom and his native Greece, he first became a billionaire in 2011 when Glencore went public.
Vardis Vardinoyannis, self-Made
- Vardis J. Vardinoyannis co-founded Motor Oil Hellas, a petroleum company based in Greece, with his late brother in 1970.
- It went public on the Athens stock exchange in August 2001. Saudi Arabia’s Aramco was a major investor before divesting in 2005.
- Vardis’s oldest son, John, is vice chairman while nephew, Nikos, also a major shareholder, is on the board.
- Apart from Motor Oil, the family also invests in shipping, finance and soccer teams.
Forbes made a worrying discovery: the gap between the really rich and the merely rich continues to widen… as fortunes soar to new heights…
