Home2020 winners and losers - Forbes version

2020 winners and losers – Forbes version

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Since the beginning of 2020, the combined fortune of more than 2,200 billionaires worldwide has grown by $ 1.9 trillion, or 20%, to $ 11.4 trillion.

It is customary to scold the year 2020, but not for everyone it was so bad. For example, according to Forbes, more than half of the world’s billionaires have gotten richer this year and new pandemic billionaires also appeared. The five most successful collectively have become wealthy by $ 310 billion.

The losses of the main “losers” of the year are many times more modest – they missed $ 23.7 billion.

So, who is more fortunate in 2020, who is less.

Runs IT

According to Forbes, more than 60% of the world’s more than 2,200 billionaires have become richer, and only 36% are poorer.

The wealth of the top five most successful billionaires combined increased by $ 310.5 billion.

TOP-5 by earnings:

  1. the head of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk (the state increased by $ 110.3 billion – to $ 136.9 billion);
  2. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos (+ $ 67.5 billion – up to $ 182.2 billion);
  3. Zhong Shanshan, owner of Nongfu Spring, China’s largest bottled water producer (+ $ 60.5 billion – up to $ 62.5 billion);
  4. Dan Gilbert, founder of the mortgage bank Quicken Loans (+ $ 37.1 billion – to $ 43.9 billion);
  5. the head of LVMH Bernard Arnault (+ $ 35 billion – up to $ 146.3 billion)

Elon Musk in 2020 rose to second place in the ranking of the richest people in the world. As of November 24, the businessman’s fortune has grown by $ 7.24 billion, reaching $ 128 billion. Thus, he overtook Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose fortune is also estimated at approximately $ 128 billion. Musk ousted Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ($ 102 billion) from the top three.

In 2020, Musk’s fortune grew amid continuing growth in Tesla shares and the company’s capitalization. At the beginning of the year, he only ranked 35th in the ranking of billionaires.

The richest man in the world is still Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ($ 182 billion). In 2020, Bezos’ space company launched a rocket to test a precision landing system on the moon. The billionaire himself experienced robotic arms in the past year. With the help of the manipulators put on his hands, he shook hands with another person, showed his thumb and even stretched his fingers. Bezos was impressed by the technology.

The ex-wife of businessman Mackenzie Scott, whom the divorce made the richest woman in the world, was not bored either. According to Bloomberg, Scott’s fortune in connection with the growth of Amazon shares has reached $ 68 billion.

Mackenzie Scott and Jeff Bezos divorced in April 2019 after 25 years of marriage. During the divorce, Mackenzie received 4% of Amazon shares – at that time they were worth about $ 38.3 billion. After the divorce, Mackenzie Scott took up charity work. In the last four months of 2020, the woman has donated $ 4.1 billion to charity.

But the fortune of Bernard Arnault has grown by more than 30%, even in the hardest year for the luxury market. When the pandemic broke out, Louis Vuitton briefly scrapped the plan to buy the jewelry brand Tiffany & Co., but in October signed a new deal to acquire the company for $ 15.8 billion – that is, about $ 400 million less than the original offer.

Overall luxury revenues are still declining, but Louis Vuitton surprised investors this fall by reporting strong sales of Louis Vuitton and Dior handbags, especially in countries like South Korea and China, where the spread of the coronavirus has been contained. The strengthening of the euro also played in Arno’s favor – since the beginning of the year it has grown by 8% compared to the US dollar.

Tourism in minus

Top losers in 2020:

  1. Carlos Slim Elu, owner of the largest telecommunications company in Latin America América Móvil (- $ 5 billion – up to $ 58.2 billion);
  2. owner of the empire of gambling houses Las Vegas Sands Sheldon Adelson (- $ 5 billion – up to $ 35.1 billion);
  3. Sun Hongbin, founder of Sunac China Holdings, which owns theme parks (- $ 4.8 billion – up to $ 8.1 billion);
  4. Hui Ka Yan, head of one of the largest development companies in China, Evergrande Group (- $ 4.6 billion – to $ 27.7 billion);
  5. Harold Hamm, head of the American oil producer Continental Resources (- $ 4.3 billion – up to $ 5.6 billion).

Slim’s fortune fell sharply due to the devaluation of the Mexican currency. The peso fell 26% against the US dollar at its lowest in late March. Although the Mexican currency began to recover later, it is still around 5% cheaper than at the end of last year.

It was a difficult year for the gaming industry, and Sheldon Adelson was also under attack. Casinos, part of his empire of gambling houses Las Vegas Sands, were closed in the spring due to quarantine. Even after some recovery in domestic tourism this summer, Las Vegas Sands’ third-quarter revenue was 82% lower than a year earlier. The future looks promising, however, with Las Vegas Sands shares up 18% as of December 11 since late October on upbeat news about coronavirus vaccines.

Sunac China Holdings, which Sun Hongbin founded, owns theme parks and it has been a very difficult year for them. They first closed, then were forced to limit the number of visitors and take additional security measures to resume work. As of December 11, Sunac shares were almost 40% cheaper than at the beginning of the year. As a result, the owner’s fortune was reduced by more than a third.

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