TODAY, the world has 1,426 billionaires (people with personal wealth of $1 billion as of January) accounting to a total net worth of $5.4 trillion. 11 of them are Filipinos.
“Resurgent asset prices are the driving force behind the rising wealth of the super-rich around the globe. While last year almost as many fortunes fell as rose, this year gainers outnumbered losers by 4-to-1. Many new names made the list thanks to free-spending consumers,” Forbes posted in its website.
Leading the pack in the latest Forbes Magazine 2013 billionaire’s list are Mexican telecom tycoon, Carlos Slim with $73 billion, followed by United States’ Bill Gates with $6 billion, Spain’s Amancio Ortega with $57 billion. Closing the top five are Warren Buffett with $53.5 billion and with Larry Ellison $43 billion, who are both from the US.
SM Malls magnate Henry Sy, who is at number 68, remains the Philippines’ richest with $13.2 billion. He closely follows Mark Zuckerberg, the man behind Facebook.com, who is now worth $13.3 billion.
Other Filipinos who made it to the exclusive billionaires club are Lucio Tan ($5 billion), Enrique Razon Jr. ($4.9 billion), Andrew Tan ($3.95 billion), David Consunji ($2.8 billion), George Ty ($2.6 billion), Lucio and Susan Co ($2 billion), Robert Coyiuto Jr. ($1.6 billion), Tan Caktiong ($1.4 billion), Andrew Gotianun ($1.2 billion) and Roberto Ongpin ($1.2 billion).
Forbes said that the richest Filipinos saw their fortunes rise even faster due to the economic growth posted in the last year and the upbeat consumer and tourism in the country, “Despite European woes, the Philippines’ remittance-driven economy outperformed most of its neighbors; it grew 6.4 percent in the last quarter, driven by an ongoing consumer boom and a surge in tourism and outsourcing,” Forbes said reported.
There might be more billionaires than what Forbes listed. This is according Hurun Report, a China-based luxury magazine, who recently released their own billionaires’ list last week.
“There are 1,453 people around the world with a personal wealth of $1 billion or more as of January,” The Hurun Report said in a statement.
Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report said that the world’s billionaires could be three times higher.
The Hurun Report included 608 billionaires from Asia, 440 from North America and 324 from Europe. The list cited real estate, telecommunications, media and technology and retail as the most common sources of wealth.
“Some people deliberately make their wealth a secret because…they gained it through illegal ways. Some others simply prefer to keep a low profile,” Hoogewerf said.
No matter how they got there or how they accrued their earnings, these billionaires earned their spot. They all took a leap of faith, that’s for sure. If these 1,426 billionaires are to give a tip on how to become one of them, the common answer would probably be: to take risks.
There is no precise lesson/business plan to success. It can never be taught, not even by the self-made billionaires who made the list.
While not all risks are guaranteed to pay off, you will only need one to make a difference. Who knows, that crisp one dollar bill in your wallet right now, might be your next step to pocketing billions.
(AJPress)