Amid the ongoing war on Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic, the stock markets around the world faced a deep slide.
According to Forbes, the wealth of the world’s billionaires decreased by $400 billion from 2021.
“329 people fell off the billionaires’ list this year—the most since the 2009 financial crisis,” Forbes noted.
However, not everyone had a rough year, like Elon Musk who landed as the World’s richest person for the first time ever.
Plus, 236 new billionaires joined the list for the first time, including Rihanna.
Remarkably, a teenager made it to this year’s list of the billionaires under 30s. 19 years old Kevin David Lehmann, the heir of the German drugstore chain, is now the world’s youngest billionaire with a net worth of $2.4 billion.
Forbes calculated the wealth of the 2022 billionaires lists using stock prices and exchange rates from March 11 to calculate net worths.
Two Lebanese from the diaspora topped the top 10 of the Forbes 2022 Billionaires:
Rodolphe Saadé & family
Rodolphe Saadé is the son of Jacques Saadé, founder of CMA CGM, one of the world’s largest shipping companies, in France in 1978.
Rodolphe now controls the company with his siblings, Tanya Saadé Zeenny and Jacques Saadé Jr., as well as his mother Naila.
The Saadé family has now a net worth of $41.4 billion, gaining since April 2021 around $30.5 billion.
The Saadé’s wealth increased due to spiking demands for the shipping company CMA CGM, a private company in which Rodolph and his family have a 73% stake.
The increase in the value of the shipping company makes Rodolphe Saadé the third richest person in France.
CMA CGM, headed by Rodolphe, has recently secured a 10-year contract with Lebanon to rebuild and develop the Beirut Port. The company will be investing $33 million in the container terminal, including $19 million over the first two years.
Carlos Slim Helu
Gaining $18.4 billion since April 2021, and having a net worth of $81.2 billion, Mexico’s richest person has been on the Forbes billionaires’ list for many years. Helu is now the 13th richest person in the world.
Carlos Slim Helu has seen a rise of 42% in shares of Latin America’s biggest telecom firm, América Móvil.
In 2020, Slim sold his 10% stake in The New York Times when the stock was trading at more than $40 a share.
Slim and his family also hold a 79% stake in Grupo Carso, Latin America’s largest conglomerate.
