Forbes billionaires rank shows three in Thailand

Three Thais are on Forbes billionaires list

(BangkokPost.com)
The wealth of three Thai billionaires has earned them places in the 2007 Forbes Billionaires List which was released in New York on Friday.

Of 946 billionairs around the world, Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi ranked 264th, with reported net assets worth 3.4 billion dollars. Chaleo Yoovidhya ranked 279th, with net assets worth 3.1 billion dollars. Dhanin Chearavanont and family ranked 390th, with net assets worth 2.4 billion dollars.

Mr Charoen, 62, owns Thai Beverage company, the producer of Chang Beer. He also owns Plaza Athenees in New York City and Bangkok.

Mr Chaleo, 75, has grown from beverages industry. He and his Austrian colleague are creators of Red Bull. The Yoovidhya family also owns 170 million dollars sales of TC Pharmaceuticals, a producer of energy drinks, and part of a private hospital chain. His son Chalerm owns a leading wine producer in Asia, the Siam Winery.

Mr Dhanin, 67, and family are one of the world's largest suppliers of animal feed. They also do retail, telecom and other businesses.

The wealthiest person on earth, again, is William Gates who has net assets of 56 billion dollars. This is the 13th straight year that Gates ranks the top of the list. The second richest person is Warren Buffet, with net assets of 52 billion dollars. Carlos Slim Helu from Mexico is the third richest person in the world, with net assets of 49 billion dollars.

In Asia, the richest person is Lakshmi Mittal from India, with net assets worth 32 billion dollars, who ranks the 5th on the list. Li Ka-shing from Hong Kong, who ranks the 9th in the world's list, ranks the second in Asia, with net assets worth 23 billion dollars. The third richest person in Asia, who ranks the 14th on the word's list, is Mulesh Ambani from India, with net assets worth 20.1 billion dollars.

[jinks]

hehehe they missed me :)

Where's Thaksin?

[puckered_penguin]

Where's Thaksin?

He was in Australia.

The proceeds from the sale of AIS / Shin Corp etc. was shared amongst the shareholders i.e. wife and children and I am not sure if maids and driver still had the shares he accidentally had them harbor just before he became PM.

So I guess he does not make the Forbes 1000 list.

Charoen tops local tycoons
The ranks of the world's dollar billionaires are expanding fast but only three Thais _ the same three as last year _ have made this year's list in Forbes magazine. Liquor tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi retained his position as Thailand's richest person with a net worth estimated at $3.4 billion. He was followed by Chaleo Yoovidhya ($3.1 billion) of Red Bull fame, and Dhanin Chearavanont ($2.4 billion), the patriarch of the Charoen Pokphand agribusiness group.

Those expecting to find deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on the list, given his family's gains of $1.9 billion from their sale of Shin Corp last year, need to bear in mind that much of the money is in the hands of his children. Mr Thaksin last appeared on the Forbes list in 2002 with a net worth of $1.2 billion.

Forbes this year has documented a record 946 billionaires, well up from 793 last year, with a total net worth of $3.5 trillion _ about 17 times the gross domestic product of Thailand.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates topped the list for the 13th consecutive year with his net worth rising to $56 billion from $50 billion. Many of the newcomers on the list are from the fast-growing economies of China and India.

While Mr Charoen's wealth grew last year to $3.4 billion from $3.2 billion, he slipped to 264th place from 214th in the table. Mr Chaleo's ranking rose to 279th from 292nd as his fortune expanded by $600 million from the year before. Mr Dhanin's net worth was unchanged but he fell to 390th from 317th place.

The Chearavanont family's wealth peaked at $5.3 billion in 25-baht dollars in 1994, the year that Forbes listed a record 11 Thais as dollar billionaires.

Bangkok POst