Hidden Riches: Six Billionaires You Probably Never Heard Of
As of March 2021, there are a total of 2,755 billionaires in the world leading lives of luxury that simply unimaginable to most of us. But it seems like every headline is always filled with the same names. You've heard plenty about the space traveling Jeff Bezos and fashion tycoon Bernard Arnault. Here's some billionaires that you've probably never heard of before.
6 Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen (8.6 billion)
For many of us, fond memories of childhood play are often associated with the toys we loved. Beanie Babies, He-Man action figures, Barbie's: just the thought of the precious blasts from the past muster flashbacks of good times and good fun. Though off all these toys, one of the most popular among kids and young adults alike are the stackable pieces that we know fondly as Lego's. And this mogul made quite fortune off of the joyous building adventures that we hold dear.
Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen's grandfather, founded the then unnamed Lego Group in 1934 after his previous production company fell through due to the financial impact of the Great Depression. Initially, the company - which was shortened version of the word Leg godt or "play well" - produced wooden toys such as yo-yos and trucks. But by 1949, the famous building blocks were introduced to the world.
Thirty decades later, Kjeld took over the helm of his grandfather's company as president and CEO of LEGO Group. Inheriting the building block empire garnered Kjeld with an estimated $8.6 billion and a spot as one of Denmark's richest men. Nowadays, he's looking to reduce plastic waste by investing in environmentally conscious ventures.
5 Aliko Dangote (12.3 billion)
Not only has this Nigerian business magnate held the spot as the wealthiest man in the entire continent of Africa in 2021, he's been the richest African for ten consecutive years! Aliko Dangote built his 12.3 billion fortune through founding West Africa's most highly valued conglomerate - the Dangote Group
Dangote started his business journey right after he graduated from college when he asked his uncle for $3,000 loan to start selling agricultural commodities such as salt and sugar around Nigeria. The importation of cement as another huge proponent of the company initial objective. I didn't take long for his commodities trading company to flourish into a fully fledged money making machine. Just three months after his business was up and running, Dangote was able to back the $3k to his uncle.
Today, Aliko's 85% ownership of the Dangote Cement empire - which makes 45.6 million metric tons of cement per year - brings puts his massive fortune at $12.3 billion. Though he's not stopping there. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) is looking to buy 20% of Dangote's oil refinery. If the deal goes through, it could see an extra $2m to Aliko's net worth!
4 Jorge Paulo Lemann (16.1 billion)
As the founder of the private equity firm 3G Capital and prominent shareholder of multibillion dollar brewing company Anheuser-Busch InBev, Jorge Paulo Lemann was ranked as the 114th richest person in the world by Forbes back in July of this year. Seeing as how InBev is the world's most successful brewery companies, making internality adored beers like Modelo, Corona and Budweiser, it's clear that Lemann's net worth today sits at $16.1 billion. As if that wasn't enough, the beyond affluent businessman is also a controlling shareholder of Restaurant Brands International, a fast food restaurant company which owns such favorites as Popeyes and Burger King.
Lemann often attributes his long journey to the coveted billionaire's club to his willingness to take risks. His resilience comes from his time as a five time tennis champion during his time at Harvard University.
"Tennis is a lot about grit—you learn that the results of your efforts don’t happen by themselves and that you have to practice and practice the right techniques," he says in a lecture at the University of Miami, "“Competing on the court helped me a lot in terms of taking risks."
In 2013, 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffet joined forces to acquire Heinz Inc for $28 billion. The Lemann and Buffet then created a merger between Heinz and Kraft Foods to create on for the third largest food and beverage companies.
3 Ingvar Kamprad (58.7 billion)
You've got this guy to thank for all your last minute furniture store runs. Ingvar Kamprad founded of IKEA in July 1943. But, much like many of the billionaires on this list, Kamprad's money making prowess was evident as far back as childhood. During the Great Depression, he began selling matches for pennies at five years old. He'd ride his mother's bike around town selling magazines, Christmas cards and all sorts of other things to support his family.
An avid entrepreneur even at 17, Kamprad stared selling pens and wallets to his classmates to his classmates in college under the name IKEA. His business finally took the trajectory that we know today when IKEA opened it's first furniture store in 1947.
Now, IKEA has around 434 stores worldwide and is valued at $44.6 billion. At the time of his death in, Ingvar was worth $58.7 billion, making take the 8th spot of richest person in the world per Bloomberg's 2018 Billionaire Index. According to Business Insider, his personal assets were said to be worth $130 million.
2 Alice Walton (68.1 billion)
As the only daughter of Wal-Mart's founder Sam Walton, Alice Walton inherited a hefty chunk of wealth from her father's empire. Like her siblings, she worked within the family business for a brief time as a buyer of children's clothes after she graduated from college.
After Sam Walton died in 1992, she received 13% stake in the company. Though she had a long lasting finance career, founding her own investment bank called the Llama Company, she's lead various different occupations in her life. When Llama Company closed, she moved to Texas to breed racing horses in at the Walton’s Rocking W. Ranch.
She began collecting at at the early age of eleven when she bought a print of Picasso's "Blue Nude" for a quarter. She turned her passion for art into a full fledge career when she founded the Crystal Bridges, a non profit charity in 2005 to expand the culture of Arkansas and better it's economy. The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opened in 2011 for $1.2 billion. The following year she was named one of the world's most influential people by TIME Magazine.
1 Amancio Ortega (79.9 billion)
LVMH Moët Hennessy's Bernard Arnault isn't the only fashion mogul sitting at the world's top billionaires table. At almost $80 billion, Inditex founder Amancio Ortega is right behind him as the wealthiest man in Europe. He's the eleventh richest in the world thanks to the huge success of the Inditex owned fashion chain, Zara.
Ortega dropped out of school at 14 and began selling shirts as store's delivery boy to support his family. Throughout the early sixties, he went on to operate a number of other clothing businesses such as a men's shirt shop and a bathrobe business called Confecciones Goa that he founded in 1963.
Though he stuck gold when he opened the first Zara store in 1975. The first pieces sold at the store were cheaper imitations of high end products. He became a pioneer in fast fashion by speeding up the production process to match the trends of the time.
Though Ortega surely lives a life of luxury, he's made it a point to stay out of headlines and strays away from interviews. In 2011, he stepped down from his position as the chairman of Inditex. Though he's still an integral part of the business and retains his 59.3% majority stake in the company.
Sources: LEGO Foundation, Black Enterprise, Reuters, News @ the U, Bloomberg, Business Insider, TIME Magazine, Britannica
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