11th August, 2021
By Bayo Onanuga
Aliko Dangote is the only Nigerian to make the Bloomberg latest billionaires index, along with three South Africans and one Egyptian.
In the Bloomberg ranking of 500 billionaires, Dangote is ranked 117th, with net-worth estimated at $17.8B.
His loss year-to-date was put at $306 million.
There are two other billionaires whose net-worth is similar to Dangote’s.
They are Viktor Vekselberg of Russian Federation, an industrialist and Wang Wei of China whose riches are from services.
One of the South Africans who made the 500 Billionaires index is the Johann Rupert Family.
The family’s wealth is estimated at $10.1B. The family is ranked 245th.
Nicky Oppenheimer, another South African weighs $7.80B on the list.
He occupies 353rd position.
Both Oppenheimer and the Rupert family have diversified businesses.
But Natie Kirsh, the third South African on the list amasses his wealth from food and beverage.
His net-worth is $7.15B and occupies 390th position.
The fifth African on the list is Egyptian Nassef Sawiris, with net-worth estimated at $6.93B. He is No. 402.
In a sign that Africa is condemned a poor continent, nine of the first ten names on the list are Americans.
However, Frenchman Bernard Arnault, broke the dominance by weighing in as No.3 with a net-worth of $174B.
He followed Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, in top 2, with their wealth estimated at $194B each.
Bill Gates remains 4th in the index with $148B.
His ex-wife Melinda French Gates, who has a claim to his huge wealth, does not feature yet on the list.
Mark Zuckerberg is 5th on the list. He is estimated to be worth $135B.
Warren Buffet is now 8th with asset valuation at $104B. The Oracle of Omaha, had gained $16.7B since last year.
U.S. billionaires also dominated the first 20 category.
Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani broke into the rank with asset value of $78.8B. He is 12th in the world.
Jeff Bezos’s ex-wife McKenzie Scott lies in the 22nd position with net worth estimated at $59.1 billion.
Zhing Shanshan at 14th on the index is China’s richest man. He is valued at $71.7B.
Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, who used to enjoy the title is now 26th on the scale, worth $47.6B.