BackIndian, Chinese billionaires worst hit in Monday’s stock market rout
Chinese billionaires lost more than $14 billion or 6% of their collective net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index
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New Delhi: Billionaires in India and China were among the worst hit by Monday’s stock market crash. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Chinese billionaires lost more than $14 billion or 6% of their collective net worth. Overall, the collective fortunes of the world’s 400 richest people declined by $124 billion on Monday.
The worst affected among the mainland Chinese billionaires included Asia’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, who saw his fortunes decline by $3.6 billion or 10.4% from the previous day. Jianlin’s worth stands at $31.2 billion, after both his companies—Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co. and Wanda Cinema Line Co.—plunged 17% and 10%, respectively.
The Dalian Wanda Commercial Co., listed in Hong Kong, is China’s largest real estate developer, while the Shenzhen-listed Wanda Cinema Line Co. is the world’s largest movie theatre operator. The 17th richest man in the world, according to the Billionaires Index, Jianlin also owns 20% stake in Spanish La Liga football club, Atletico Madrid. Last week, Jianlin’s fortunes fell by $3.5 billion, largely thanks to weak manufacturing data from China.
Besides Jianlin, Monday’s market rout saw founder of China’s Baidu search engine, Robin Li, lose $852.7 million. Alibaba founder Jack Ma’s fortunes plunged by $545.6 million, while Tencent chairman Pony Ma saw his fortune decline by $791.5 million.
Hong Kong’s richest man and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd chairman Li Ka-Shing lost $1.5 billion of his net worth.
India’s billionaires were also among the worst affected, as the benchmark Sensex crashed by nearly 1,700 points. Indian billionaires collectively lost 6.6% of their overall wealth, following Monday’s stock market crash. Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, showed the sharpest percentage decline (10.4%) from the previous day. Ranked 192 by the index, Adani’s fortunes fell by $752.9 million. His current net worth stands at $6.5 billion. Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd, saw his net worth decline by $1.8 billion. Ambani, with a net worth of $17.6 billion is ranked the 39th richest man in the world. The net worth of Dilip Shanghvi, chairman of Sun Pharmaceuticals, plunged by $1.2 billion on Monday. Shanghvi, ranked 38th in the index, is India’s richest man. Interestingly, last week, when billionaires lost a record $182 billion, Shanghvi was among the biggest gainers, becoming richer by $467 million.
Azim Premji, chairman of the Wipro Group also featured among the worst affected Indian billionaires. His net worth became lower by nearly a billion dollars ($996.4 million). Likewise, construction tycoon Pallonji Mistry saw his fortunes decline by $855.2 million. Others included Cryus Poonawala (lost $754.3 million), Shiv Nadar (lost $655.7 million), Lakshmi Mittal (lost $484.7 million) and Uday Kotak (lost $445.5 million).
The fortunes of the world’s top 10 billionaires also suffered as a result of Monday’s crash. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the world’s richest man Bill Gates lost a whopping $3.2 billion, followed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who lost $2.6 billion. Berkshire Hathaway founder and investor Warren Buffet lost $2 billion, while Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg lost $1.7 billion. Oracle founder Larry Ellison saw $1.6 billion wiped off his net worth, while Mexican businessman Carlos Slim’s net worth fell by $1.6 billion to $57.2 billion. Slim, as per the index, has lost a massive $15.4 billion this year.
The big gainers on Monday included Saudi Arabian businessman Alwaleed Al Saud, whose worth increased by $169 million. Fast Retailing (Uniqlo) founder and president Tadashi Yanai also gained $105.5 million. Yanai is the 32nd richest person in the world with a net worth of $21.8 billion. Czech businessman Petr Kellner also became richer by $87.2 million. Kellner is ranked 95 in the Billionaires Index.
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