The glory of having a lot of money

 

We like reading success stories, especially about those who have made a lot of money.

It is therefore no surprise that the annual rich list — whether it is compiled by Forbes or Fortune or any other media that makes it a yearly affair — is subjected to close scrutiny.

Who does not want to be where Elon Musk is now? At age 51, he has already made US$180 billion. (Let’s not even give you the ringgit equivalent. It’s just beyond our comprehension.)

He has been in the news a fair bit, mostly for his brash behaviour. He not only took over Twitter but he also replaced its logo of an avian with that of an image of a canine.

He has (almost) all the money in the world, so who’s to say he can’t do what he wants.

But Musk is not even the richest man in the world … not by a length.

At the top of the heap is Bernard Arnault and his kin. The family who owns the LVMH Group is worth US$211 billion, and they managed to accumulate so much wealth just by making us mere mortals look and feel good.

Who would say “no” to a Louis Vuitton handbag or refuse a dash of Sephora on the cheek?

If you want to be among the rich, go into the tech business. Tech entrepreneurs account for eight of the top 20 billionaires.

Apart from Musk, who count as a tech billionaire for his involvement in Twitter, are Jeff Bezos of online retailer Amazon at number three, Larry Ellison of Oracle (No 4), Bill Gates (No 6) and Steve Ballmer (No 10) of Microsoft, Larry Page (No 12) and Sergey Brin (No 14) of Google and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at number 16.

Fashion and retail comes next with five entrants in the top 20. Apart from the list topping Arnault family, the others are L’Oréal’s Francoise Bettencourt Meyers and family at number 11, Zara’s Amancio Ortega at number 13 and siblings Jim and Rob Walton of Walmart at number 19 and 20.

While some may think fashion frivolous, perhaps people need to feel good inside when times are bad. No wonder the pandemic has not made a dent in its money-spinning capability.

The food and beverages sector is represented in the top 20 list by Zhong Shanshan, who is also the richest man in mainland China, with a net worth of US$68 billion.

Zhong, at joint 16th place with Zuckerberg, is the kind of man who had to work his way to the top.

He dropped out of primary school during the Cultural Revolution, began working on a construction site and later moved to Hainan island where he sold prawns, mushrooms and turtles.

After a stint as a sales agent at a beverage company, he started his own enterprise selling the humble bottled water. Savvy marketing made him retain the minerals in the spring water he sold when distilled water was still fashionable in China.

Many have tried to emulate him, with some known to have passed off water from the tap as the healthy mineral-laden liquid. They are still thirsting for financial success.

The 129 billionaires in Asean come from six of the 10 nations in the regional grouping. Singapore has the lion’s share with 35, followed by Indonesia with 29 and Thailand with 27.

Malaysia is fourth with 18 billionaires, followed by the Philippines with 14 and Vietnam rounding off the regional list with six.

Most well-known of the Asean billionaires must be Thailand’s Thaksin Shinawatra, the entrepreneur who became prime minister, later ousted and now living in exile.

Like they say, you’re never too young or too old for anything — even becoming or staying a billionaire.

The oldest (Note to reader: The ages of some entrants are not available on the Forbes list so this may not be a true reflection of the age range) is George Joseph, who is in finance and investments. The American entrepreneur, whose income is mainly from the insurance business, is aged 101. He is worth US$1.3 billion.

The youngest is 18-year-old Clemente Del Vecchio whose wealth comes from the eyeglasses business. He is worth US$3.5 billion.

The Italian teen inherited a 12.5% stake in Delfin, the Luxembourg-based company that owns EssilorLuxottica, the world’s largest eyeglasses brand built by his father Leonardo Del Vecchio.

Everytime you purchase a pair of Ray-Ban, Sunglass Hut or Oakley, you make him a little richer.

While some toiled their way into the rich list, others are just born lucky. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.