The new Forbes Billionaire List 2020 consists a total of 2,095 rich names from across the world. The cryptocurrency and blockchain industry is well represented by four (4) entrepreneurs who made their fortunes from the niche.
According to the Forbes List, the richest man in the crypto sphere is Bitmain co-founder Micree Zhan, who jointly owns the Bitmain crypto mining company. While Zhan ranks number 1 on the crypto list, he takes the 707 spot on the world rankings, with a net worth of $3.2 billion.
At second spot No. 886, is former CEO of Ripple (XRP) Chris Larsen who cofounded Ripple in 2012 to facilitate international payments for banks using blockchain technology.
Rounding up the industry’s list in third and fourth place we have: another Bitmain co-founder Jihan Wu (No. 1307) with a fortune of $1.8 billion, and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (No. 2087) with $1 billion. Hence bringing the total net worth of cryptos top billionaires to about $8.7 billion.
Notably, popular crypto twins – the Gemini brothers didn’t make the cut as they have a “combined” fortune of $1.8 billion.
Away from the crypto entrepreneurs, the top 3 billionaires across all industries are: Jeff Bezos (Amazon, $113 Billion), Bill Gates (Microsoft $104B), and Bernard Arnault and family ($92 billion) – owners of LVMH Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy.
Other notable mentions include: Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook, No. 7, $54.7B), Jack Ma (Alibaba Group, No. 17, $40.8B), Elon Musk (Tesla Motors, No. 31, $32B) and new entrant – Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom ranked 293 with $5 billion, who debuts on the list as Zoom gains mass popularity due to the increase in remote workforce caused by the COVID-19 virus.
Regionally, Asia-Pacific boasts the most billionaires, with 778, followed by the United States with 614 and Europe with 511.
By country, the U.S. leads with the greatest number of billionaires, with 614, followed by China, Germany, India and Russia respectively.
For Africa, the continent boasts of 20 billionaires on the Forbes list, led by Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote for the 9th time in a row. Egypt’s Nassef Sawiris takes second spot, with Nigeria and Globacom boss – Mike Adenuga in third place. Also listed in Abdulasamad Rabiu – Founder BUA Group/BUA Cement
Nigeria’s female representative – Folorunsho Alakija completes Africa’s billionaires list at 20th spot.
Any surprise omissions or inclusions? Share with us in the comments.
