World’s 25 most influential billionaires
October 17, 2005 | 12:00am
Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them. –Napoleon Bonaparte
The only question with wealth is, what do you do with it?– John D. Rockefeller
Last Oct. 9, the Financial Times for the second year published its annual list of the world’s top 25 most influential billionaires. It said: "They’re reshaping the way people live, work and think."
Personally, I have always admired men and women who have defied the odds to create their own rags-to-riches success sagas. In this Financial Times billionaires roster, we’d like to highlight those tycoons who can be ideal role models for all of us due to their positive impact on world progress through their inspiring life stories, idealism, philanthropies or their innovative ideas.
1. Bill Gates – The world’s No. 1 nerd is the chairman and CEO of Microsoft, 49 years old, with a net worth of $51 billion. His Windows operating system is used on more than 90 percent of the world’s computers. FT said one major reason they chose him as No. 1 is his large-scale philanthropy. In 2000, Gates created the world’s wealthiest charity, the $28-billion Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which donates five percent of its assets each year fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria and other ailments in developing societies. Bill Gates believes that bequeathing too much economic wealth to his kids will "not be constructive for them."
2. Steve Jobs – Pioneer of trend-setting and elegant technological marvels like the iPod, he is the charismatic CEO of Apple Computer, 50 years old, with a net worth of $3 billion. He is also chairman and CEO of Pixar Animation Studios which has re-energized the global audience for animated films. Steve Jobs once said: "I want to put a ding in the universe."
3. Pierre Omidyar – Founder and chairman of eBay, 38 years old, with a net worth of $10 billion. He was 28 years old when he created eBay, making it eventually the world’s most valuable dotcom company. He has promised to donate to charities all 99 percent of his fortune by year 2020. He explained: "When you create wealth in a short time, you think about philanthropy as you think about a business."
4. Sergey Brin and Larry Page – Co-founders of Google, age 32, each with $11 billion net worth. They were just students when they created the world’s best-known Internet search engine in a garage seven years ago. Google is now worth $80 billion. They said: "Don’t be evil. We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served – as shareholders and in all other ways – by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short-term gains."
5. Rupert Murdoch – Chairman and CEO, News Corp., age 74 and with a net worth of $6.7 billion and the world’s most powerful media tycoon with interests in films, TV, cable, satellite and newspapers in different countries.
6. Michael Bloomberg – Mayor of New York City, founder of Bloomberg financial news service, age 63, and with a net worth of $5 billion. He parlayed a $10-million pay-off from Salomon Brothers in 1981, he built up his firm into a giant. In 2001, Bloomberg spent $70 million of his own money to win the New York mayoralty office for which he receives only a token $1 a year! I wish we have politically astute but idealistic politicians like Mayor Bloomberg in the Philippines.
7. Silvio Berlusconi – Italy’s Prime Minister and richest tycoon, Fininvest founder, age 69, $12 billion net worth. He owns Italy’s biggest TV network and other firms.
8. George Soros – Jewish survivor of the Holocaust, hedge fund manager, philanthropist, activist, age 75, $7.2 billion net worth. Malaysia’s ex-Premier Mahathir once hit Soros as allegedly part of a Jewish/Western conspiracy to hurt Muslim nations. Soros has donated $5 billion through his many foundations and his Open Society Institute which passionately advocates liberal democracy.
9. Carlos Slim Helu – Telecoms tycoon, age 65, with a net worth of $23.8 billion, bought control of Mexico’s former state-owned telephone network, ranked as the world’s fourth richest tycoon.
10. Azim Premji – Chairman of Wipro, age 60, net worth of $9.3 billion, richest tycoon in India. His Azim Premji Foundation donates $5 million yearly mostly for educational charities for the rural poor.
11. Lakshmi Mittal – Chairman of world’s biggest steel firm Mittal Steel Company, age 55, net worth of $25 billion. He manufactures steel in 14 nations across four continents. He plans new operations in China, the world’s biggest steel producer and user. He said: "I don’t want to run the biggest steel company in the world, but the most profitable."
12. Warren Buffett – CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, age 75, net worth of $44 billion, ranked the world’s second richest billionaire and arguably the most influential investor in the world today. What is most admirable about him is his humble and simple lifestyle similar to those of Asia’s self-made taipans. He has lived in the same simple house in Nebraska state since 1957. A strong believer in true free enterprise, Buffett opposes the idea of having great wealth inherited wholly by heirs and he doesn’t practice tax avoidance unlike most of the world’s wealthy. He plans to donate 99 percent of his fortune to the Buffett Foundation when he dies.
13. Richard Mellon Scaife – Publisher, philanthropist, age 73, net worth of $1.2 billion, financier of the US conservative movement and scion of Mellon banking clan.
14. Thaksin Shinawatra – Thailand’s Prime Minister and richest billionaire, ethnic Chinese telecoms taipan with ancestral roots in China’s Guangdong province, age 56, net worth of $1.3 billion, and one of Asia’s most admired political leaders.
15. Gordon Moore – Chairman emeritus of Intel, age 76, net worth of $4.6 billion, co-founded firms which brought the world’s first integrated circuits and the microprocessor which are the brains of a computer. In 2000, he established the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation using 50 percent of all his Intel fortune. He also donated $600 million to his alma mater, Caltech, considered the largest ever philanthropic donation to a higher education institution. He once said: "Failures are not something to be avoided. You want to have them happen as quickly as you can so you can progress rapidly."
16. Roman Abramovich – Russian oligarch, Chelsea football club owner, age 38, net worth of $13.3 billion, grew rich by buying former state-owned industries for only a fraction of their worth after the chaotic fall of Communism, Russia’s wealthiest.
17. Ted Turner – Founder of CNN in 1980, when it was mocked as the "chicken noodle network," a 24-hour global news network. He is 66, has a net worth of $2 billion. He merged his firm with Time Warner where he is still the biggest stockholder. He supports conservationist and anti-nuclear causes.
18. Bernard Arnault – Chairman, CEO and controlling stockholder of the world’s biggest luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, age 56, net worth of $17 billion and richest tycoon in France. His empire includes Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Givenchy and Dom Perignon. He is a top art collector and donor to charities.
19. John del Mol – Media tycoon, age 50, net worth of $2 billion, launched the most successful reality TV show called Big Brother, which is now being copied by ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. with Pinoy Big Brother.
20. Larry Ellison – The egoistical, self-made co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corp., age 61, net worth of $17 billion. He was once the world’s second wealthiest tycoon next to arch-rival and fellow college dropout Bill Gates. He once said: "I think I’m very goal-oriented. I’d like to win the America’s Cup. I’d like Oracle to be the No. 1 software company in the world. I still think it’s possible to beat Microsoft, believe it or not."
21. Michael Dell – Chairman of Dell, age 40, net worth of $18 billion, dropped out of college at age 19 due to his business selling computers from his dorm. In 1999, he donated $119 million to establish the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation which supports organizations that help kids.
22. Ingvar Kamprad – Founder of Swedish furniture giant Ikea, age 79, net worth of $23 billion. Ikea today has 222 stores worldwide and yearly sales of 14.5 billion euros. His products are simple, affordable, elegant and egalitarian, reflecting his own legendary frugality and simple lifestyle.
23. Lee Kun Hee – Chairman of South Korea’s Samsung Group, age 63, family net worth $4.3 billion, son of founder. He transformed Samsung from a low-quality electronics producer into Asia’s most valuable technology firm. The name Samsung is made of two Chinese characters meaning "three stars." Lee said: "One genius can feed millions of others. For the upcoming era where creativity will be the most important driver of business success, we need to hire the best. The economic value of one genius is more than $1 billion."
24. Hasso Plattner – Co-founder and chairman of Europe’s biggest software technology giant SAP of Germany, age 61, net worth of $5 billion. He led SAP to become the only European software firm which stood up against US heavyweights like IBM, Microsoft and Oracle.
25. Li Ka-Shing – Asia’s wealthiest billionaire, chairman of Hong Kong’s Hutchison Whampoa, age 77, net worth of $13 billion. A legendary rags-to-riches taipan, Li’s father died when he was 12 years old. In 1980, he established the Li Ka-Shing Foundation. He donated funds to establish a university in China and is a generous supporter of major charities. Early this year, he sold his $1 billion worth of shares in Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, donating all the proceeds to charity. He leads a legendary life of Confucian discipline and frugality. Sen. Richard Gordon lamented that despite winning public bids to operate the port of Subic Bay during the Ramos administration, world-class port operator Li Ka-Shing was unfairly not awarded the contract. Gordon later suggested to Panama’s president, who visited Subic, to invite the Hong Kong taipan to run the Panama Canal, also a former US military facility. SM Group founder Henry Sy told me that was able to convince Li to partner with him in the now flourishing Watson’s retail chain. On the secret of his success, Li said: "In the Chinese way, I must say that I’m lucky. I would also say that before making a final decision I study everything very carefully – from supply and demand to the political situation. Once I make my decision, I go quite fast to catch the market at the right time."
The Philippines can only nurture world-class tycoons like Li Ka-Shing of Hong Kong or Lee Kun-Hee of South Korea if we can grow our economy to globally competitive levels in size, productivity, exports, strong currency and ideal investment conditions. When shall we ever have visionary business leaders from the Philippines who will someday rise to the front ranks of the Forbes, Financial Times or Fortune list of truly world-class achievers? US steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie once advised: "Aim for the highest." Life is a frontier of endless possibilities. There should be no limits to our dreams.
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