HURUN REPORT FINDS 256 REAL ESTATE BILLIONAIRES ON PLANET, UP 17
CHINA LED WITH 54%, FOLLOWED BY USA 13% AND UK 7%
WITH US$33BN, DOWN US$4BN, XU JIAYIN (62) IS WORLD’S RICHEST REAL ESTATE TYCOON
HONG KONG (26) IS THE GLOBAL CAPITAL FOR REAL ESTATE BILLIONAIRES, FOLLOWED BY GUANGZHOU (18) AND SHENZHEN WITH (17). GREATER BAY AREA HAS 70.
SHARED OFFICE SPACE UPS AND DOWNS. MARK DIXON, OF REGUS, SAW WEALTH UP 64% TO US$1.8BN. ADAM NEUMANN, 40, OF WEWORK WAS BIGGEST LOSER, DOWN 80% TO US$1.3BN.
DONALD TRUMP DOWN 4 TO 86th PLACE WITH US$3BN
CHINESE DEVELOPERS DONATED US$300MN TO HELP THE FIGHT AGAINST CORONAVIRUS
MUMBAI-BASED NIRANJAN HIRANANDANI, 68, OF HIRANANDANI COMMUNITIES TRIPLES WEALTH TO US$3.9BN
39 NEW FACES, LED BY AUSTRIAN DEVELOPER RENE BENKO (42) OF SIGNA HOLDING WITH US$5BN
19 WOMEN
8 UNDER 45YRS
35 IMMIGRANT BILLIONAIRES, LED SINGAPORE WITH 10 AND UK WITH 6
WORLD’S LARGEST RICH LIST PROVIDER RELEASES HURUN REAL ESTATE GLOBAL RICH LIST 2020
(20 March 2020, Shanghai, China) The Hurun Research Institute today released the Hurun Global Real Estate Rich List 2020, a ranking of the billionaires in the world, whose main business is in real estate. This is the second year of the ranking and is a sublist of the Hurun Global Rich List series, released on 26 February 2020.
Overall it has been a good year for real estate billionaires. 167 saw their wealth rise, of which 39 were new faces. 50 were down and there 24 drop-offs. 39 had the same wealth as last year.
80% are self-made. Of the 20% that inherited fortunes, two thirds have since gone on to grow it. e.g. Donald Trump.
Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Researcher of Hurun Report, said, “Overall it has been a good year for world’s biggest real estate entrepreneurs. The slowdown in the Chinese economy last year did not seem to have had much of an impact on China’s largest developers. The coronavirus outbreak, however, forced several of the leading Chinese developers to start selling homes online, with Evergrande leading the way.”
Top 10 Hurun Global Real Estate Rich List 2020
Xu Jiayin, 62, of Shenzhen-based Evergrande, topped the list with US$33bn. Evergrande last year sold US$86bn of homes, totalling 58 million square meters. During the coronavirus outbreak, Evergrande started selling homes online, with customers in a three-day campaign subscribing for 47,500 houses with a total value of US$8bn. Evergrande ranked 20th in the Hurun China 500 Most Valuable Private Companies 2019 with a with a valuation of US$31.6 billion.
Li Ka-shing, 92, was in second with US$28bn. Cheung Kong's market value is US$21, and in the first half of last year, completed a cumulative sales of US$5bn and profits of US$2bn.
Hong Kong-based Lee Shau Kee, 92, of Henderson Development tied for 3rd place with US$27bn. In the first half of last year, Henderson Land completed sales US$1.1bn.
Foshan-based Yang Huiyan & family, 39, tied for 3rd place with US$27bn. Yang is the only woman in the Top 10, inheriting her wealth from her father Yang Guoqiang, who is still chairman of the company. Country Garden's sales last year increased to US$100bn, making it the largest developer by sales in the world. Country Garden ranked 23rd among Hurun China 500 Most Valuable Private Companies 2019 with a value of US$30.6bn.
Donald Bren, 87, of Irvine Company, is the richest Non-Chinese real estate billionaire with US$17bn. Bren grew the Irvine Company into a multi-billion-dollar real estate empire and become an owner of a 93,000-acre ranch. Irvine Company owns and operates a collection of residential, office and retail properties throughout California.
Hugh Grosvenor, 29, of Grosvenor, is the youngest real estate billionaire in the world with a wealth of US$17bn. The Grosvenor group spans 300 acres of Mayfair and Belgravia in central London, Eaton Hall in Cheshire and investments in 60 cities throughout the world.
Henry Cheng Kar-shun & family, 71, of HK-based real estate developer New World, tied for 5th with US$17bn. New World's revenue in the second half of last year was US$4.3bn, generating profits of US$500mn.
Joseph Lau Luen Hung & family, 69, of HK-based Chinese Estates, tied for 5th with US$17bn. The core business of Chinese Estate includes investment property leasing and property development & sales.
Beijing-based Wang Jianlin & family, 66, tied for 5th with US$17bn. Wanda Commercial's operating income in 2019 hit US$5.7bn, led by the openings of 43 of their flagship Wanda Plaza. Last year, Wanda joined forces with Tencent to create a digital shopping mall.
Shenzhen-based Yao Zhenhua, 50, broke into the Top 10 with US$16bn. Baoneng focuses on three major product lines of science & technology parks, urban complexes and international business districts. They have developed a series of high-quality projects in key cities across the country.
Where they live
By country, China topped the list with 139 billionaires (55%), followed by USA with 34 (13%) and UK with 17 (7%). By wealth, China dominated with 60% of total wealth generated.
By city, Hong Kong led with 26 billionaires. New York was the only non-China city to make the Top 5.
Real Estate Billionaires by City and Country of Residence:
Greater China: the region is the world’s absolute No. 1 with 139 Real Estate Billionaires. The combined net worth of the Chinese real estate billionaires was US$586bn, or 61% of total wealth. Led by Hong Kong, 8 Chinese cities make the Top 10 and 16 the Top 30. Average age 61, three years younger than the average of the Hurun Global Rich List. Xu Jiayin of Evergrande is the wealthiest real estate billionaire in the world with US$33bn, albeit down 11% on last year.
The USA is second behind China with 34 real estate billionaires. Their combined wealth was US$124bn. New York has the highest concentration of billionaires with 15, followed by Los Angeles and Newport Beach with 2 each. The average age of US real estate billionaires is 75, 11 years higher than the average age of the global list. With US$17bn, Donald Bren of Irvine Company is the richest real estate tycoon in the USA.
The UK grabbed third place with 17 real estate billionaires. London is the undisputed city of choice for 14 of them. UK billionaires have a combined wealth of US$71bn. The average age of real estate billionaires in the UK is 68. London is the real estate capital of the UK. Four of the UK real estate billionaires are sixth generation or more, led by Hugh Grosvenor.
Singapore secured fourth place with 11 billionaires. The combined net wealth of Singapore real estate billionaires was US$29.3bn and their average age was 70, six years higher than the average age of the global list. With US$6bn each, brothers Philip Ng and Robert Ng of Far East are the richest real estate Singaporeans.
India was fifth with 9 real estate billionaires. The combined wealth of the Indian real estate billionaires is US$25bn. Average age is 61. Mumbai is the preferred hub for most Indian billionaires followed by Bengaluru. With US$5.1bn, Rajiv Singh of DLF is the wealthiest Indian real estate tycoon followed by Jitendra Virwani (US$4.3bn) of Embassy Property Developments and Niranjan Hiranandani (US$3.9bn) of Hiranandani Communities.
Australia made it to 6th with 7 real estate billionaires. Sydney is the real estate capital of the country with 4 living there. Average age 80. The combined net wealth of Australian real estate billionaires is US$19.6bn. With US$9.1bn, Harry Triguboff of Meriton is the wealthiest real estate Australian. All are self-made.
Russia shared 6th place with Australia, with 7 real estate billionaires. All are self-made. Moscow is the real estate capital and home for all of them. The combined wealth of the Russian billionaires comes to US$16.4bn. With US$3.1bn Zarakh Iliev and God Nisanov of Kievskaya Ploschad are the richest Russian real estate billionaires.
Canada dropped to 8th position, with 6 real estate billionaires. Toronto and Montreal are Canada’s real estate billionaire capitals. The combined wealth of the Canadian real estate billionaires was US$17.7bn. The average age was 70. Naomi Azrieli is the richest real estate billionaire in Canada with US$5.8bn.
Brazil shared 9th place with Japan, with 3 real estate billionaires. All are self-made. The combined wealth of the Brazilian billionaires came to US$4.4bn. With US$1.7bn Rubens Menin Teixeira de Souza is the richest Brazilian real estate billionaire.
Japan shared the 9th position with 3 real estate billionaires. Tokyo is the real estate hub for Japan. The combined wealth of real estate billionaires was US$7.8bn. The average age was 79. Akira Mori of Mori Trust is the wealthiest real estate Japanese in the world with US$3.7bn.
Biggest Gainers
Sun Hongbin added US$5.2bn, the most of any real estate tycoon on this year’s list, to take him up 13 places to 13th. Wu Yajun added US$4.3bn and Yang Huiyan added US$4bn.
Niranjan Hiranandani (68) of India-based Hiranandani Communities was the fastest gainer, more than tripling his wealth to US$3.9bn.
Rajiv Singh of India's largest real estate company DLF Group saw his wealth double to US$5.1bn
Mark Dixon, 60, of Regus saw wealth up 64% to US$1.8bn, after WeWork abandoned its initial public offering.
Austrian Rene Benko, 42, is the highest new entry, with US$5bn. The son of a local government employee and nursery school teacher, Benko dropped out of school to set up what is today Signa in 1999.
Youngest
There were 8 under the age of 45, led by Hugh Grosvenor, aged 29.
Largest real estate companies
By market cap, Sun Hung Kai led the way with US$41bn valuation. By revenues Evergrande and Country Garden led with US$67bn and US$54bn.
Points of interest
1. 19 women made the list, 7% of the total. Wu Yajun, 56, & family of Longfor is the Number One self-made women with US$14.1bn, up 44%. Wu’s ex-husband Cai Kui also made the list with US$8.2bn.
2. Donald Trump came in at 86th place with US$3bn, mainly on the back of his New York real estate and golf courses.
3. China senior political appointments. Of the 139 China real estate entrepreneurs, 28 are delegates to the National People's Congress or members of the CPPCC.
7 are delegates to the 13th NPC: Shi Guilu, Lin Tengjiao, Yang Keng, Yan Zhi, Chen Jinshi, Lin Longan and Li Xiaolin.
21 are members of the 13th CPPCC: Xu Jiayin, Victor Li (son of Li Ka-shing), Peter Lee (son of Lee Shau Kee), Yang Guoqiang (father of Yang Huiyan), Xu Rongmao, Guo Binglian, Ji Haipeng, Ou Zongrong, Chen Hongtian, Zhu Dingjian, Zhang Li, Lin Dingqiang, Pan Sutong, Tu Huilong, Zhang Songqiao, Liu Zhiqiang, Zhai Meiqing, Xu Jiankang, Gong Junlong, Luo Yuping and Zhang Guiping.
4. Philanthropy. 32 made combined donations of US$1bn last year, according to the Hurun China Philanthropy List 2019.
Peter Gilgan Foundation donated US$100 million to The Hospital for Sick Children. This is the largest single gift ever to SickKids. Together with donations made to other hospitals and health-care organizations to date, this makes Peter Gilgan and the Peter Gilgan Foundation the largest benefactor to health care in Canada.
Lang Walker of Walker Corp donated US$26mn to Western Sydney University for the Macarthur Medical Research Centre – a dynamic hub for medical education and research that will transform Campbelltown Hospital into an internationally engaged research precinct and foster greater scientific, clinical and industry collaborations.
5. Cashing out. Chinese real estate developers were the most successful at cashing out, according to the Hurun Cash Out Rich List 2019.
6. Brands. 14 had real estate brands on the Hurun Most Valuable Chinese Brands 2019: Evergrande, Country Garden, Longfor, Sunac, Wanda, Fortune Land Development, Shimao, Century Golden Resources, Logan Property, Agile, Excellence, R & F, Xuhui and Yango.
7. Social media. Donald Trump is the runaway leading real estate billionaire on social media. In China it was Pan Shiyi & Zhang Xin of SOHO China with the most Weibo followers, with 20 million and 10 million respectively; Sun Hongbin of Sunac, Zhang Baoquan & Wang Qiuyang of Jindian have half a million followers on Weibo. Wang Jianlin's son Wang Sicong has more than 42 million Weibo followers.
8. Real estate was the main source of wealth for 9.6% of the Hurun Global Rich List 2020, coming in second behind TMT, followed by Manufacturing and Investments.
9. Jitu Verwani, 53, listed his flagship holding Embassy Property with a market cap of US$4bn. This was the first REIT listing in India