BIGGEST WINNERS: JEFF BEZOS OF AMAZON SAW WEALTH SHOOT UP US$20BN TO US$160BN IN 4MTHS SINCE COVID-19 OUTBREAK. ANOTHER E-TAILER HUANG ZHENG, 40, OF CHINESE ECOMMERCE GIANT PINDUODUO, WAS SECOND BIGGEST WINNER, UP US$17BN, DOUBLING WEALTH TO US$35BN. BEZOS ADDED US$7 MILLION AN HOUR EVERY HOUR FOR THE PAST FOUR MONTHS
GIOVANNI FERRERO, 55, SCION OF ITALIAN CHOCOLATE PRODUCERS THAT MAKE KINDER SURPRISE, NUTELLA AND FERRERO ROCHER, SAW WEALTH RISE US$8BN TO US$42BN
ELON MUSK, 48, UP US$7BN TO US$53BN, ON BACK OF TESLA SHARE RISE TO BECOME WORLD’S MOST VALUABLE CAR COMPANY
BIGGEST WINNERS OF COVID-19 FROM HURUN TOP 100 WERE ONLINE RETAILERS, PHARMACEUTICALS AND HOME IMPROVEMENT RETAILERS AS WELL AS CHOCOLATE, SOYA SAUCE AND PORK PRODUCERS
FASTEST INCREASE: CHINA-BORN ERIC YUAN ZHENG, 50, OF POPULAR CALIFORNIA-BASED VIDEO CONFERENCING APP ZOOM SAW WEALTH TRIPLE FROM US$4.5BN TO US$13BN, UP FROM 555th TO TOP 150 IN WORLD
“EVEN AFTER HIS DIVORCE, JEFF BEZOS IS US$60BN RICHER THAN BILL GATES, THE BIGGEST EVER DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WORLD’S TOP TWO,” SAID HOOGEWERF.
WORLD’S TOP 100 BILLIONAIRES CLAW BACK ALMOST ALL LOSSES IN SECOND TWO MONTHS OF COVID OUTBREAK, AFTER US$408BN LOSS IN FIRST TWO MONTHS. DOWN ONLY 2% IN FOUR MONTHS
‘VACCINE KING’ CYRUS POONAWALLA OF SERUM INSTITUTE OF INDIA, UP 25% AND 57 PLACES TO US$15BN AND 86TH PLACE, ON BACK OF COVID-19 VACCINE DISTRIBUTION POTENTIAL
V-SHAPED RECOVERIES: MUKESH AMBANI OF RELIANCE SAW WEALTH BOUNCE BACK US$18BN IN LAST TWO MONTHS, AFTER LOSING US$19BN IN FIRST TWO MONTHS AFTER OUTBREAK, TAKING HIM TO 8TH PLACE IN THE WORLD. SIMILARILY, MARK ZUCKERBERG SAW WEALTH DROP US$13BN IN FIRST TWO MONTHS OF OUTBREAK, BUT THEN CLAW BACK US$13BN, TO TAKE HIM TO 4TH IN THE WORLD.
BY COUNTRY, USA HAS 36%, UP 1%, OF THE HURUN GLOBAL TOP 100, FOLLOWED BY CHINA ON 24%, UP 2% ON FOUR MONTHS AGO.
BIGGEST LOSERS: WARREN BUFFETT AND BERNARD ARNAULT LOST US$18BN EACH, FOLLOWED BY CARLOS SLIM DOWN US$17BN EQUIVALENT TO US$6MN AN HOUR OVER 4MTHS. 14 INDIVIDUALS LOST MORE THAN US$5BN.
OTHER BIG RISERS INCLUDE CHINESE ‘SOYA SAUCE KING’ PANG KANG, 58, OF HAITIAN, UP 36% OR US$4BN TO US$15BN.
LEADING AUTHORITY ON GLOBAL WEALTH RELEASES SPECIAL REPORT ON WEALTH IMPACT 4MTHS AFTER COVID-19 OUTBREAK.
23 June 2020, Shanghai, Mumbai, Sydney and Oxford. Hurun Research today released Wealth Impact 4mths after Covid-19 Outbreak, a special report looking into wealth changes of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs in the four months ending 31 May 2020. This special report follows on from the Wealth Impact 2mths after Covid-19 Outbreak looking into wealth changes in the two months ending 31 March 2020 and the Hurun Global Rich List 2020, which had a wealth cut-off of 31 January 2020.
Stock markets across the world dropped significantly in the first two months after the outbreak but clawed back some of the losses in the second two months. India, the UK and France were down around 20%, with the NYSE, Japan, HK and Germany down around 10%. Mainland China’s stock exchanges were down slightly at 4%, whilst the only major stock market to see a gain was NASDAQ, up 4%.
The British Pound and Indian Rupee were down 5.6% down 5.3% against the dollar, whilst the Chinese Yuan and Euro were up 2% and 1%.
In the four months since the outbreak, 60% of the Hurun Global Rich List Top 100 saw their wealth rise or stay the same, whilst 40% were down. Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher, said “Whilst the first two months of the outbreak saw a massive wealth wipeout of the Hurun Global Top 100, the second two months saw a V-shaped recovery for two thirds of the Hurun Global Top 100, reminding us that it is dangerous to bet against the world’s best wealth creators.”
“The two biggest ‘winners’ from the Hurun Top 100 of Covid-19 were online retailers Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Colin Huang Zheng of Chinese low-end ‘social shopping’ giant Pinduoduo, who added US$20bn and US$18bn to their fortunes, pretty much all the gains coming in the past two months. For Bezos and Huang, Covid-19 has seen their wealth increase in the shape of a ‘Nike tick’”, added Hoogewerf. “Another big winner was Eric Yuan Zheng, 50, of popular video conferencing app Zoom, who saw his wealth triple from US$4.5bn in January to US$13bn today, propelling him up from 555th in the world four months ago to knocking on the door of the world’s Top 100 today.”
Huang Zheng, 40, of e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, was the fastest riser of the Hurun Global Rich List Top 100 of the past four months, seeing his wealth almost double. The top 5 fastest risers were all from China.
Biggest losers
The biggest losers in the last four months were Bernard Arnault of LVMH and Warren Buffett, each down US$18bn, followed by Carlos Slim Helu down US$17bn and Amancio Ortega of Inditex down US$14bn. Hoogewerf said “Bernard Arnault and Warren Buffett were the biggest losers, down US$18bn each over the past 4mths. For Arnault it could have been a lot worse, since he was down US$30bn in the first two months after the outbreak, but managed to claw back US$12bn in the following two months.”
As a category, investors made the biggest losses. Sheldon Adelson of Las Vegas Sands saw his wealth drop US$7bn, on the back of poor performance of his casinos since the outbreak.
By Country
In the four months to 31 May 2020, China added 3 individuals to the world’s Top 100 billionaires, with the USA, Russia and Italy each adding one. The USA today has 39 in the Top 100, compared with 26 from China. “China has narrowed the gap with the USA at the top of the Hurun Global Rich List, from 13 down to 11.”
World’s Top 10
Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft were the only two from the Hurun Global Top 10 to see their wealth increase.
Related links:
Wealth Impact 2mths after Covid-19 Outbreak
https://www.hurun.net/EN/Article/Details?num=E62B0CAA355A
Hurun Global Rich List 2020
https://www.hurun.net/EN/Article/Details?num=775CEFAE8BF8
Hurun Richest Women in the World 2020
https://www.hurun.net/CN/Article/Details?num=76824AC0C3BB
Hurun 40 & Under Self-Made Billionaires 2020
https://www.hurun.net/EN/Article/Details?num=9A660E5EF44A
Hurun Global Real Estate Rich List 2020
https://www.hurun.net/EN/Article/Details?num=CCCB9E3C7369
Hurun Global Education Rich List 2020