World’s richest got richer in 2014
The net worth of the world’s 400 wealthiest billionaires stood at $4.1tn at the beginning of this week, according to Bloomberg.
The biggest gainer was Jack Ma, the co-founder of Alibaba Group Holding, China’s largest e-commerce company. Ma, a former English teacher who started the Hangzhou-based company in his apartment in 1999, added $25.1bn to his fortune, riding a 56% surge in the company’s shares since its September initial public offering. Ma, 50, with a $28.7bn fortune, briefly passed Li Ka-shing as Asia’s richest person.
Two of the year’s other biggest gainers were Warren Buffett and Mark Zuckerberg. Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, added $13.7bn to his net worth after the Omaha, Nebraska-based company soared 28% as the dozens of operating businesses the 84-year-old chairman bought over the past five decades churned out record profit.
Buffett passed Mexican telecommunications billionaire Carlos Slim on December 5 to become the world’s second-richest person. Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, was up $9.1bn during the year. The 59-year-old remains the world’s richest person with a $87.6bn fortune.
Zuckerberg,CEO of Facebook, gained $10.6bn as the California-based business rose to a record on December 22.
This ye,ar Facebook made headway in mobile, a business that has flourished as mobile advertising increased and marketing initiatives expanded with applications and video. Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram in 2012 for $1bn has also been paying off: A Citigroup Inc analyst said on December 19 the photo-sharing app is worth $35bn.
The European Union and US limited Russian companies’ access to financing to punish Putin after he annexed Crimea in March. Russia’s troubles have been worsened by the corresponding plunge in the price of oil, a bedrock of the country’s economy.
* Bloomberg
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