The list of dollar billionaires published by the American business magazine Forbes includes 18 Belgians this year: 16 men and two women. Their combined wealth is estimated at $55.1 billion.
Five Belgians make their first appearance on this list: Roland Duchâtelet (Melexis and X-Fab) and textile entrepreneur Filip Balcaen ($1.5 billion each), as well as Charles Beauduin (Vandewiele and Barco), Philippe Van de Vyvere (Sea-Invest), and Bart Van Malderen (Drylock) with $1.2 billion each.
After a few years’ absence, Luc Tack (Tessenderlo Group, $1.3 billion) and Jan Van Geet (VGP, $1.1 billion) return to the list.
The wealthiest Belgian by far remains Eric Wittouck, who built his fortune as a shareholder of the Tirlemont Refinery and operates through his Luxembourg-based holding company, Artal. Forbes estimates his net worth at $9 billion, placing him 392nd in the world.
He is followed by Nicolas D’Ieteren, chairman of the eponymous group (Volkswagen importer and parent company of Carglass), with $5.5 billion. Fernand Huts, head of the port group Katoen Natie and the waste management company Indaver, completes the top three in Belgium with $5.1 billion.
The fortune of Fabien Pinckaers, founder of the enterprise software developer Odoo, jumped from $3 billion to nearly $4.5 billion, earning him fourth place. He shares it with AB InBev shareholder Alexandre Van Damme, formerly the richest man in Belgium.
Globally, a record 3,428 people appear on the Forbes list, 400 more than last year. The ranking is topped by Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX, X), whose fortune is now estimated at $839 billion.
Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin round out the top three with $257 billion and $237 billion respectively. They are followed by Jeff Bezos (Amazon, $224 billion) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook/Meta, $222 billion).
Bill Gates (Microsoft), long the world’s richest man, comes in 19th place with $108 billion. For the first time, the entire top 20 boasts an estimated fortune of $100 billion or more, compared to only the top 15 last year and no billionaires in 2017. Together, these twenty individuals possess $3.8 trillion, roughly one-fifth of the combined wealth of the 3,428 billionaires.
Newcomers to the list include Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer and Canadian director James Cameron ($1.1 billion each), as well as American rapper and producer Dr. Dre and American singer Beyoncé ($1 billion each).
The world’s youngest billionaire is Brazilian Amelie Voigt Trejes ($1.1 billion), granddaughter of a successful industrialist. She is three weeks younger than German heir Johannes von Baumbach (Boehringer Ingelheim, $6.6 billion), who made his first appearance on the Forbes list last year.
