10. Lee Shin Cheng
Country: Malaysia
Net Worth: $5 billion
Heavily involved in the plantation industry and Malaysia's property market, Cheng is Executive Chairman of IOI Group, one of the world's biggest palm oil producers. The son of a Chinese food shopkeeper, Cheng began selling ice cream at the age of 11 after leaving school before going on to build up a palm oil empire which employs 30,000 people worldwide.
9. He Xiangjian
Country: China
Net Worth: $5.5 billion
Xiangjian is the founder of Midea Group, one of the world’s top five manufacturers of household appliances including refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners. Starting off with a bottle lid workshop in 1968,Xiangjian grew his empire into a manufacturing powerhouse which saw turnover above $17.2 billion in 2010.
8. Liang Wengen
Country: China
Net Worth: $8 billion
China's second-richest person has built up Sany Group into one of the country’s leading heavy construction equipment manufacturers. Having graduated from Central South University in China, Wengen co-founded SanyGroup which now employs 53,000 people globally and enjoys annual sales exceeding $7 billion.
7. Serge Dassault
Country: France
Net Worth: $9.3 billion
Entrepreneur Dassault is a conservative politician as well as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DassaultGroup, a collection of companies with interests in aerospace, property, software and media. Dassault acquired French daily newspaper Le Figaro in 2004 and continues to expand the business he inherited from his father Marcel.
6. Dmitry Rybolovlev
Country: Russia
Net Worth: $9.5 billion
Perhaps best known for buying Donald Trump's $100 million Palm Beach mansion in 2008, Rybolovlev began magnetic therapy research with his scientist father in the early nineties. Rybolovlev soon opened an investment fund, started buying shares of industrial enterprises before becoming chairman for Russia’s largest producer of potassium fertilizers, Uralkali, selling his stake in 2010 for $6.5 billion.
5. Maria-Elisabeth and Georg Schaeffler
Country: Germany
Net Worth: $9.8 billion
This mother and son duo joint own Schaeffler Group, manufacturer of rolling element bearings used for automotive, aerospace and industrial uses. Maria-Elizabeth inherited the business in 1996 after her husband died while Georg now assists in the running of the company after previously studying International Business Law in Dallas, Texas.
4. Eliodoro, Bernardo and Patricia Matte
Country: Chile
Net Worth: $10.4 billion
These three siblings share a fortune which has origins dating back to the 19th century. However, today their primary business is concerned with forestry and paper products as well as stakes in shipping, banking and telecommunications. Each sibling is also heavily involved in private think tanks which tackle economic and social issues like poverty.
3. Viktor Rashnikov
Country: Russia
Net Work: $11.2 billion
Rashnikov started off as a mechanic at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel mill (MMK) before eventually becoming General Director. Since then, he has acquired nearly all shares in MMK, pocketed $1 billion after listing the company on the LSE in 2007, and also has interests in Russian real estate and politics.
2. Aliko Dangote
Country: Nigeria
Net Worth: $13.8 billion
Recently confirmed as Africa's richest individual, Dangote's fortune increased by a whopping 557 percent last year. Chairman and CEO of Dangote Group, West Africa's largest industrial conglomerate, he recently bought a $45 billion Bombardier aircraft which he is using to travel to London frequently in preparation of a public offering later this year.
1. Birgit Rausing and family
Country: Sweden
Net Worth: $14 billion
Birgit Rausing inherited packaging giant Tetra Laval in 2000 following the death of husband Gad. The multinational corporation started off life as Tetra Pak, which was founded by Ruben Rausing in 1944 and went on to revolutionise the packaging of liquids such as juices and milk. Ruben left the company to his two sons Gad and Hans, but in 1996, Gad bought his brother's half of Tetra Laval. All three of Gad and Brigit’s children sit on the board; son Jorn is Head of Mergers and Acquisitions, son Finn is Chairman of the Board of the Swedish R.R. Institute of Applied Economics while daughter Kirsten is a horse breeder living in the UK. Alongside Tetra Pak,Tetral Laval also owns DeLaval, a manufacturer of equipment for dairy farmers, and Sidel, a bottle and can producer.
