A total of eight people with Cypriot citizenship are on Forbes magazine’s “The World’s Billionaires” list for 2023.
From EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou to energy mogul John Fredriksen, these are the Cypriots on the list:
John Fredriksen at position 130 ($13.7 billion)
Fredriksen’s empire includes oil tankers, dry bulk carriers, liquefied natural gas carriers and deepwater drilling rigs. He started his career trading oil in Beirut in the 1960s, bought his first tankers in the 1970s and handled crude oil for Iran in the 1980s. Its offshore drilling rig company, Seadrill, emerged from bankruptcy in 2018, with Fredriksen helping to raise around $1 billion in new debt and equity. His biggest holding is Marine Harvest, now called Mowi, which has fought off rivals to become the world’s biggest fish farm. Although he will be handing over control to his twins Kathrine and Cecilie, he said: “My daughters don’t have to live with the day job I had.”
Fredriksen has given up his Norwegian citizenship in favour of the Cypriot one.
Vinod Adani at position 184 ($9.8 billion)
Vinod Adani is the elder brother of Gautam Adani, who was once the world’s third-richest man. The Adani Group, which started in commodities trading, has stakes in ports, airports, energy, renewables and other industries. Vinod Adani has shares in various companies in the group through several investment companies he owns.
The Adani Group became the second largest cement producer in India in 2022 after acquiring the Indian assets of Swiss company Holcim for $10.5 billion through Vinod’s investment companies.
Yakir Gabay at position 766 ($3.5 billion)
Yakir Gabay owns 15% of Frankfurt-listed German property company Aroundtown SA, where he is vice chairman of the board. Aroundtown has a portfolio of commercial properties in Europe valued at more than $30 billion.
It also has a 40% stake in Grand City Properties, which owns approximately 65,000 apartments in Germany and London. Originally from Israel, Gabay was previously managing director of the Underwriting Department of Bank Leumi, one of Israel’s largest banks. Gabay began his career in the Prospectus Department of the Israel Securities and Exchange Commission before joining the private sector.
Sergey Dmitriev at position 1217 ($2.5 billion)
Sergey Dmitriev co-founded the software company JetBrains in 2000. JetBrains’ tools are used by more than 10 million software developers and project managers worldwide. Dmitriev is president of the Prague-based company. His partner, Valentin Kipyatkov, is also a billionaire. Dmitriev, 54, renounced his Russian citizenship in 2023. He holds a Cypriot passport and lives in Cyprus.
Valentin Kipyatkov at position 1647 ($1.8 billion)
Valentin Kipyatkov co-founded the software company JetBrains in 2000. JetBrains’ tools are used by more than ten million software developers and project managers worldwide. His partner, Sergey Dmitriev, is also a billionaire. Kipyatkov, like his partner Dmitriev, gave up his Russian citizenship in 2023. He obtained a Cypriot passport and lives in Cyprus. JetBrains was one of the largest employers of developers in St Petersburg. The company closed all its Russian operations in 2022.
Polis Haji-Ioannou at position 2405 ($1.1 billion)
Polis Haji-Ioannou is the son of the late Loukas Hatziioannou, who once owned the largest private tanker fleet in the world. Much of his wealth comes from his stake in easyJet, the airline founded by his younger brother Stelios. Polis continues the family’s shipping legacy with his own fleet of 15 tankers. He has also invested heavily in commercial and residential property, particularly in Cyprus, Greece, Monaco and London.
Clelia Haji-Ioannou at position 2540 ($1 billion)
Another member of the Haji-Ioannou family, Clelia Haji-Ioannou is a billionaire thanks to her stake in easyJet, founded by her brother Stelios. Clelia also owns properties worth around $200 million across Europe, including London, Monaco and Greece. She also owns a gallery in Athens with works by Picasso, Warhol and Dali.
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou at position 2540 ($1 billion)
Stelios Haji-Ioannou founded the budget airline easyJet in 1995 after leaving his father’s company. Sir Stelios now owns around 4% of the airline, after selling a large part of his stake. Stelios retains ownership of the easy brand through his private company, easyGroup. Through easyGroup, Stelios has licensed the easy brand to companies such as easyHotel, easyCar and easyCoffee.
Fewer billionaires this year with lower net worth
Falling stocks and rising interest rates have led to a decline in the number of for the world’s richest people. Overall, the world’s billionaires on the list have a combined net worth of $12.2 trillion, down by $500 compared to last year.
Almost half of the people on the list have seen their fortunes shrink, including Elon Musk, who fell to number two in the world’s richest list, after the costly acquisition of Twitter, which also sent Tesla shares tumbling.
Bernard Arnaud, head of luxury goods giant LVMH, takes his place as the world’s richest man, the first time a Frenchman has topped the list. The United States still has the most billionaires, with 735 members of the list worth a total of $4.5 trillion. China (including Hong Kong and Macau) remains in second place with 562 billionaires worth $2 trillion, followed by India with 169 billionaires worth $675 billion.