"To be a billionaire in Europe, it helps to own a mine in Russia or the runway in Paris. Another tip: have a big footprint in Asia's thriving consumer markets. Europe's richest person for the second year in a row is LVMH's Bernard Arnault, whose luxury brands are flying off the shelves in Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh City; his fortune is up $24.5 billion in two years. France's Reinold Geiger debuts after listing his cosmetics firm, L'Occitane, which gets half its sales from Asia, on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Italian Diego Della Valle's Tod's opened its first single brand store in Shanghai last year. The soaring demand for these goods helped boost the total wealth of Europe's now 300 billionaires by 29% to a record of $1.3 trillion, the equivalent of Spain's GDP. The European Union, in comparison, expanded at a meager 1.8% last year."
Europe
By The Numbers
Total Net Worth: 1.3 Trillion
Dollar Change from 2010: 296 Billion
Percentage Change From 2010: 29
Average Net Worth: 4.3 Billion
Average Age: 59
Newcomers: 50
Returnees: 15
Dropouts: 9
Women: 24
Countries With The Most Billionaires
Russia: 101
Germany: 52
United Kingdom: 32
Spain: 15
France: 14
Italy: 14
Sweden: 9
Switzerland: 8
Ukraine: 8
Netherlands: 6
The Richest Top 10 of Europe
Bernard Arnault
Worth: $41 Billion
Source: LVMH
City: Paris
Amancio Ortega
Worth: $31 Billion
Source: Zara
City: La Coruna
Karl Albrecht
Worth: $25.5 Billion
Source: Aldi
City: Mulheim An Der Ruhr
Stefan Persson
Worth: $24.5 Billion
Source: H&M
City: Stockholm
Vladimir Lisin
Worth: $24 Billion
Source: Steel
City: Moscow
Liliane Bettencourt
Worth: $23.5 Billion
Source: L'Oreal
City: Paris
Alexei Mordashov
Worth: $18.5 Billion
Source: Steel
City: Moscow
Michele Ferrero
Worth: $18 Billion
Source: Chocolates
City: Monte Carlo
Mikhail Prokhorov
Worth: $18 Billion
Source: Investments
City: Moscow
Vladimir Potanin
Worth: $17.8 Billion
Source: Metals
City: Moscow
Youngest Billionaire of Europe: Albert von Thurn und Taxis, 27, worth $2 Billion, German Prince
via FORBES
