The outgoing year was very successful for many "old" billionaires, such as Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Ballmer and Bernard Arnault, and also allowed a number of businessmen and business women to enter the ranks of new billionaires. Among them was the representative of Russia.
Here's a selection of 2019's Newcomer Billionaires, according to Forbes.
10. Tatiana Bakalchuk
Net Worth: $ 1 billion
Source of income: e-commerce
Country: Russia
Even before Medvedev urged teachers to go into business, Tatyana Bakalchuk changed her teaching career to e-commerce. She owns one of the most popular Russian online stores - Wildberries.
Bakalchuk was on maternity leave, and realized how difficult it is for new mothers to visit clothing stores and shop offline. After all, it was necessary to constantly take care of the newborn.
Therefore, in 2004, Tatiana, with the help of her husband, founded the Wildberries company, which currently sells thousands of products (not only clothes, but toys, food, household goods, electronics, etc.) to millions of consumers in Russia, Kazakhstan. Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
9. George Thomas Dave
Net Worth: $ 1 billion
Source of income: tea
Country: USA
Have you ever drunk a drink made with kombucha? So George Thomas Dave drank it, and not just drank it, but built a real tea and mushroom empire GT’s Living Food, which produces more than 3.8 million liters of organic ginger kombucha per year.
It is the largest American kombucha manufacturer with 40% of the domestic market. Recently, Dave decided to expand his business to include cannabidiol water (CBD) and coconut kefir in the list of manufactured goods.
8. Kylie Jenner
Net Worth: $ 1 billion
Source of income: cosmetics
Country: USA
Jenner, who turned 22 in August, created the cosmetics empire Kylie Cosmetics, and she and her sister launched a clothing line and made millions of dollars promoting the company's products on Instagram.
Forbes experts estimate that Kylie Cosmetics is worth $ 900 million. This, plus the cash that Kylie receives from her business, earned her millionaire status.
One can argue about whether Kylie Jenner is a self-made woman or whether her success in business is due to the full support of an influential family, but one cannot be denied - at the moment she is the youngest billionaire in the world.
7. Daniel Lubezky
Net Worth: $ 1.1 billion
Source of income: production of bars for healthy eating
Country: USA
Founder of KIND Snacks, a popular U.S. protein bar manufacturer. In 2004, Lubecki was both a salesman and a packer and even a deliveryman of orders. However, 15 years have passed, and now 2 billion bars have found their customers all over the world.
An excellent result that allowed Daniel to become one of the new billionaires in the Forbes ranking.
6. Jimmy John Lyoto
Net Worth: $ 1.7 billion
Source of income: sandwich bars
Country: USA
Jimmy John Lyoto opened his first sandwich bar 35 years ago.But now he doesn't need to stand behind the counter, except for his own pleasure.
In 2016, Lyoto sold a controlling stake in his sandwich empire to the private joint stock company Roark Capital Group, and he himself, according to various sources, retained 35% of the shares and the title of president.
But not only the deal with Roark Capital Group brought the sandwich king over a billion dollars. He owns agricultural land in Illinois and also has a stake in Juul Labs, which makes Juul e-cigarettes.
5. Charles Zhenyao Lu
Net Worth: $ 1.9 billion
Source of income: coffee chain
Country: China
He is one of the first investors, and now the chairman of the popular Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee. His 30.5% stake (which Lu owns with his wife) is now worth more than $ 1 billion after Luckin Coffee's successful IPO on the Nasdaq this year.
“If Starbucks gave us $ 10 billion, we would stop fighting,” Lou once jokingly told reporters.
China currently has 4,910 Luckin Coffee cafes, while Starbucks boasts only 4,300 outlets in the country. And this popularity is explained not so much by the taste of Luckin Coffee, but by its cheapness. Lou himself, if desired, can afford and the most expensive coffee in the world.
4. Orlando Bravo
Net Worth: $ 3 billion
Source of income: private investment
Country: USA
If you are not one of the Wall Street wolves, then you hardly ever heard of Thoma Bravo, which is headed by Orlando Bravo. But she manages assets that the notorious Colonel Zakharchenko will envy. The total of these assets is $ 39 billion.
At first glance, the secret of Bravo's success is simple: it invests only in reliable companies that develop software and have a competitive advantage through innovative products.
Thoma Bravo's approach to investment differs from the model that has become typical in San Francisco, where he has lived since the mid-1990s. There, unprofitable companies are given generous funding from venture capital to pay high salaries to highly skilled workers.
“We believe you can grow the faster and innovate the better the more money you make,” says Mr Bravo. He believes Silicon Valley is beginning to adopt his way of thinking.
3. Herbert Wertheim
Net Worth: $ 3.1 billion
Source of income: investments
Country: USA
The fortune of one of Florida's happiest residents is a prudent investment. He owns shares in companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Google, General Electric, British Petroleum and Bank of America.
So 80-year-old Wertheim might be the richest individual investor the world has never heard of.
2. Anthony von Mandle
Net Worth: $ 3.5 billion
Source of income: alcohol
Country: Canada
Although Anthony himself hails from the land of lakes and football players, the main market for his company is Mike's Hard Lemonade Co. - USA. Von Mandl started as a regular importer and seller of luxury wines, but eventually became the owner of the Mission Hill Family Estate (now he has five). And then he gained recognition from millions of Americans by releasing White Claw alcoholic soda. In 2019, it occupied 55% of the American sparkling water market.
A role in the popularity of this drink was played by advertising presenting White Claw as a "healthy" and "clean" product, as well as a huge number of memes with it.
1. Mackenzie Bezos
Net Worth: $ 34.5 billion
Source of income: Amazon
Country: USA
Divorce is always unpleasant. But Mackenzie Bezos can console herself that her divorce from Jeff Bezos has become the most expensive divorce in history.
From a long life together with the founder of Amazon, Mackenzie has not only memories, but also a 25% stake (or 4% of shares) in the company. By the way, we can say that Jeff got off lightly, because according to the laws of the state of Seattle, where the ex-spouses lived, in case of a divorce, all joint property must be divided in half.
However, Mackenzie Bezos gave up her stake in The Washington Post, Blue Origin and most of Amazon.Miss Bezos also promised to give at least 50% of her fortune to charity.