Forbes Magazine released its fourth annual “World’s Richest Royals” list this week. Though the global economy remains shaky, there were a few royals who saw their fortunes go up. Some lost theirs while the majority maintained their wealth.
Just as before, Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej topped the list at $30 billion. His wealth comes the Crown Property Bureau and made up mainly of public investments and real estate. However, with the current political climate in Thailand, investors may be turned off and that could effect the King’s wealth in the future.
Seeing their wealth go up were Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud ($18 billion) and Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani of Qatar ($2.4 billion). Both rulers managed to steer their countries away from the global economic downturn and got their money from rising oil and gas prices.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi ($15 billion), Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum of Dubai ($4.5 billion), and Kuwait’s Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah ($350 million) all saw their forunes go downward. Most especially was Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed who saw his emirate go over $100 million in debt. Even Abu Dhabi ran into real estate issues.
The remaining royals, such as Monaco’s Prince Albert II ($1 billion), Liechtenstein Prince Hans Adam ($3.5 billion) and Sultan Qaboos of Oman ($700 million) managed to keep their fortunes. However, the global economy is unpredictable and one would have to wait till next year to see how well their wealth survives.
According to Forbes, royal wealth “derives from inheritances or positions of power. All of the richest royals on this list are monarchs and serve as heads of often extended family fortunes. Many times wealth is controlled by royal families in trust for their nations or territories. For these reasons, none of the 15 royals on this list would qualify for our annual ranking of the world’s billionaires.”
To see the entire slideshow of the world’s wealthies royals, click here
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