Map: be German to be rich, says Forbes
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Story by
franck lirzin
Translation by:
christopher hall
How do you become a billionaire exactly? Flee Europe: out of the 1125 billionaires registered by Forbes, barely 20% are of European origin. The others come mainly from the United States (42%), China, India and Russia
In Europe we need our selection of tax havens, but not to the extent where the richest in the world come from the old continent or come to set themselves up here. Having said this, if we remain in Europe, it is best to be German: there have been 49 billionaires in Germany since 2008, compared with 48 in the United Kingdom. And to be the richer of the richest, you still need to be German: Karl Albrecht is the richest European before Frenchman Bernard Arnault.
And each country has its own method in order to make a fortune: the Spanish and English are more involved with construction, the French and Italians with luxury and the Germans with industry and selling. The media also works well in Italy or the Netherlands. We can also prefer diversification and invest all over the place. In most cases, billionaires are primarily heirs.
European billionaires according to Forbes’ 2008 list
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Translated from Les picsous européens ne sont pas les plus riches