Forbes Rich List: New Zealand's richest man Graeme Hart drops on billionaires list

NZ Herald

2 Mar, 2015 09:30 PM2 mins to read

New Zealand's richest man Graeme Hart has fallen four places on Forbes' latest rich list but retains his $9.1 billion net worth. Photo / Martin Sykes.

New Zealand's richest man Graeme Hart has fallen four places on Forbes' billionaires list.

Hart fell from 191 to 195 on the list, despite his net worth remaining largely unchanged.

When he appeared on the list last year, Hart had seen his wealth swell by some $2 billion, with Forbes estimating his wealth at US$7 billion (NZ$9.3 billion) after a number of big acquisitions by his global packaging empire, Reynolds Group Holdings.

Forbes' 2015 billionaires list, released today, estimated Hart's wealth had largely unchanged, with his net worth listed as being US$6.9 billion ($9.18 billion).

The only other New Zealander to appear on the list, Singapore-based investor Richard Chandler, came in at number 603, 38 places up from his 2014 list placing.

Chandler's net worth was estimated by Forbes to be US$3.1 billion ($3.9 billion).

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates retained his number 1 spot on the list for the second consecutive year with Forbes estimating his net worth rising to US$79.2 billion in 2015 from $76 billion last year.

Gates has topped the list for 16 of the last 21 years.

In second place is Mexican telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim Helu, with a net worth of $77.1 billion. He topped the list in 2013.

The world's youngest billionaire was 24-year-old Evan Spiegel, the CEO and co-founder of mobile messaging company Snapchat, with a net worth of $1.5 billion. Snapchat's other co-founder, 25-year-old Bobby Murphy, had the same net worth as Spiegel. Other tech billionaire newcomers were two co-founders of taxi-ordering app Uber and one of its executives. Three co-founders of Airbnb, the vacation-home rental website, also made the list.

Basketball legend Michael Jordan joined the list for the first time this year, thanks to his ownership in basketball team Charlotte Hornets and payouts form his Nike brand. Jordan had a net worth of $1 billion, the magazine said.