Forbes released the inaugural list of Forbes’ 50 richest families in Asia. The list was topped by Lee (Byung-Chull) family of South Korea with 26.6 billion dollar. The revenue of Lees of Samsung Group in 2014 was equivalent to 22 percent of South Korea’s GDP.
Rank | Name | Net Worth | Source | Citizenship |
1 | Lee (Byung-Chull) family | 26.6 billion dollar | Samsung | South Korea |
2 | Lee (Shau Kee) family | 24.1 billion dollar | Henderson Development | Hong Kong |
3 | Ambani family | 21.5 billion dollar | Reliance Group | India |
4 | Chearavanont family | 19.9 billion dollar | Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group | Thailand |
5 | Kwok family | 19.5 billion dollar | Sun Hung Kai & Co | Hong Kong |
6 | Kwek / Quek family | 18.9 billion dollar | Hong Leong group | Malaysia |
7 | Premji family | 17 billion dollar | Wipro | India |
8 | Tsai (Wan-Tsai) family | 15.1 billion dollar | Cathay Financial | Taiwan |
9 | Hinduja family | 15 billion dollar | Hinduja Group | United Kingdom |
10 | Mistry family | 14.9 billion dollar | Shapoorji Pallonji Group | India |
Name | Business | Rank | Wealth |
Ambani family | Reliance Group | 3rd | 21.5 billion dollar |
Premji family | Wipro | 7th | 17 billion dollar |
Mistry family | Shapoorji Pallonji Group | 10th | 14.9 billion dollar |
Goodrej family | Godrej Group | 15th | 11.4 billion dollar |
Mittal family | ArcelorMittal | 19th | 10.1 billion dollar |
Birla family | Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd. | 22nd | 7.8 billion dollar |
Bajaj family | Bajaj Group | 29th | 5.6 billion dollar |
Burman family | Dabur India Ltd. | 30th position | 5.5 billion dollar |
Patel family | Cadila Healthcare | 33rd | 4.8 billion dollar |
Lal family | Eicher Group | 40th | 4 billion dollar |
Bangur | Shree Cement | 42nd | 3.9 billion dollar |
Jindal family | Jindal Group | 43rd | 3.8 billion dollar |
Munjal family | Hero Group | 46th | 3.2 billion dollar |
Hamied family | Cipla | 50th | 2.9 billion dollar |
Nearly half of the richest families in Asia are of Chinese descent, yet India with 14 in the list has the most spots from any jurisdiction.
This is because most of the richest families in China are based out of the mainland, where conglomerates are young, run by the first generation able to muster billions of dollars in wealth in an open economy.
To qualify, a family’s wealth and participation in building that fortune has to extend at least three generations and the minimum net worth required to qualify was 2.9 billion dollars.
The valuations were based on stock prices and exchange rates on 25 September 2015.