NOV 14, 2017 The Little Black Book of Billionaire Secrets
Asia's Richest Families 2017: The Billion-Dollar Clans Ruling The Region
Grace Chung , FORBES STAFF
This story appears in the November Special 2017 issue of Forbes Asia.
Collectively, the 50 families on our list are worth a record $699 billion, up by nearly $200 billion from last year.
For the third time India enjoys the biggest presence in the ranking, with 18 families.
Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, in September 2017. The Ambanis of India superseded the Lees of the Samsung empire to become the richest family in Asia. (Photo credit: PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images)
This story is part of Forbes' coverage of Asia's 50 Richest Families 2017. See the full list here.
Asia's wealthiest business dynasties remain successful by producing new generations that push the company in often surprising directions. But some scions have such an entrepreneurial bent that they're compelled to chart their own path away from the family firm, at least when they're young.
One example is 29-year-old Howard Sy, a grandson of Henry Sy, the founding patriarch of the Philippines' richest family. A former investment analyst at Macquarie, Sy started a 24-hour self-service storage company called StorageMart a year ago, anticipating that the country's condominium boom would create a demand for storehouses. With an initial investment of about a half a million dollars, it now operates two facilities in Metro Manila and boasts 100 customers. "It cost me my entire personal life savings ... plus three and a half years of my analyst salary," he told Forbes Asia.
Walter Bollozos/Philippine Star Lifestyle
Howard Sy, a 3rd generation member of the Philippines richest family.
The Sy family ranks No. 9 on our third annual ranking of Asia's wealthiest business families, with a fortune of $20.1 billion, up 57% in 12 months.
Indeed, 43 clans from the 2016 list added to their net worth from a year ago. A key reason: Asia's stock markets jumped 25% overall for the year ended October 31, according to the MSCI AC Asia Index. Collectively, the 50 families on our list are worth a record $699 billion, up by nearly $200 billion from last year.
Samsung's Lee family lose No. 1 spot
No family highlights this surge better than the Ambanis of India, this year's biggest gainer in dollar and percentage terms. Their net worth rose by $19 billion, to $44.8 billion, superseding the Lees of the Samsung empire to claim the No. 1 spot. That perch was always occupied by the South Korean family, which still saw its wealth swell by $11.2 billion. Shares in Mukesh Ambani's conglomerate Reliance Industries soared, due to improved refining margins and the demand produced by its telecom arm, Reliance Jio, which notched up 140 million subscribers since it launched in 2016.
Chairman of Samsung Electronics Lee Kun Hee with his wife Ra-Hee Hong during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on July 27, 2012 in London, England.
For the third time India enjoys the biggest presence in the ranking, with 18 families. Hong Kong follows with nine this time. Among the six clans making their debut are the Chey family (No. 39) of South Korea's SK Group, widely known for its wireless service provider, SK Telecom. The other newcomers are the Yoovidhyas of Thailand (No. 22), the Sehgals (No. 41) and Wadias (No. 42) of India, and the Lees (No. 30) and Tungs of Hong Kong (No. 49).
The ticket to entry this year was $5 billion, some $1.6 billion more than in 2016. Some families couldn't keep pace: The Aboitiz clan of the Philippines and the Koos of Taiwan both fell short by small margins.
The full list
Family Net Worth Country
1 Ambani $44.8 billion India
2 Lee (Byung-Chull) $40.8 billion South Korea
3 Kwok $40.4 billion Hong Kong
4 Chearavanont $36.6 billion Thailand
5 Hartono $32 billion Indonesia
6 Lee (Shau Kee) $29 billion Hong Kong
7 Kwek / Quek $23.3 billion Malaysia
8 Cheng Family $22.5 billion Hong Kong
9 Sy $20.1 billion Philippines
10 Chirathivat family $19.3 billion Thailand
11 Premji $19.2 billion India
12 Hinduja $18.8 billion India
13 Tsai (Wan-Tsai & Wan-Lin) $17.7 billion Taiwan
14 Mittal $17.2 billion India
15 Kuok $16.6 billion Singapore
16 Mistry $16.1 billion India
17 Chung $14.8 billion South Korea
18 Saji $14.2 billion Japan
19 Birla $14.1 billion India
20 Godrej $14 billion India
21 Pao $13.4 billion Hong Kong
22 Yoovidhya family $13.1 billion Thailand
23 Kadoorie $11 billion Hong Kong
24 Widjaja $10.4 billion Indonesia
25 Ng $9.7 billion Singapore
26 Bajaj $9.3 billion India
27 Salim $8.8 billion Indonesia
28 Koo Family (In-Hwoi) $8.7 billion South Korea
29 Lohia $8.68 billion Indonesia
30 Lee $8.4 billion Hong Kong
31 Law $7.8 billion Hong Kong
32 Jindal $7.68 billion India
33 Mori $7.6 billion Japan
34 Tsai (Eng-Meng) $7.1 billion Taiwan
35 Burman $7.05 billion India
36 Lal $7 billion India
37 Bangur $6.7 billion India
38 Khoo $6.4 billion Singapore
39 Chey $6.3 billion South Korea
40 Wee $6.25 billion Singapore
41 Sehgal $6.15 billion India
42 Wadia $6.14 billion India
43 Zobel $6.13 billion Philippines
44 Singh $6.1 billion India
45 Patel $6 billion India
46 Kwee $5.5 billion Singapore
47 Piramal $5.38 billion India
48 Munjal $5.37 billion India
49 Tung $5.2 billion Hong Kong
50 Lo $5 billion Hong Kong
The list of Asia’s 50 Richest Families is a snapshot of wealth using stock prices and currency exchange rates from the close of markets on November 3, 2017. Private companies were valued by using financial ratios and other comparisons with similar publicly traded companies. To qualify, a family’s wealth must be rooted in Asia and participation in building that fortune has to extend at least three generations.
Nearly half of the richest families in Asia are in China, yet none of 50 we ranked this year are based in the mainland, where conglomerates are young, run by first and second generations who were able to muster billions of dollars in wealth in an open economy.
Additional reporting: Yinan Che, Shu-Ching Jean Chen, Muhammad Cohen, Russell Flannery, Forbes Indonesia, Jane Ho, Naazneen Karmali, Luisa Kroll, Anis Muslimin and Anuradha Raghunathan.
Think we missed a clan? Email me at grace.chung@forbes.com
More coverage on Asia's 50 Richest Families 2017:
Asia's Richest Families 2017: The Next Generation Of Wealthy Business Dynasties
Asia's Richest Families 2017: Trust Fund Troubles For Hong Kong's Lo Family
Near Misses: Three Families That Almost Landed On Asia's Richest Families 2017 List
Asia's Richest Families 2017: The Lee Clan's Billion-Dollar Recipe For Success
Asia's Richest Families 2017: How Kenneth Lo Went From Rags To Riches
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