26 Turks on Forbes’ 2023 billionaires list

ISTANBUL

A total of 26 names from Türkiye entered the 2023 billionaires list published by Forbes, while İbrahim Erdemoğlu, the owner of a holding company manufacturing carpet, has officially surpassed Yıldız Holding chair Murat Ülker to take the title of the country’s richest billionaire.

İbrahim Erdemoğlu’s brother Ali Erdemoğlu, the owner of SASA Polyester, a company within the same holding, stood out as Türkiye’s third and the world’s 580th richest with his wealth of $4.7 billion.

The wealthiest Turkish woman on the list, in her part, was Semahat Sevim Arsel, one of Koç Holding’s largest shareholders. With a fortune of $3 billion, she is one of the three names from the Koç family that made it to the list.

Meanwhile, French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault surpassed Tesla CEO Elon Musk to be the world’s richest billionaire. According to Forbes’ calculations, the 74-year-old engineer tops the 2023 list with a $211-billion fortune.

The U.S. continues to have the most billionaires in the world, with 735 Americans on the list collectively worth $4.5 trillion, Forbes said.

China, including Hong Kong and Macau, remains second, with 562 billionaires worth $2 trillion, followed by India, with 169 billionaires worth $675 billion, it added.

The wealth of nearly half of the billionaires decreased compared to last year, while a total of 254 people lost their billionaire status.

The combined net worth of the world’s billionaires dropped to $12.2 trillion over the past year, down from $12.7 trillion in March 2022, Forbes said in its annual report, which used stock prices and exchange rates from March 10 to calculate the net worth of the world’s wealthiest.