US BUSINESS magazine Forbes has published its 2018 list of the world’s wealthiest billionaires, with several appearances made by high-profile figures from the travel and cruise, hotel and aviation industries.
Micky Arison, former ceo and chairman of Carnival Corporation, has a net wealth of US$9.7 billion, while husband and wife team Gianluigi & Rafaela Aponte, owners of MSC Cruises, have amassed a US$9.3 billion fortune.
Michael Kadoorie, chairman of Hong Kong & Shanghai Hotels, has US$7.3 billion in wealth coming courtesy of luxury hotel brands including Shangri-La.
A cluster of airline entrepreneurs make the list including Virgin founder Richard Branson (US$5b), the co-founder of Indian budget carrier IndiGo Kapil Bhatia (US$4.5b) and VietJet Air co-founder and chair Thi Phuong Thao Nguyen (US$3.1b).
Other notable inclusions are Arne Wilhelmsen, co-founder of Royal Caribbean Cruises (US$3.2b), Sergio Mantegazza of the Globus family of brands (US$2.9b) and Torstein Hagen, founder of Viking Cruises (US$2.2b).
According to Forbes, wealth amongst the world’s billionaires has increased by 18% over the past year.
Source: traveldaily