The coronavirus pandemic didn't hurt the market of the superrich. Indeed, a new record was reached in April 2021, with 493 new billionaires worldwide. At least 40 of them made it because of COVID-19-related products.
Kim Kardashian West has made money with beauty and shapewear products Image: picture-alliance/AP Images/A. Kropa
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Though the pandemic hit the world economy hard in many places, this did not apply to the richest of the rich: Jeff Bezos is again the richest man on Earth, after a back-and-forth race last year with Elon Musk, who is in second place. With nearly 500 new billionaires in 2021, there is now a total of 2,755 people worldwide with a net worth of at least $1 billion (€840 million), according to Forbes.
Jeff Bezos has a net worth of $177 billionImage: Pawan Sharma/AFP/Getty Images
Most of the newly minted billionaires — 205 to be exact — come from China, the country with the most new billionaires and second-most billionaires overall.
Five of China's new billionaires came to their riches through vaping products: Chen Zhiping and Xiong Shaoming, the co-founders of Smoore International, both joined the billionaire list over the past 12 months, as did the co-founders of RLX Technology, David Jiang, Wen Yilong and Kate Wang, the CEO of the company. At 37, Wang is one of the youngest self-made billionaire women.
According to Forbes, all of China's vaping billionaires have a higher individual net worth than Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, who became a billionaire last year, with a net worth of $1.3 billion. Joining him from the US is Kim Kardashian West, as well as 96 other new American billionaires. While China surpassed the US in terms of new billionaires in 2021, the United States is still home to the most billionaires overall.
Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, is one of 724 billionaires in the United StatesImage: picture-alliance/T. Avelar
Germany: No. 4 in the world
In Germany, a total of 136 people are worth more than $1 billion; 29 joined the ranks during the past year. This makes Germany No. 4 worldwide when it comes to the number of billionaires.
Most notably, Germany has one of the new billionaires who made the 10-digit cut with products related to COVID-19. As of April 2021, Ugur Sahin is worth $4 billion. Sahin is the co-founder and CEO of BioNTech — the company that developed the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine to fight the coronavirus. As a scientist, Sahin was vital in creating the vaccine.
Ugur Sahin, together with his wife Özlem Türeci, co-founded BioNTech in 2008Image: Florian Gaertner/photothek/imago images
The world's youngest billionaire, Kevin David Lehman, also lives in Germany. At only 18, Lehman is worth $3.3 billion — after inheriting his father's shares of the German drugstore company dm-drogerie markt. His father invested in the company in 1974, transferring his 50% stake to his son in 2017.
The Wesjohann brothers also made it onto the list of new billionaires: Erich Wesjohann is the chairman of the EW Group, the largest poultry breeding company in the world. His brother, Paul-Heinz, also joined the list of billionaires this year. He is chairman of PHW Group, which owns Germany's largest poultry processor. Both companies used to make up the family chicken company that was split up in 1999.
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COVID-19 riches
Though the pandemic led to high unemployment rates across the world, it also helped increase the number of billionaires. According to Forbes, at least 40 people became billionaires because they worked with some product related to COVID-19.
Besides Germany's Sahin, the list of those billionaires includes the Italian Sergio Stevanto, who is chairman emeritus of the Stevanto Group, which is to supply 100 million glass vials for COVID-19 vaccines. Stephane Bancel, the CEO of Moderna, which also produced a COVID-19 vaccine, is part of the class of 2021 Forbes billionaires.
Elon Musk surpasses Jeff Bezos to become world's richest person
Tesla CEO's wealth has soared over the past year thanks to a meteoric rise in the electric vehicle maker's market value. Musk is not the only billionaire adding to his riches during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Image: Britta Pedersen/AFP
World's richest person
Elon Musk's Tesla produces cars, but on the stock exchange, it gets treated like a tech high flier. Musk's firm has profited from the market hype around tech stocks during the pandemic and from investors betting on a greener future. The South African-born entrepreneur has overtaken Amazon's Jeff Bezos as the world's richest person with a total worth of $195 billion (€160 billion).
Image: Getty Images/M. Hitij
How rich can you get?
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (pictured with his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez in front of the Taj Mahal) is in a class of his own. His e-commerce company has done brisk business during the pandemic, pushing Amazon shares to new records. Bezos, who is worth $185 billion, would have remained the world's richest person had it not been for a $38 billion divorce settlement in 2019.
Image: Pawan Sharma/AFP/Getty Images
Zooming in on Yuan
The growing number of people working from home during the pandemic is a big boon for Eric Yuan. The founder of Zoom moved from China to the US when he was 27-years-old. After some years with rival WebEx, he launched his own video communications platform, with Zoom going public in 2019. Since the coronavirus crisis, shares have exploded. Yuan is estimated to own some $17 billion.
Image: Kena Betancur/Getty Images
Fit for success
Distancing rules and closed workout studios have played into the hands of John Foley. Back in 2013, he was still touting his connected workout equipment at Kickstarter. Today, people are willing to spend a lot on Peloton's at-home gym equipment. The company's shares have tripled during the pandemic, unexpectedly turning the almost 50-year-old Foley into a billionaire.
Image: Mark Lennihan/AP Photo/picture alliance
Conquering the whole world
Shopify enables traders to create their own online shops — a concept developed by Tobias Lütke. Born in Koblenz, Germany, he emigrated to Canada in 2002 and started out in a garage like so many other North Americans. Meanwhile, Shopify is Canada's most valuable enterprise, with its share price having doubled since March. Forbes magazine says 39-year-old Lütke is worth some $10 billion.
Image: Wikipedia/Union Eleven
Billionaire overnight
As early as January this year, Ugur Sahin started backing the right horse by working on a COVID-19 vaccine. The drug developed by his Germany-based company BioNTech could soon secure medical approval. The vaccine has pushed Sahin, who hails from Turkey, into the public spotlight and made him super-rich. The value of the shares he holds is estimated to be $5 billion.
Image: BIONTECH/AFP
Ingredients for success
Food services company HelloFresh is booming. Profits have more than tripled during the pandemic, figures from the latest quarterly earnings report showed in early November. Co-founder and shareholder Dominik Richter has been making the most of restaurants being closed. He's not quite in the same league as the richest pandemic profiteers, but he's got the right ingredients to catch up with them.
Image: Bernd Kammerer/picture-alliance
Amazon one more time
Jeff Bezos isn't the only one who's grown even richer through Amazon. Thanks to the shares she owns, Bezos' ex-wife MacKenzie Scott hit it big and climbed to top spot on the world's richest women list. She's estimated to be worth some $56 billion and obviously happened to be with the right partner at the right time.
Image: Dennis Tan Tine/Star Max//AP/picture alliance
