Three Thai tycoons have been ranked among the world's richest people on the Forbes list of 2,640 world billionaires in 2023. Thailand has 28 billionaires on the list.
Dhanin Chearavanont, the senior chairman of Thailand's largest food and agriculture conglomerate Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, was ranked by Forbes as the 116th richest person in the world with a net worth of US$14.9 billion in 2023.
Two other Thai billionaires on the list are alcohol and real estate tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, who ranked 118th with estimated total assets of $14.8 billion, and energy tycoon Sarath Ratanavadi at 141st with $12.3 billion in estimated assets.
Falling stock prices, wounded unicorns and rising interest rates translated to a down year for the world's wealthiest people. Forbes counted 2,640 ten-figure fortunes, down from 2,668 last year.
The planet's billionaires are worth a combined $12.2 trillion, a drop of $500 billion from $12.7 trillion in March 2022. Nearly half the list is poorer than a year ago, including Elon Musk, who fell from No.1 to No.2 after his pricey acquisition of Twitter helped sink Tesla shares.
Bernard Arnault, head of luxury goods giant LVMH, takes his place as the world's richest person, marking the first time a French citizen leads the ranking.
The US still boasts the most billionaires, with 735 members on the list worth a collective $4.5 trillion. China (including Hong Kong and Macau) remains second, with 562 billionaires worth $2 trillion, followed by India, with 169 billionaires worth $675 billion.
To calculate net worth, Forbes used stock prices and exchange rates from March 10, 2023.
