Richest Asians: Adani, Ambani, Zhong, Zhang, Li and Zheng top list of billionaires

ASIA'S TOP MULTI-BILLIONAIRES: With over 950 billionaires, Asia has more dollar billionaires than any other in region of the world. In China and India in particular, there are more and more wealthy Asians. The percentage of Asians among the world's wealthiest individuals — those with a net worth above $1 billion — has been continuously rising. While majority of the world's top 10 richest persons are still Americans, Asians are steadily moving up the global wealth ladder. Following are the richest Asians based on latest Forbes and Bloomberg data.

#1. Gautam Adani, net worth: $124.8 billion — The richest person in Asia right now is Indian businessman Gautam Shantilal Adani, a multibillionaire industrialist from India. He was born on June 24, 1962, is in charge of developing and operating ports in his country as the founder and chairman of the Adani Group. The conglomerate has achieved remarkable success in a number of industries. He currently tops the Richest Man in Asia 2023 list. In addition, he is the first person of Asian heritage to ever be included among the top three richest persons in the world, according to Forbes. Adani has also built a solid reputation in the sustainability sector by working to bring the first sizable Adani Green Power project to fruition.

#2. Mukesh Ambani, net worth: $89.5 billion — In 1966, his father Dhirubhai Ambani, who was once among the wealthiest people in Asia, founded the renowned Reliance Industries. Mukesh Ambani is the current chairman and managing director. The Ambani empire today includes businesses in petrochemicals, oil and gas, retail, the distribution of alcoholic beverages, telecommunications, and other areas. He has remained one of the richest men in Asia since 2009 without faltering. The richest guy in Asia this year is Gautam Adani, who has surpassed him. His estimated current net worth is $89.5 billion.

#3. Zhong Shanshan, net worth: $65.7 billion — A self-made billionaire, Zhong Shanshan. He started out as a beverage sales representative and newspaper reporter. On this list of the richest men in Asia, Shanshan is among the most impressive individuals. He has a $65.7 billion total net worth and is a self-made billionaire. He was able to entirely alter the trajectory of his professional career by founding his company, Nongfu Spring. Due to his great success as a key stakeholder in the Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy, he is also one of the richest persons in Asia. His company is a well-known name in China's retail market. It provides a selection of drinks, including coffee, milk tea, soft drinks, and drinks with soluble vitamin C.

#4. Zhang Yiming, net worth: $49.5 billion — Yiming, 39, is the king of Tiktok. He founded ByteDance, one of the most well-liked and prosperous social media platforms in China and in many other countries. The parent firm of the popular TikTok app is this one. Yiming has stunned everyone by becoming one of the youngest people in history to make it onto the list of Asia's wealthiest individuals. At 39, he has previously been listed as one of Forbes China's 30 under 30. His success has only gotten better since 2013, and his net worth is almost $49.5 billion.

#5. Li Ka-Shing, net worth: $39 billion — Li Ka-Shing is one of the wealthiest persons in Asia, the largest investor, and the business tycoon in Hong Kong, with his conglomerate firm controlling 4 per cent of the whole stock market. He has given countless organisations billions of dollars to support global efforts to prevent natural disasters. Mr Li is well renowned for his charitable endeavours. He is the second-largest private philanthropic foundation owner ever, behind Bill Gates. The estimated value of Mr. Li's net wealth is $39 billion. According to Forbes, Mr. Li maintained his title as Hong Kong's richest person in 2023.

#6. Zheng Yuqun (Robin Zheng), net worth: $38.2 billion — Dr. Robin Zheng is synonymous with CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd), which he founded and currently chairs. The company is one of the major suppliers of electric vehicles and batteries in the world. The company is so well-known and powerful that it provides components to carmakers like Volkswagen, BMW, Ford as well as its main customer Tesla — mostly EV batteries. This demonstrates CATL’s immense power and sway. Born in Hong Kong Zheng, is among the wealthiest individuals in Asia and holds a PhD in physics from the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Zheng worked extremely hard to get where he is today.

#7. Huateng Ma, net worth: $37.2 billion — Huateng Ma, also known as Pony Ma, has been running the most successful social media messaging app in China alone. He is the creator and owner of Tencent Holdings, one of China’s largest Technology businesses. Hueteng is one of the wealthiest individuals in Asia since his firm controls WeChat, which has over a billion users in China alone. This corporation has considerable influence. As of May 2023, he has a net worth estimated by Bloomberg at $37.2 billion. Ma ranks fourth in the list of Forbes's China's 100 Richest, with a net worth of $23.4 billion as of December 2022.

#8. Tadashi Yanai and family, net worth: $35.8 billion — Tadashi Yanai is the king of Japanese fashion and retail. The Japanese billionaire is the founder and CEO of Fast Retailing, the organisation that owns Uniqlo (a Japanese term meaning "unique clothing") and is also its president. The son of a tailor and a housewife, Yanai was born in southern Japan in 1949. In the mining town of Ube, which is about 75 miles from Hiroshima, his father opened Men's Shop Ogori Shoji, a roadside men's clothes shop, a month after he was born. As of August 4, 2023, Yanai was ranked as having a net worth of $35.8 billion, according to CEO World.

#9. Lee Shau-kee, net worth: $27.5 billion — Lee's business is unique: he co-founded two companies operating in the same industry, Sun Hung Kai and Kwok Tak-Seng. He also owns the remarkably successful real estate development company, Henderson Land Development. Mr Lee started with small funds and loans due to the lack of money. As of August 8, 2023, his real time net worth stood at $27.5 billion, according to Forbes. He is also known as "Uncle Four", one of the very few fourth-born children in the world to have become a multi-billionaire. A known philanthropist, Shau has contributed more than $400 million to the cause of educational advancement. Photo shows Mr Lee (right) with his son Martin.

#10. Masayoshi Son, net worth $26.1 — Son, Japan’s second-richest man, got his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley, and is a self-made billionaire. As of 2023, Son ranks 69th on the Forbes list of the World's Billionaires and is #239 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Based in Tokyo the 48-year-old billionaire is the founder and CEO of SoftBank Capital and CEO of SoftBank Mobile. He has residence in other parts of Asia, Australia and the US. Son spent more than $100 million on a 9-acre estate in Silicon Valley with a 9,000 square foot mansion.