Everyday Fortunes Getting Rich by Selling the Basics

摘要

Another cresting wave of turmoil reinforces what difficult regions the Mideast and Africa are for any form of capitalism, let alone the creation of billion-dollar fortunes. Yet new fortunes did arise in the region. The star producer was Turkey, a stable economy with ten more billionaires than a year ago. Israel coined four new billionaires, including hummus producer Michael Strauss. Israelis Gil Shwed and Marius Nacht of Checkpoint Software returned after dropping off in 2002. Egypt's Mansour family, which owns the world's largest GM dealership, joined the list, too; the three Mansour brothers each have separate billion-dollar fortunes. South Africa minted new retailing billionaire Christoffel Wiese, worth $1.6 billion. Average wealth was unchanged from last year at $2.8 billion, while total wealth in the region rose 39%, far outpacing any one country's GDP growth.