A total of 833.5 billion francs Wealth of the 300 richest Swiss at record high

The wealth of the 300 richest people in Switzerland has never been as high as it is this year. According to the "Gold Balance Sheet", the total wealth of the "super-rich" has risen by 4.8 percent this year to a total of 833.5 billion Swiss francs.

Calculated per capita, the 300 richest people own an average of just under CHF 2.8 billion. By way of comparison, when the business magazine "Bilanz" first estimated the wealth of Switzerland's richest people in 1989, the average wealth of the 100 people listed at the time was CHF 660 million.

Land of the super-rich

Switzerland remains a country of the super-rich, "Bilanz" noted on Thursday. More than one in two of the 300 richest people - 152 to be exact - are billionaires. The ten richest people in Switzerland alone own a total of CHF 218 billion, which is more than a quarter of total wealth.

Previously, the wealth of the "super-rich" had shrunk in 2022 and 2023, the magazine points out. However, the 833 billion francs now calculated exceed the previous record from the coronavirus year 2021.

Geneva-based Gérard Wertheimer, whose grandfather Pierre Wertheimer was co-founder of the Chanel fashion house, is still in first place. However, there is a drop of bitterness for the man in first place: his fortune has fallen by around 4 billion to just 37 to 38 billion francs.

The Genevan is followed by the Oeri, Hoffmann and Duschmalé families in second place. The families behind the Roche pharmaceutical group are estimated to be worth between 28 and 29 billion francs, which is 2 billion francs higher than last year. According to "Bilanz", they owe the increase in family wealth primarily to the year-on-year rise in the price of Roche shares.

Up and down

The biggest climber is the Firmenich family, which contributed its food and cosmetics manufacturer of the same name to the merger with the Dutch Royal DSM. The recovery in DSM-Firmenich's share price caused the Geneva-based family's assets to swell by 5 billion to 14 to 15 billion francs, according to estimates by Bilanz.

Transportation magnate Klaus-Michael Kühne was able to increase his wealth by 3 billion francs. The same applies to South African billionaire Johann Rupert, whose holdings include the luxury goods group Richemont, and the Schindler/Bonnard family of the Schindler elevator group.

In addition to Wertheimer, the Swiss-based Jacobs family (-5.75 billion) are also among the relegated investors. And the sons of Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad are now only sitting on 10 to 11 billion Swiss francs (-3 billion), according to estimates by "Bilanz". Finally, Swatch's weak share price has made Nayla, Nick jr. and Marc Hayek around a billion poorer.

And newcomers

Every year, "Bilanz" also unearths "newcomers": Twelve new richest people who have a minimum fortune of 100 million francs. These include the brothers Milan and Tomas Prenosil, owners of Confiserie Sprüngli, and Galderma CEO Flemming Ørnskov.

However, the "most important" newcomer is Giancarlo Devasini, who became rich with cryptocurrency. Bilanz" estimates the Italian's assets at between 7 and 8 billion Swiss francs. He is followed by the German Christian Angermayer (1-1.5 billion), the Bitcoin investor and founder of the biotech company Ribopharma.

SDA