49 Indians make it to Forbes World's Billionaires list

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Asia has staged a strong showing in the latest Forbes World's Billionaires list released today. The number of tycoons from the Asia-Pacific region with a ten-figure net worth has risen to 234 from 130 last year. This accounts for 23% of the 1,011 billionaires on the global list against 16% the year before.

The combined wealth of Asian billionaires has also more than doubled to USUSD 729 billion compared with USD 357 billion a year ago. This rate of increase far outpaces that of European tycoons who saw their collective fortune rise by 50% while their US counterparts enjoyed only an 18% increase.

Of the Asian economies, China continues to lead the pack by more than doubling its number of billionaires to 64 from 28 last year. India follows behind, increasing its billionaires to 49 from 24 previously. Third is Hong Kong with 25 billionaires, followed by 22 from Japan, 18 from Taiwan, 11 each from Australia and South Korea, nine from Malaysia, seven from Indonesia, five from Kazakhstan, four from Singapore, three each from New Zealand and Thailand, two from the Philippines, and one from Pakistan.

Of the 234 Asian tycoons on the list, 62 are first-time billionaires out of a total of 97 new billionaires in the world. This is a nine-fold increase from last year when Asia supplied only seven newcomers to the list of 38 new billionaires.

China accounts for the lion's share of Asia's first-time billionaires, supplying 27 new faces, followed by India with 11, Taiwan with 10, Hong Kong and Japan with three each, Australia, Indonesia and South Korea with two each, and Malaysia and Pakistan with one each. This is the first time Pakistan is represented on the billionaires list. With a net worth of USD 1 billion, Mian Muhammad Mansha is the owner of Nishal Group, Pakistan's largest exporter of cotton clothes and the nation's largest private employer.