The richest people in 18 European countries

The richest people in Europe are a very diverse social group. Some of them inherited their fortune from centuries—old dynasties, while others are sneaky entrepreneurs who have risen from the very bottom. There are rich people from Eastern European countries who have earned their fortunes recently, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there are industrialists from Scandinavia with money earned in traditional industries, and there are wealthy Western European people with aristocratic family ties.

The Business Insider edition, based on the Forbes list of the richest people, found out who is the richest person in each country in Europe, and placed them in ascending order of capital. In some countries, no one was included in the Forbes list, so not all European countries are represented in the list.

(19 photos in total)

Source: The Independent

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Romania: Ion Ciriac, $1 billion

The richest man in Romania is nicknamed "The Bulldozer from Brasov". Ciriac is a former professional tennis and hockey player who made a fortune after the fall of the communist system in Romania in 1989 with the help of a number of successful investments in banking, retail and insurance.

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Monaco: Tatiana Santo Domingo (Casiraghi), $2.3 billion

The heiress of the beer empire Tatiana Santo Domingo is the richest citizen of Monaco and a member of the princely Casiraghi family. She inherited most of her capital from her late grandfather, who sold the Colombian brewing company Bavaria to SABMiller in 2005 for several billion dollars. Tatiana is married to Prince Andrea Casiraghi of Hanover, the fourth in line heir to the throne of Monaco.

Finland: Antti Herlin, 3.6 billion dollars

The richest man in Finland earned his money in an unusual way — in the business of manufacturing escalators and elevators. He is the great—grandson of Harald Herlin, who bought the KONE engineering company in the 1920s.

Poland: Sebastian and Dominika Kulczyk, 3.6 billion dollars

The brother and sister are heirs of their father, Jan Kulchik, who died in 2015. They have been managing their father's portfolio of assets and investments since 2014.

Portugal: Americo Amorim, $4.6 billion

Amorim earned his billions at the expense of the Corticeira Amorim company, which is the world's largest cork manufacturer and was founded by his grandfather. He also has a business in Angola, a former Portuguese colony, and other European countries.

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Belgium: Albert Frere, $4.6 billion

Frere is an investor who became rich in steel in the 1970s and has since invested in a number of other sectors of the economy. He has the title of baron, granted to him by the King of Belgium.

Norway: Odd Reitan, $8.5 billion

Reitan earned capital in retail and department stores by founding REMA 1000, the country's largest supermarket chain. In 2012, he wrote a book in which he imagined what would happen if the Norwegian king appointed him ruler of Norway.

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Switzerland: Ernesto Bertarelli, $8.5 billion

Bertarelli got rich by selling the pharmaceutical company Serono, founded by his grandfather. Now his capital and investments are mainly managed by the Waypoint Capital fund.

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Cyprus: Jon Fredriksen, $9.9 billion

Fredriksen would have been the richest man in Norway if he had remained a citizen, but now he is a citizen of Cyprus, as well as one of the most influential oil magnates. He earned large sums on oil transportation during the Iran-Iraq War.

Netherlands: Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken, $11.7 billion

The richest person in the Netherlands is the heiress of the Heineken brewing company. Her grandfather Gerard Adrian Heineken founded the company at the end of the XIX century. Now Charlene is on the board of directors of Heineken.

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Denmark: Kild Kirk Christiansen, $12.7 billion

Christiansen owes his capital to Lego. He is the grandson of Ole Kirk Christiansen, who founded a toy company and headed it for a quarter of a century until 2004.

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Great Britain: Sri and Gopi Hinduja, $14.6 billion

A pair of brothers living in the UK (Gopi and his wife are pictured) are half of the so—called "fantastic four" — relatives who are about 70 years old and who run the Hinduja Group conglomerate headquartered in London. The company owns the Indian automaker Ashok Leyland.

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Austria: Dietrich Mateschitz, $15.8 billion

The founder of Red Bull is the richest man in Austria, who still owns about half of its shares. If you have problems with your studies, don't worry: it took Mateschitz 10 years to graduate from university.

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Sweden: Stefan Persson, $20 billion

Persson is the largest shareholder of the European chain of fashion stores H&M. The company was founded by his father Erling Persson, and his son Karl-Johan Persson now holds the post of CEO.

Germany: Georg Scheffler, $20.1 billion

Georg Schaeffler owns 80% of the shares of the industrial company Schaeffler Group, the remaining 20% belong to his mother. The company produces rolling bearings for the automotive, aerospace and industrial industries.

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Italy: Maria Franca Fissolo (left) and Giovanni Ferrero, $24.9 billion

The wife and son of the late Michele Ferrero owe their wealth to the Ferrero Spa company, which produces confectionery. The company is called by their last name, and Giovanni runs it.

France: Liliane Bettencourt, $38.5 billion

Bettencourt is the main person at L'Oreal, as well as the richest woman in Europe. She and her children own a 33% stake in the cosmetics giant. Bettencourt suffers from dementia, and therefore her children are now in charge of affairs.

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Spain: Amancio Ortega, 71.1 billion dollars

Ortega is a Spanish businessman who founded the clothing manufacturer Inditex. The group of companies is known for clothing store chains Zara, Massimo Dutti, Stradivarius, Oysho and others. Ortega is the second richest man in the world.