It is baffling to comprehend the recent report published by HSBC stating that with the current trends in per capita income growth, wealth in Asia (for example, Japan) could surpass that in the US by 2025. If you look at its wealth accumulation and the composition of its uber-rich, the emergence of Asia as a global superpower is long overdue. This is why we’ll be taking a look at the richest people in Asia today.

However, the concerning fact of unequal income distribution takes a back seat in this context, owing to its wealthiest people having the net worth of a country’s per capita income. Even though the middle and the lower middle classes are seeing significant growth, the massively affluent are growing at an unprecedented rate. 

For example, the richest man in Asia, Mukesh Ambani has a net worth of $119.5 billion and is from India. He is richer than countries like Nepal and Bosnia. So you can understand that it takes exceptional credibility and merit to be in the top creamy layer of wealth and hailing from an economy that in no way enables it. 

In this article, I have made a list of ten such people from Asia who are a superpower themselves and can now make or break the economic situation of their country. 

10 Richest People In Asia

A billionaire or a rich affluent man aids a country’s economy in innumerable ways. Apart from creating jobs and developing products, they are also investing in projects that aid the economy in one way or another.

Let us begin our list and take a sneak peek at Asia’s wealthiest individuals.

1. Mukesh Ambani

Ranking: 14 in the world, richest in India

Industry: Reliance Industries (Conglomerate)

Net Worth: $106.7B

Key Companies/Businesses Owned: Reliance, Network 18, Jio, Just Dial

Journey:
Coming from a modest background of a two-bedroom apartment, the story of Mukesh Ambani is straight out of a cinema. He was born in Yemen but later shifted to India with his father when they saw significant growth in their finances. 

His father, the great Dhirubhai Ambani who founded Reliance Industries, was the backbone for his success and paved the way for him every step of the way. After being pulled out from Standford to help set up Reliance, he then focused solely on information and communications technology initiatives. 

What set things up for him and helped establish him as a true businessman is him leading the creation of the world’s largest grassroots petroleum refinery at Jamnagar in 2010. He has many accolades to his name since then and has been dominating the top position of the richest person in India for the last ten years. 

Apart from being known to have invested in 4G services in India way back in 2015, he is also the founder of the Indian Super League and owns the Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians.

Do You know? 

• He is a member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum.
• Mukesh Ambani was the first non-American to be on the board of directors for  Bank of America.

2. Gautam Adani

Ranking: 21 in the world

Industry: Adani Group (Conglomerate)

Net Worth: $80.6B

Key Companies/Businesses Owned: Adani Group is a conglomerate that specializes in sea and airport management, electricity generation and transmission, mining, natural gas, food, weapons, and infrastructure.

Journey:

Another great businessman coming from humble beginnings, Adani’s story is everything a young entrepreneur would love to hear and witness. Coming from a family of seven siblings run by a textile merchant, Adani had a knack for business ever since. However, he didn’t want to limit himself to textiles and shifted his base to Mumbai as a teenager. 

He started working for a diamond merchant when his elder brother changed his course of life by inviting him to manage their PVC imports. This later turned out to be their gateway to global trading. Later on, he established Adani Exports (Adani Enterprise) in 1988 and there was no turning back from there. Initially, the company focused on agricultural and power commodities and then expanded to metals, textiles, and agro products.

Do You know? 

• He is known to be in the good books of the Indian Prime Minister, which has helped him solidify his business roots greatly.
• Unfortunately, he was one of the accused in the Hindenburg Research for stock market manipulation and financial fraud. However, the group made a quick recovery once they were steer cleared of the charges by the Supreme Court of India. 

3. Zhong Shanshan

Ranking: 28th in the World

Industry: Beverage and Pharmaceutical

Net Worth: $49.9B

Key Companies/Businesses Owned: Nongfu Spring and Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise

Journey:

The lone wolf of the Chinese industry, Zhinf Shanshan is a private person with an extraordinary legacy. This school dropout initially opted for construction work to make ends meet and even tried his hand at journalism before becoming the richest man in China. 

Since he was not born into wealth, his career has some extraordinary tales that paved the way for him to become what he is today. It narrates the story of moving to Hainan and selling mushrooms, prawns, and turtles or working in a Wahaha beverage company as a sales agent.

It was in 1996 that he founded Nongfu Spring and under his leadership, it went ahead to become the largest bottled water maker in China, as well as one of the largest beverage companies in the world. The public offering of Nongfu Spring in September 2020 massively increased Zhong’s wealth, and he even became Asia’s wealthiest person before being replaced by Mukesh Ambani.

Currently, he has also ventured into the world of pharmaceuticals and is the major owner of Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise. It is a company primarily engaged in the sale and production of vaccines. 

Do You know? 

• He was the 6th wealthiest person in the world in 2021.
• There was an outrage against him in China when he was accused of hurting the patriotic sentiments of the people involving a deceased business rival. 

4. Prajogo Pangestu

Ranking: 26th in the world

Industry: Barito Pacific Group (mainly in Petrochemicals and Energy) 

Net Worth: $50.6B

Key Companies/Businesses Owned: Barito Pacific, Star Energy, Barito Renewables Energy, Chandra Asri Petrochemical.

Journey:

The richest man in Indonesia had his schooling in China and moved out of the Djajanti group to establish his own business. His company, Barito Pacific, was the largest company on the Jakarta Stock Exchange in the year 1993.

Even though he is the son of a timber businessman, he cut back on the family niche in 2007. He is mainly known for his business acumen when it comes to smart investments and mergers. Not only that, but Prajogo Pangestu also controls Barito Renewables, which owns Star Energy Geothermal, the largest geothermal company in the world. However, since 2022, he has had full control of Star Energy after buying the remaining 33.33% share for $440 million.

Do You know? 

•  He was born to a Hakka family from Guangdong, China.

5. Colin Zheng Huang

Ranking: 30th in the world 

Industry: e-commerce and limited liability Cayman companies.

Net Worth: $47.9B

Key Companies/Businesses Owned:  Pinduoduo, Temu, Xinyoudi and Ouku.com

Journey:

Born to middle-class factory worker parents, Colin had many tales to his legacy, one of which included being an intern for Google and Microsoft. This young billionaire has a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin and also has worked as an engineer at Google. 

His journey began with the e-commerce site Ouku.com, which he later sold for $2.2 million in 2010. But what really set the ball rolling for him is Pinduoduo, which he founded in 2015 and the floating of its stock on NASDAQ made him the 13th richest person in China. 

However, his philanthropic reputation precedes him and he reduced his Pinduoduo stake to 29.4% by donating 2.37% to a charitable foundation and 7.74% to the Pinduoduo Partnership. In fact, he was the leading philanthropist in the Hurun China Philanthropy List. 

Do You know? 

• Colin had partnered with Chinese billionaire Sky Xu to launch Temu as a counter to Shein. 
• Even though he has stepped down from PDD Holdings, he still is one of the major shareholders. 

6. Zhang Yiming

Ranking: 35 in the world

Industry: Tech

Net Worth: $45.6B

Key Companies/Businesses Owned: Byte Dance, Douyin (Tiktok)

Journey:

Even if we do not know Zhang Yiming’s name, we all know and are obsessed with Tiktok and Byte Dance. This tech prodigy from China has the entire world in a chokehold through addiction, while building his legacy.

This computer engineer was born to civil servant parents, and had to see his fair share of ups and downs before he could set on his destined path. From becoming the director of travel website Kuxun to being overwhelmed by the corporate culture of Microsoft, Zhang Yiming’s story has it all. 

He wanted people to disregard the monopoly of search giant Baidu, since it was pushing undisclosed advertising with the results. The need for a space dedicated to only unadulterated content backed by AI is what made him birth TikTok. However, this enthusiasm was not shared equally by the other capitalists, and they shied away from funding. 

Then, Susquehanna International Group agreed to go ahead and ByteDance launched the Toutiao News app, which had 13 million daily users. This also ensured that previous investors like Sequoia Capital, who had rejected Zhang came along with a $100 million investment.  

In September 2015, ByteDance launched its video-sharing app TikTok, and as we all know, the rest is all history. 

Do You know? 

• In 2018, ByteDance was valued at US $75 billion, which surpassed Uber’s tag of being the world’s most valuable privately held startup. 
• ByteDance originated in Zhang’s four-bedroom apartment. 

7. Ma Huateng

Ranking: 35 in the world 

Industry: Tech and Gaming 

Net Worth: $45.5B

Key Companies/Businesses Owned: Tencent, WeChat along with shares in Tesla, Spotify, and others. 

Journey:

Co-founder of one of the most valuable companies in East Asia, Ma Huateng is a prodigy and a name to be reckoned with in the tech world. With Times and Forbes both crediting him as influential and powerful, he is a port manager’s son with a graduation degree in Science. 

His company, Tencent, is not only the biggest investment, gaming, and entertainment conglomerate in the world, but is also responsible for China’s biggest mobile instant messaging service, WeChat. It also transcends any set boundaries and deals with media, entertainment, payment systems, smartphones, internet-related services, value-added services, and online advertising services, both in China and globally.

Often described as an aggressive acquisitor, he is also labeled as an influential leader and deputy of the People’s Congress. He has been exposed to the wonders of technology ever since he was a kid and has lived a significant share of his childhood in Shenzhen, popularly known as “China’s Silicon Valley”.

Do You know? 

• Tencent is mainly known for its mobile games and is one of the largest video game creators globally. 
• He founded Tencent with his college classmate, Zhang Zhidong.
• His nickname, Pony, is a tribute to his family name Ma, which means “Horse” in Chinese. 

8. Savitri Jindal & family

Ranking: 39 in the world 

Industry: Conglomerate

Net Worth:  $41.4B

Key Companies/Businesses Owned: Jindal Steel And Power Ltd, JSW Steel, JSW Cement, Jindal India Power Limited, and many others. 

Journey:

The present chairperson of the O.P. Jindal Group, Savitri Jindal is a businesswoman and a politician. The Jindals are one of the most influential families in India and have ventured into multiple sectors that include steel, energy, pipes, paints, and many more. 

The business was founded by her late husband, Om Prakash Jindal, who was also a Minister in the Haryana Government and a member of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly). But she has many more feathers to her hat; she also is an independent political leader who recently won a seat in Hissar. 

The company is equally divided amongst her four sons who now run them independently. But the major chunk of the business, which includes JSW Steel, JSW Cement, and JSW Paints, is overseen by Sajjan Jindal in Mumbai. 

Do You know? 

• Her candidature as minister for Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s government saw her undertaking portfolios like revenue, disaster management, and urban development. 
• She has done her schooling in Assam and has a diploma from Assam University. 

9. Tadashi Yanai and Family

Ranking: 27th in the World

Industry: Retail

Net Worth: $50.3B

Key Companies/Businesses Owned: Fast Retailing

Journey:

Tadashi Yanai’s legacy is completely different than his contemporaries on this list. He is a retail kingpin and the founder and president of Fast Retailing, the parent company of Uniqlo (“unique clothing”).

Tadashi Yanai’s journey began by selling men’s clothing and kitchenware at a JUSCO supermarket. However, it was when he took over his father’s roadside tailoring shop that his trajectory truly changed. He then opened his first Uniqlo store in Hiroshima in 1984, and by 2021, he had become the richest man in Japan.

His maturity is reflected in his line of work and his media appearances, where he has been quoted saying to not take failures seriously. In fact, his published works, which include One Win, Nine Losses, and Throw Away Your Success in a Day, talk about the same perspective on winning and on life. 

You would be surprised to know that his achievements go much further. He was awarded the International Retailer of the Year award in 2010 by the National Retail Federation in the US. Not only that, he was also chosen as the Best Company President in a survey of Japanese corporate executives by the Sanno Institute of Management in 2008 and 2009.

Do You know? 

• He is mainly known for his philanthropic ventures and has made significant donations during the Tōhoku earthquake. 
• A fun-to-know fact about him is he owns two golf courses in Hawaii. 

10. Li Ka-Shing

Ranking: 48 in the world

Industry: Plastic, Real Estate, Energy, Beauty, Technology, Telecommunication and others. 

Net Worth: $36.3B

Key Companies/Businesses Owned: CK Hutchison Holdings, CK Asset Holdings, Hutchison Port, A.S. Watson and many others. 

Journey:

The founder and chairperson of various big-shot names, this business magnate is one of the most influential people in Hong Kong. 

You can assess all his achievements with the simple fact that he was rewarded with the first ever Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award on 5th September 2006, in Singapore. His business empire has various notable companies, but he is mostly known for his simple lifestyle. In fact, he has the second-largest private foundation in the world dedicated to philanthropic causes known as the Li Ka-Shing Foundation. 

However, his days of morbid past are completely contradictory to his present life situation. His life tells the tale of his refugee past and how he and his parents fled to Hong Kong in 1940. But the tale doesn’t end here; he had to work 16 hours a day as a fifteen-year-old after losing his father to tuberculosis. 

It was in the year 1950 that he saw the light of the day and started his own manufacturing company, Cheung Kong Industries. It went ahead to become a real estate company and was even listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1972. It is through Cheung Kong that he acquired Hutchison Whampoa and Hong Kong Electric Holdings.

Do You know? 

• He goes by the nickname Superman, owing to his smart business ventures. 
• Li has control over Hutchinson Port, the world’s largest private operator of container terminals.

Industry Breakdown

If you have noticed, the above list consists of individuals from varied backgrounds and is not limited to one set of industries. Gone are the days when we were solely dependent on the manufacturing industry for any significant growth. Currently, the tech industry is crucial to Asia’s economic development, with digital platforms on the rise. 

As we have seen in the case of Ma Huateng and many others, the correct investment in technology has ensured that their wealth skyrockets. Along with this, the rapid growth of digital platforms, like in the case of Zhang Yiming, has ensured that China forever makes its mark in the tech space. In fact, India is also a powerhouse of tech billionaires, along with South Korea. 

The next industry that has consistently seen a surge in growth, and in turn, the billionaires, is the real estate and the finance industry. It has worked progressively well for China, Japan, India, and Hong Kong. Where real estate might be subjected to a few turmoils of the market, the financial services sectors, particularly banking, private equity, and investment, have created a significant number of billionaires. 

Country-Wise Distribution Of Wealth

We know that when it comes to Asia, three countries, namely China, India, and Japan, have produced the most billionaires. Owing to their fast-growing economy, the boom in the technological sector has paved their way to be on the top. The population influx also helps greatly in generating more customers, and in turn, more profits. 

The overall GDP is mainly concentrated in East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. The largest economies in Asia in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) are China, India, Japan, Indonesia, Turkey, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Thailand, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In terms of nominal gross domestic product (GDP), the countries are Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, China, India, and others. (Wikipedia)

Conclusion

It is only natural to feel inspired and intrigued after reading about such great names and their struggles. Even though their industries are varied, what is common between them is their zeal to make money and ensure their business reaches new leaps and bounds.

However, we can make some interesting predictions. As technology keeps growing and changing, more people will become rich by creating new digital businesses. But I think that in the future, technology, green energy, and the financial sector will play the biggest roles in creating new billionaires in Asia.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How did the richest people in Asia build their wealth?

A major chunk of wealth for Asia’s richest is generational. However, it is also a fact that cross and diversified investments have worked wonders for many and resulted in mammoth wealth accumulation. 

2. Which industry has the most billionaires in Asia?

The finance and investment sectors has been minting billionaires ever since. You would be amazed to know that in 2023, the sectors saw 24 new faces on the global list.

3. What is the net worth of the top 10 richest people in Asia?

The net worth of the richest people in Asia is approximately $500 billion, with Mukesh Ambani himself contributing a humungous amount of $115 billion. 

4. Which country has the most billionaires in Asia?

As per The Times of India, China has the most billionaires in Asia (406) followed by India (200).

5. How many billionaires are there in Asia?

The Asia Pacific region has close to 1,000 on the ranks of billionaire citizens. 

6. How does Asia’s wealthiest compare to the world’s richest individuals?

Asia’s richest are yet to reach the top of the world’s richest list, but they have made their presence felt in the 10th spot already. Even though the world is currently witnessing a global trend of seeing tech billionaires owning the scene, Asia has a diverse range of industries taking up this responsibility. The likes of energy, telecommunications, real estate, and technology do work in their favor, but they have yet to catch up with Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos. 

7. What companies are owned by the richest people in Asia?

The richest man in Asia is the owner of a conglomerate, followed by energy, pharmaceuticals real estate, telecommunications, retail, energy, ports, and others. 

8. How is wealth distributed among different industries in Asia?

You will notice that the wealth distribution varies greatly in different regions and industries in Asia. Owing to the vast regional diversity, the economic drivers tend to vary. This results in multiple industries contributing to the overall wealth distribution. For example, while China, Japan, and Korea excel mostly in manufacturing and natural resources, the south of Asia is more into IT, agriculture textiles, and apparel. 

9. Who are the new entrants to the list of the richest people in Asia?

The newest entry to the list of richest people in Asia is Kaivalya Vohra and Aadit Palicha the founders of Zepto as per the Deccan Herald.