2003 he outbid U.S. Steel to buy bankrupt Rouge Industries of the U.S. for $285 million. A leading proponent of Western-style management training, Mordashov is advocating for Russia’s entry into the WTO.
107 Jim Pattison, 76, $4.8bn, Canada, Vancouver (Canada) Industry: Diversified Marital Status: married , 3 children University of British Columbia Master conglomerator got his start flipping used cars to his college classmates. Branched out from car dealerships into fishing, media, packaging and supermarkets. Currently focusing on growing Ripley’s Believe it or Not, the touristy museum chain. Recent project: Bringing an eight-legged bison to the Niagara Falls museum.
107 Alain & Gerard Wertheimer, age N/A, $4.8bn, France, Paris (France) Industry: Apparel Marital Status: NA Luxe titan Chanel is tightly controlled by brothers Alain and Gerard Wertheimer. Last year Chanel’s most popular designer, Karl Lagerfeld, shook the fashion world with his line for discount clothier H&M, but analysts warn that it may be risky for the exclusive brand to dabble in mass luxury. Last year also marked Chanel’s mega-advertising push, as the brand ponied up a reported $5 million on production of an ad starring Nicole Kidman as the new spokesperson for No. 5. The brothers Wertheimer own French vineyards like Rauzan-Segla in Margaux and Chateau Canon in Saint-Emilion, both of which have won rave reviews from oenophiles.
111 Kunio Busujima & family, 79, $4.7bn, Japan, Kiryu (Japan) Industry: Gambling /Leisure Marital Status: married , 4 children Kiryu Commerce & Technical School, Bachelor of Arts / Science Busujima used to work for rival pachinko machine manufacturer Heiwa before he founded Sankyo in 1966. One of the few listed companies in Japan’s pachinko gambling industry, Sankyo is the second-largest maker of pinball machines, with a 16% market share. In part thanks to the introduction of high-tech, digitalized pinball machines using LCD screens, Sankyo saw profits climb 47% to an all-time high of $260 million in the year ending March 2004.
111 Michael Kadoorie & family, 64, $4.7bn, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Industry: Diversified Marital Status: married Brothers Elly and Ellis Kadoorie, émigrés from Baghdad, founded hotels in Shanghai and Hong Kong nearly 100 years ago. Michael, grandson to Elly, now oversees the family’s interests, which include power supplier CLP Holdings and hotels. While the Peninsula in Hong Kong remains their jewel hotel, family is returning to its Shanghai roots, opening a Peninsula hotel there.
111 Kyosuke Kinoshita & family, 64, $4.7bn, Japan, Tokyo (Japan) Industry: Finance Marital Status: married , 3 children Ritsumeikan University, Bachelor of Arts / Science Kinoshita’s Acom is Japan’s largest consumer finance company specializing in consumer-oriented collateral-free loans. Fewer customers are turning to consumer loans and Acom profits fell 6% to $670 million last year (fiscal year ending March 2004). Though low-wage earners represent Acom’s traditional customer base, the company nonetheless formed an alliance last year with Japan’s megabank Tokyo-Mitsubishi in an attempt to tap more affluent customers the bank holds. In his spare time Kinoshita enjoys Japanese traditional Noh plays.