Not just Arnault: the world’s billionaires (according to “Forbes”) who are also wine producers

If in recent days, the news that has “made headlines” on “Forbes” is that the currently richest man in the world is “a wine producer” Bernard Arnault, owner of the luxury colossus Lvmh, which in addition to major brands in the fashion, cosmetics and jewels also controls many top wine brands, from Moet & Chandon to Krug, from Cheval Blanc to Chateau d’Yquem, we had fun scrolling through the list (updated daily) of the planet’s billionaires, finding some of those who, in some way, are more or less involved in the production of wine.
Among these, at no. 31 in the world rankings (at the time of writing the article), with assets close to 36 billion dollars, there is another Frenchman, namely Francois Pinault, who, through the Artémis Domaines, of which he is the founder and managing partner, controls, among others, brands such as Château Latour in Bordeaux, Clos de Tart in Burgundy, Château Grillet in the Rhône Valley, Bouchard Père et Fils, and Henriot and Jacquesson in Champagne, as well as Eisele Vineyard in Napa Valley and Beaux Frères in Oregon. Going down around position no. 174, with assets of 10 billion dollars, according to “Forbes”, we encounter the South African entrepreneur Johann Rupert, at the head of the Richemont group (which controls luxury brands such as Panerai, Cartier, Buccellati, Dunhil, and more), which owns the L’Ormarins winery, one of the oldest in South Africa, and whose family also controls, same in the South Africa, companies such as La Motte, and Rupert & Rothschild, in partnership with the De Rothschild family. Around no. 219, with assets of 8.7 billion dollars, on the other hand, there is the Canadian Anthony Von Mandl, who began his career as a wine importer, before establishing the Mark Anthony Group, which in addition to the distribution of & spirits, also owns several wineries in Canada, such as CedarCreek Estate Winery, Mission Hill, Road 13 Vineyards, ChekMate Artisanal Winery and Martins Lane.
Around position no. 350, with assets estimated at around 6.7 billion euros, on the other hand, we find the first of the Italians, the designer Giorgio Armani who, among other things, as reported by the “Corriere della Sera”, in a piece of some time ago by the vice director Luciano Ferraro, produces the Passito di Pantelleria “L’Oasi”. Around position no. 535, with assets close to 5 billion dollars, there is the Brazilian financier Andrè Esteves, who owns Argiano, one of the most beautiful and historic wineries in the Brunello di Montalcino area. And if just below, with assets of 4.7 billion euros, we highlight the “cameo” Maria Fernanda Amorim, widow of Americo Amorim, who, for 60 years, until his death in 2017, led the Corticeria Amorim which also controls Amorim Cork, the world leader in the production of cork stoppers for wine, towards position no. 719, with 3.9 billion dollars, comes the Italian Luca Garavoglia, president of the Campari group which, among others, controls the Italian sparkling wine brands Cinzano, Mondoro and Riccadonna, and Champagne Lallier. Further down, with personal assets estimated by Forbes at 3.2 billion euros, is the tycoon and former US President Donald Trump, whose family is involved in wine production with the Trump Winery in Virginia.
The list continues with a string of “Italians”: with 2.8 billion dollars of estimated assets we find the Umbrian cashmere entrepreneur, Brunello Cucinelli, who in his Solomeo has also been producing wine for some time, the “Castello di Solomeo” (under the oenological direction of the president of world oenologists Riccardo Cotarella), and then, with the same value, and again from the world of fashion, there is Renzo Rosso, patron of Diesel and not only, owner of the Diesel Farm, where he produces wine in the Colli Vicentini, and shareholder of the Masi group, the historical company of the Boscaini family, one of the leaders in the production of Amarone della Valpolicella, but also of Prosecco with Canevel, and also, a few months ago, with a grand entry at 40% della Benanti, among the leading names on Etna. Finally, in this particular “selection” (made by Winenews on data from “Forbes”), with personal assets of around 2 billion dollars, Forbes mentions the Argentine entrepreneur and oilman Alejandro Bulgheroni, who, with the Alejandro Bulgheroni Family Vineyards Italia, brings together leading brands in Tuscany such as Dievole, in Chianti Classico, Poggio Landi in Montalcino and Tenuta Le Colonne and Tenuta Meraviglia in Bolgheri, for a total of 330 hectares of vineyards.