Forbes: seven Poles among the world's billionaires

Forbes magazine listed a total of 2,668 names in the latest ranking, which was 87 less than in 2021. The combined wealth of all ranked persons has been estimated at 12.7 billion dollars, whereas in 2021 it amounted to 13.1 billion.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, has been named the richest person in the world for the first time with his assets worth 219 billion dollars, which is 68 billion more compared to the previous year.

Musk replaced Amazon's owner Jeff Bezos, whose assets declined down to 171 billion dollars due to a small drop in the company's share prices and charitable donations.

411. Michał Sołowow - 6.2 bln dollars

"Investor Michal Solowow got his start in the late 1980s with construction company Mitex, which he sold in 2002 to French investor Eiffage. Solowow then plowed the proceeds into the nascent Polish stock market. Over the past several years he has been taking his companies private, including building materials producers Barlinek and Cersanit. He took his last main listed asset, chemical group Synthos, private in 2018. Solowow has invested in technology startups such as OncoaArendi, a biotech firm that went public in 2018," Forbes wrote.

728. Jerzy Starak - 4 bln dollars

"Jerzy Starak chairs the supervisory board of Polpharma, one of Poland's largest drug manufacturers. Polpharma specializes in pharmaceuticals used in cardiology, neurology and gastroenterology. A diversified investor, Starak also holds a stake in publicly traded agribusiness ZT Kruszwica and herbal product producer Herbapol. Starak started out with chemical company Comindex in the 1970s" - we read.

913. Tomasz Biernacki - 3.3 bln dollars

"Tomasz Biernacki is the founder and chairman of Poland's largest grocery chain, Dino Polska. Biernacki opened his first shop in 1999; today the company has nearly 1,000 stores that also produce their own meat products. Biernacki took Dino Polska public in 2017."

1053. Zygmunt Solorz-Żak - 2.9 bln dollars

"Zygmunt Solorz-Zak founded Polsat, one of the first national commercial broadcasters in the Eastern Europe. It is now part of his Cyfrowy Polsat, Poland's leading pay-TV operator. Solorz-Zak is handing over the reins of his business empire including mobile, energy and financial products, to his sons Tobias Solorz and Piotr Zak."

1645. Dominika Kulczyk - 1.8 bln dollars

"Dominika and her brother Sebastian inherited a fortune from their father Jan, who died in 2015 from complications of minor heart surgery. The siblings divvied up the estate in 2018, with Dominika getting most of the cash from the family's 2016 sale of its SAB Miller stake. She also took over the stake in renewable energy outfit Polenergia and now chairs its supervisory board. With her parents, she started the Kulczyk Foundation in 2013, which fights discrimination and inequality that affects women around the world. Dominika is president of the foundation, which was originally her idea."

2076. Sebastian Kulczyk - 1.4 bln dollars

"Sebastian and his sister Dominika inherited a fortune from their father Jan, who died in 2015 from complications of minor heart surgery. In 2018, the siblings divvied up assets, with Sebastian getting a stake in Autostrada Eksploatacja, which maintains a major highway. He also took over the chemical business Ciech and shares in mining companies, the latter of which he sold. Sebastian also founded and runs VC tech fund Manta Ray."

2324. Zbigniew Juroszek and family - 1.2 bln dollars

"Zbigniew Juroszek is the founder of Atal S.A., a real estate developer listed in Warsaw, Poland. Juroszek first founded Atal in 1990 as a supplier to clothing manufacturers, before investing in real estate. He built his first residential projects in 2003. Atal now develops properties in Katowice, Warsaw, and other major Polish cities. He now runs his business with his son Mateusz, who is the CEO of gambling company STS, which provides betting services to over 1 million customer in Europe."

"Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires rankings tracks the daily ups and downs of the world’s richest people. The wealth-tracking platform provides ongoing updates on the net worth and ranking of each individual confirmed by Forbes to be a billionaire. The value of individuals’ public holdings are updated every 5 minutes when respective stock markets are open (there will be a 15-minute delay for stock prices). Individuals whose fortunes are significantly tied to private companies will have their net worths updated once a day. In cases where an individual owns a stake in a private company that accounts for 20% or more of his or her net worth, the value of the company will be adjusted according to an industry- or region-specific market index provided by our partners at FactSet Research Systems when available. A rotating cast of the five biggest winners and losers throughout the day is featured at the top of the page, followed by the complete list of billionaires ranked in order of net worth," the magazine explained at its website.