Here are billionaires who don’t want you to know they’re billionaires!
9 - The Cargill Family Some wealthy and influential families can’t
seem to stay out of the spotlight.
On one end of the spectrum you have say, the Kardashians.
Well…...they decided to get famous to make money so I guess it’s a bit different.
Anyways, on the other hand, you have the Cargill family, who are both much wealthier and waaaaaay
more private.As the fourth wealthiest family in America, the Cargills control their namesake
company, Cargill.
Based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Cargill is the largest private company in the United
States.
With 14 billionaires in their family, they lead that category as well.
Though none of them are really household names.
The Cargills are just rich people who seem to prefer their privacy.
Since Cargill is privately owned and doesn’t trade publically, the Cargills are under no
obligation to list the worth of their company….and they don’t.
Who knows how much they’re really worth!
Anyway, it’s a classic American story.
What started out as a small grain storage company in 1865, Cargill has evolved into
an agriculture giant with companies in more than 60 countries around the world, some 130,000
employees, and enough money to make the Cargill family rich for generations to come.
8 - John DiFronzo Yep, John DiFronzo is 89 years old.
And yep, he has the unflattering nickname “No Nose.”
But, he’s the supposed boss of the Chicago Crime Outfit, one of America’s most powerful
and dangerous crime organizations.
Dating back to the early 20th century, The Outfit rose to national infamy in the 20’s
when Al Capone took over and really made a name for himself.
These days, it’s Difronzo running the show, and with an estimated net worth of roughly
$25 billion, he’s one of the richest and most successful mafia bosses in American history.
With an official criminal career dating back to 1949, DiFronzo first got his nickname when
he accidentally sliced off a part of his nose when he jumped through a window during a burglary.
From there, things got better...or worse, depending on how you look at it.
By the 90’s, he had taken over the organization, and although he was briefly imprisoned in
1993, he was back out on the streets less than a year later.
Currently, it’s believed that he’s about to retire and has been prepping a new boss
to take over for him.
Obviously, the details are a bit unclear here, since it’s not like The Outfit does any
sort of press release for the public’s benefit!
7 - Semion Mogilevich The Boss of Bosses.
That’s what many people believe Semion Mogilevich to be in the Russian Mafia.
As the leader of a massive criminal empire in Russia, the FBI has described him as the
most dangerous mobster in the whole world.
His rap sheet includes things such as racketeering and weapons trafficking, all on an international
scale.
He’s reportedly worth around $10 billion.
Not only is he a powerful crime boss, but he’s known for his business sense.
Apparently, his business smarts has allowed him to get away with wire fraud, money laundering
and securities fraud.
Mogilevich is known to have a friendly relationship with Vladimir Putin and other powerful politicians
in Russia, which has allowed him to live freely in Moscow and run his other business ventures.
While his criminal career began in the early 70’s with petty theft, he quickly rose through
ranks of Russian organized crime.
It’s gotten to the point where he wont even travel to the west, as he’s been on the
FBI’s Top Ten most wanted list, so he plays it safe in Moscow.
6 - Dawood Ibrahim It may be surprising to see how widespread
organized crime is.
It seems like every place around the world has some sort of seedy underworld.
Mumbai is no different, and it’s a place where Dawood Ibrahim is one of the most feared
crime bosses.
Well, he was once based in Mumbai.
These days he’s rumored to be living in Karachi Pakistan.
Apparently, he’s pretty elusive.
In the 70’s, Ibrahim founded the D-Company, the organization that made him rich.
And by rich, I mean he has an estimated net worth of around 7 billion.
On top of that, he’s mastered the art of transferring massive amounts of money.
Through a system called Hawala, Ibrahim has managed to move around lots of money illegally
around the world to support his criminal network.
The U.S Treasury Department considers him a global terrorist, and back in 2011, he was
number three on the FBI's 10 most wanted criminals.
Like many bad guys before him, Ibrahim has been somewhat romanticized and vilified at
the same time.
Films such as Company, Once Upon a Time in Mumbai and Shootout at Lokhandwala were all
inspired by Ibrahim.
But despite his infamy, he’s alive and well and living it up in Pakistan.
5 - Wang Wei As the founder of the mega successful SF Express,
a Chinese delivery firm, Wang Wei is worth $20 Billion.
While some billionaires might be tempted to live a fancy lifestyle complete with Yachts,
champagne, and private jets, Wang Wei prefers to keep it simple.
As one of the world’s most secretive billionaires, Wang rarely gives interviews to the media
and pretty much never interacts with the public.
For fun, he’s known for going on bike rides and hiking by himself.
Sounds like a pretty regular guy to me.
In one of his rare public appearances in 2017, Wang told a panel in Hong Kong that he feels
like his reclusive lifestyle has perhaps hindered his business.
He said quote “I used to think it’s enough to produce a great product.
But ten years later, this resulted in the difference between two companies, one worth
$2 trillion Hong Kong dollars and the other worth $200 billion Hong Kong dollars.”
Wang was referencing the difference between his company and that of Tencent, a giant Hong
Kong tech company run by the more outgoing Pony Ma.
For you guys that are wondering, 1 US dollar is worth around 8 hong kong dollars.
So with his new perspective, maybe Wang will be a bit less secretive moving forward.
4 - Diezani Alison Madueke On one hand, Diezani Alison Madueke has a
very impressive resume.
Be appointed Nigeria’s transportation minister?
Check.
Become the first female president of OPEC?
Check!
Survive breast cancer?
Check.
However, she’s doesn’t exactly have her hands clean.
She’s been charged with the loss of $20 billion from the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation.
Also, she’s been accused of personally divesting around $6 billion from the Nigerian Treasury.
She's been accused of awarding multi-billion dollar contracts without recourse to due process
and of recklessly spending government funds, as well as of wasting billions of Nigerian
dollars inappropriately on private jets.
In 2015, she was arrested by the National Crime agency in London for corruption and
bribery.
And in 2017, a federal court in Nigeria seized $21 million from her personal bank account
along with 56 properties linked to her and some of her associates.
It’s estimated that she’s embezzled billions of dollars, but it’s unclear what her exact
net worth is.
3 - El Chapo As far as crime lords, El Chapo is pretty
much at the top of the list.
Born Joaquin Guzman some time back in the 50’s, he became known as El Chapo, one of
the most feared crime lords in the world.
As the head of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, El Chapo amassed a wealth in the ballpark
of a few billion dollars….but obviously no one really knows how much he really has.
He’s definitely a little bit ingenious when it comes to prison.
When he was arrested in 2001, he managed to bribe Mexican prison guards to escape.
Then he was arrested again in 2014, but escaped in 2015 after he somehow made a tunnel from
his cell to freedom.
The guards were probably in on it again?!
In 2016, he was arrested by the Mexican Marines.
After weeks of monitoring what they figured was a safe house for El Chapo in Sinaloa,
they made an attempt to arrest him in what’s known as Operation Black Swan.
He actually managed to escape through a tunnel into the sewers!
However, local cops were finally able to arrest him in Juan Rose Rios.
On January 19, 2017 he was extradited to the U.S and housed in a maximum security prison,
where he’s currently awaiting trial.
2 - Ismael Zambada García Also known as El Mayo Zambada, he’s now
the head of the Sinaloa Cartel, a position he’s held ever since El Chapo’s most recent
incarceration.
El Mayo Zambada was once a skilled farmer with a vast knowledge in agriculture.
Eventually he teamed up with the Sinaloa Cartel and started making a whoooooole lot of money.
And with El Chapo behind bars, El Mayo Zambada is now one of the most powerful kingpins in
the world.
He might even be THE most powerful.
In 2016, Newsweek called him “Mexico’s Last Hug Kingpin.”
Not only has he managed to elude arrest even after nearly four decades of crime, but all
of his money laundering fronts are still thriving.
His wife and daughters still run shell companies.
While his exact net worth is hard to predict, it’s estimated that El Mayo Zambada and
his family are worth billions.
With all his money, he keeps a pretty low profile.
Rarely seen in public, he runs one of the world’s premier drug trafficking operation
in the shadows.
1 - Vladimir Putin If you’re looking for the most powerful
person in Russia, all you’d have to do is just look for Putin.
While he’s relatively popular in Russia, many people around the world view him as a
threat to democracy as his government has been accused of meddling in elections.
He’s even been accused of squashing any and all opposition to him in power.
After all, he IS a former KGB agent.
In addition to all that power, he’s also super rich, even if you’re not gonna find
him on any Forbes lists.
He’s believed to have a net worth of anywhere between $40 billion and $200 billion dollars.
Who really knows what’s his, and what’s Russia’s money.
In 2015 The Washington Post reported that through an extensive network of corruption,
Putin and his friends have about $200 billion in cash and other assets.
It’s been alleged that a lot of that money was supposed to be spent on things such as
schools, roads, and hospitals but made it’s way into their pockets.
If you ask him, he’s obviously not telling.
His reps would like to remind people that his income and property are published annually.
For what it’s worth, Putin’s reported salary in 2015 was roughy 137,000 US dollars.
Whether he’s worth only a few billion, the $200 billion, or even more, what we do know
is that we’ll probably never find out the real number.
Here’s what’s next!