Some of the richest in Switzerland got even richer, but some saw their fortunes hit by the pandemic.
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The 300 richest people in Switzerland saw their combined fortunes fall slightly in 2020, as some sectors were hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Their combined fortunes totalled CHF646 billion ($711 billion), according to the latest annual ranking by Bilan magazine, compared with CHF703 billion in 2019.
The Hoffmann-Oeri family, heirs of the founders of the Roche pharmaceutical group, remain the richest people in Switzerland with a fortune of CHF29 billion, up CHF2 billion on last year.
Also unchanged in second and third place respectively are French businessman Gérard Wertheimer (co-owner of Chanel) and the Brazilian Safra family (finance). Wertheimer’s fortune is put at CHF25 billion (+1 billion) while the Safra family’s is CHF22 billion (-1 billion), according to Bilan.
But the fourth richest, Jorge Lemann, shareholder of the brewer AB Inbev and the food group Kraft Heinz, saw his assets drop by CHF7 billion to CHF15 billion francs as the pandemic saw bars and restaurants close.
The biggest jump in ranking was for the family of Swiss right-wing politician Christoph Blocher, whose portfolio includes chemicals company EMS-Chemie, which saw its assets jump from CHF4 billion to CHF15 billion, according to Bilan.
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