Head to a place like Silicon Valley and you’ll find plenty of ‘new money’, the kind of riches that have sprung up off the back of some or other tech-related business.

It’s a different story for many of Europe’s wealthiest citizens, their money part of a long-standing business dynasty.

Using Forbe’s 2017 Billionaire’s List as a starting point (HERE), we can see exactly who the richest person in each country is and how they made their billions.

We’ll just focus on five countries, via Business Insider, and the staggering sums of money those big hitters hold the purse strings to:

Sweden’s Stefan Persson — NET WORTH: £15.2 billion (R258 billion)

Persson is the largest shareholder in H&M, the massive European fashion chain. The company was founded by Erling Persson, his father, and his son Karl-Johan Persson is currently the CEO.

Italy’s Maria Franca Fissolo & Giovanni Ferrero (below) — NET WORTH: £19.6 billion (R333 billion)

The wife and son of the late Michel Ferrero owe their fortunes to Ferrero SpA, the confectionery company that bears their name, and of which Giovanni is CEO.

Germany’s Beate Heister & Karl Albrecht Jr. — NET WORTH: £21.1 billion (R359 billion)

The pair are children — and heirs to the fortune — of the late Karl Albrecht, who co-founded discount supermarket chain Aldi with his brother. Albrecht, who passed away in 2014, based his supermarket chain’s success on a no-frills strategy similar to Wal-Mart’s in America, and there are now over 10,000 stores in 18 countries.

France’s Liliane Bettencourt — NET WORTH: £30.7 billion (R522 billion)

Bettencourt is the “grand dame” of L’Oreal, and the richest woman in Europe. She and her children own 33% of the cosmetics giant. She suffers from dementia, which means her children now run her business affairs.

Spain’s Amancio Ortega — NET WORTH: £56.4 billion (R960 billion)

Ortega is a Spanish business magnate who founded the Inditex fashion group. The group is best known for the Zara fashion chain. He is the fourth richest person in the world.

Approaching a cool trillion rand – the mind boggles.

Fun fact: Denmark’s richest man, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen (rough initials), owes his R279 billion fortune entirely to Lego.

You can see the rest of that list HERE.

[source:businessinsider]