Hurun Report, a research platform based in Shanghai and Mumbai, has released the Hurun Global Real Estate Rich List which ranks the richest real estate tycoons in the world.

According to the report, there are 239 real estate billionaires in the world and most of them are from China with 58 percent, from USA with 11 percent and from UK with 7 percent.



By country, China tops the list with 139 billionaires, followed by USA with 26 billionaires and UK with 17 billionaires.

Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Researcher of Hurun Report, said, “The urbanization mega trend in China has driven the biggest wealth explosion in the history of world, with the result that most of the world’s largest real estate developers today come from China.

The richest real estate tycoons in the world;

Xu Jiayin, 61 , of Shenzhen-based Evergrande, tops the list with US$37 billion . Evergrande last year sold US$85 billion of homes, totalling 52 million square meters. Xu ranked second on the Hurun Philanthropy List 2018 with a donation of US$500m last year.

, of Shenzhen-based Evergrande, tops the list with . Evergrande last year sold US$85 billion of homes, totalling 52 million square meters. Xu ranked second on the Hurun Philanthropy List 2018 with a donation of US$500m last year. Li Ka-shing, 91 , came in second with US$29 billion . Li made his big break with real estate in HK, and then expanded into mainland China. However, in the last six years, Li has been selling down his real estate assets in China and diversifying into other sectors, particularly in the UK.

, came in second with . Li made his big break with real estate in HK, and then expanded into mainland China. However, in the last six years, Li has been selling down his real estate assets in China and diversifying into other sectors, particularly in the UK. With US$ 27 billion, Lee Shau Kee, 91, has grown HK-based Henderson Development into one of the largest real estate developers in HK.

has grown HK-based Henderson Development into one of the largest real estate developers in HK. Yang Huiyan38 , of Foshan-based Country Garden came in fourth with US$23 billion,

, of Foshan-based Country Garden came in fourth with Tos Chirathivat , 54, from Thai-based Central Group, was fifth with US$19 billion ,

, 54, from Thai-based Central Group, was fifth with , Donald Bren, 86, with US$17 billion , of US-based Irvine Company,

with , of US-based Irvine Company, Hugh Grosvenor , 28 , is the youngest on the list. Grosvenor, who is worth US$17 billion ,

, , is the youngest on the list. Grosvenor, who is worth , Wang Jianlin & family, 65 , drop to the sixth position, with a fortune of US$17 billion,

, drop to the sixth position, with a fortune of Henry Cheng & family, 71 , of HK-based real estate developer New World, was also sixth equal with US$17 billion .

, of HK-based real estate developer New World, was also sixth equal with . Joseph Lau Luen Hung & family, 68, of HK-based Chinese Estates, was tenth with US$16 billion.

Real Estate Billionaires by Country of Residence

Real Estate Billionaires in the World

Greater China: the region is the world’s absolute No 1 with 139 Real Estate Billionaires. The combined net worth of the Chinese Real estate billionaires is US$550 billion. Real Estate has generated the most number of billionaires (139). Led by Hong Kong, 7 Chinese cities make the Top 10 and 16 the Top 30. Average age is 60, four years younger than the average of the global list. Xu Jiayinof Evergrande is the wealthiest Real Estate billionaire in the world with US$37 billion.

The USA is second behind China with 26 real estate billionaires. Their combined wealth is US$110 billion. New York has the highest concentration of billionaires with 9, followed by Los Angeles and Newport Beach with 2 each. The average age of US real estate billionaires is 76, 12 years higher than the average age of the global list. With US$17 billion, Donald Bren of Irvine Company is the richest real estate tycoon in the USA.

The UK grabbed third place with 17 real estate billionaires. London is the undisputed city of choice for 14 of them. UK billionaires have a combined wealth of US$66 billion. The average age of real estate billionaires in the UK is 67. London is the real estate capital of the UK. Four of the UK real estate billionaires are sixth generation or more, led by Hugh Grosvenor and Charles Cadogan.

Singapore secured fourth placewith 10 billionaires. The combined net wealth of Singapore real estate billionaires is US$26 billion and their average age was 68, four years higher than the average age of the global list. With US$5.8 billion each, brothers Philip Ng and Robert Ng of Far East are the richest real estate Singaporeans.

SEE ALSO : The 30 richest real estate billionaires in America

India was fifth with 9 real estate billionaires. The combined wealth of the Indian real estate billionaires is US$16 billion. Average age is 57. Mumbai is the preferred hub for most Indian billionaires followed by Bengaluru. For the past two years, Hurun Report has launched theGROHE Hurun India Real Estate Rich List, a listing of the Top 100 richest Indian developers. Jitendra Virawani of Embassy Properties won the “GROHE Hurun Most Respected Real Estate Entrepreneur of the Year 2018”.

Australia makes it to the 6th with 5 real estate billionaires. Sydney is the real estate capital of the country with 3 living there. Average age is 82. The combined net wealth of Australian real estate billionaires is US$17 billion. With US$8.9 billion, Harry Triguboff of Meriton is the wealthiest real estate Australian. All are self-made.

Canada shares 6th position with Russia and Australia, with 5 real estate billionaires. Toronto is Canada’s real estate billionaire capital. The combined wealth of the Canadian real estate billionaires is US$11 billion. The average age is 63. Naomi Azrieli is the richest real estate billionaire in Canada with US$3.9 billion.

Russia shares 6th place with Canada and Australia, with 5 real estate billionaires. All are self-made. Moscow is the real estate capital and home for all of them. The combined wealth of the Russian billionaires comes to US$16 billion. With US$3.9 billion Zarakh Iliev and God Nisanov, of Kievskaya Ploschad, are the richest Russian real estate billionaires.

Japan secures the 9th position with 3 real estate billionaires. Tokyo is the real estate hub for Japan. The combined wealth of real estate billionaires is US$7.7 billion. The average age of the Japanese real estate billionaires is 78. Akira Mori of Mori Trust is the wealthiest real estate Japanese in the world with US$3.6 billion.

Switzerland, Brazil, Thailand, UAE, Indonesia, Sweden and Israel had two real estate billionaires each.

Biggest Gainers

Tong Jinquan (64) of Shanghai-based Changfeng was the biggest gainer, more than doubling his wealth to US$5.3 billion. Last year, Changfeng invested US$3 billion in a large tourism complex near Shanghai.

Adam Neumann (39) of WeWork was the second biggest gainer of the year with his wealth doubling, on the back of WeWork’s value doubling to US$42 billion.

Largest real estate companies

Country Garden and Evergrande’s annual sales last year were US$100 billion and US$85 billion, up 30% and 10% from the previous year. However, the valuations of the two companies are down on last year and are still only one tenth of the market value of Chinese IT giants Alibaba and Tencent.

By market cap, Simon Property is the world’s largest with US$54.5 billion, just ahead of Sun Hung Kai US$48 billion.

Source: Hurun Report