Sunday, August 24, 2008

HM makes Forbes Royal Rich List

In the news yesterday, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos makes the Forbes List of The World's Richest Royals, in 10th spot with an estimated $1.1 billion, behind Prince Albert of Monaco. He also made the ‘cover photo’ of the article, which is not surprising as, IMHO, he is clearly the best looking of all the Royals listed.

Following is Forbes’ ranking of the world’s richest royals:
1. $35 bln King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Thailand)
2. $23 bln Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan (United Arab Emirates)
3. $21 bln King Abdullah (Saudi Arabia)
4. $20 bln Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (Brunei)
5. $18bln Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al-Maktoum (Dubai)
6. $5 bln Prince Hans Adam II (Liechtenstein)
7. $2 bln Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani (Qatar)
8. $1.5 bln King Mohammed VI (Morocco)
9. $1.4 bln Prince Albert II (Monaco)
10. $1.1 bln Sultan Qaboos bin Said (Oman)
11. $1 bln Prince Karim Al Husseini (Agha Khan)
12. $650 mln Queen Elizabeth (Britain)
13. $500 mln Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah (Kuwait)
14. $300 mln Queen Beatrix (Netherlands)
15. $200 mln King Mswati III (Swaziland)

While I suspect if anything the Forbes estimate is a little low, given the recent oil prices, one has to remember that HM tends to use his personal income in large part to provide such gifts as free housing and other things to the people, built the Grand Mosque out of his own pocket, plus he has a very large number of associated Omani Royals to look after too.

Note the important disclaimer:

...
Keep in mind that the wealth of the royals comes from inheritances or positions of power; it is often shared with extended families and often represents money controlled by them in trust for their nation or territory. For these reasons, none of the 15 royals on this list would qualify for our annual ranking of the world's billionaires, regardless of their net worth.

Because of technical and idiosyncratic oddities in the exact relationship between individual and state wealth, these estimates are perforce a blend of art and science.
...

4 comments:

  1. Prince Karim Al Husseini is the only one without a Kingdom right? However he (or his father) did buy Gwader from Oman and gifted it to Pakistan.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, God - are you braced for another torrent of abuse for discussing such a deeply private personal matter?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Navcity,
    Correct - Prince Karim Al Husseini, also known as the Aga Khan, doesn't have a kingdom anymore.

    Muscato
    This is the life, but nothing so far. People need to realise that Oman is no longer a hermit kingdom and get over this desire to take an ostrich approach to modern life and the politics and governance of their country. Its not like I tipped off Forbes magazine...

    And I'm sure while HM expects (and deserves) respect, that he doesn't want his population to be a flock of ignorant forelock tugging peasants afraid of making any comment what-so-ever. They need to be intelligent and empowered to be able to have a considered opinion.

    And its a nice photo.

    ReplyDelete

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