<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Dun expect the Papaya running dogs to call their masters to learn from the Thai King to be as transparent and accountable!
Published August 23, 2008
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>King Bhumibol is wealthiest royal: Forbes
Thai monarch's fortune is estimated at US$35b; UAE's Sheik Khalifa is 2nd on list with net worth of US$23b
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(NEW YORK) With a fortune estimated at US$35 billion, Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej is the world's richest royal sovereign, and oil-rich Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi is far back at No 2, Forbes magazine reported on Thursday.
<TABLE class=picBoxL cellSpacing=2 width=100 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD>King Abdullah: The Saudi king is ranked 3rd with US$21b of wealth </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>King Bhumibol, 80 and, at 62 years on the throne the world's longest-serving head of state, pushed to the top of the richest royals list by virtue of a greater transparency surrounding his fortune, Forbes said.
It said that the Crown Property Bureau, which manages most of his family's wealth, 'granted unprecedented access this year, revealing vast landholdings, including 3,493 acres in Bangkok'.
Forbes called it a good year for monarchies, investment-wise. 'As a group, the world's 15 richest royals have increased their total wealth to US$131 billion, up from US$95 billion last year,' Forbes said on its website.
With oil prices soaring, the monarchs of the petro-kingdoms of the Middle East and Asia dominate the list.
Sheik Khalifa, 60, the current president of the United Arab Emirates, was estimated to be worth US$23 billion, on the back of Abu Dhabi's huge petroleum reserves.
In third was the sovereign of the world's biggest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, 84, who inherited the Al-Saud family throne in 2005, came in with a fortune of US$21 billion.
The previous king of kings, wealth-wise, 62-year-old Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of tiny, oil-endowed Brunei on the South-east Asia island of Borneo, fell to fourth place with US$20 billion.
'The sultan, who inherited the riches of an unbroken 600-year-old Muslim dynasty, has had to cut back on his country's oil production because of depleting reserves,' Forbes explained of his dwindling fortune.
Fifth was Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, 58, of another Emirate, Dubai, with a net worth of US$18 billion.
One of two Europeans on the list, Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein, 63, ranked six on the list with US$5 billion in wealth. However, the bank that is a key source of his family's wealth, LGT, is under investigation by the United States for helping wealthy people evade taxes.
Qatar's Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, 56, came in at seventh, worth US$2 billion; eighth was King Mohammed VI of Morocco, 46, his US$1.5 billion fortune based on phosphate mining, agriculture and other investments.
Number nine was Prince Albert II of Monaco, 50, his diverse fortune in the southern European principality put at US$1.4 billion.
Tenth on the list was Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman, 67, worth US$1.1 billion.
Rounding out the top 15 were: The Aga Khan Prince Karim Al Hussein, 71 (US$1.0 billion); Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, 82, US$650 million; Kuwait's Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, 79, US$500 million; Queen Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard of the Netherlands, 70, US$300 million; and King Mswati III of Swaziland, 40, with US$200 million.
Forbes noted that because many of the royals inherited their wealth, share it with extended families, and often control it 'in trust for their nation or territory', none of those on its list would qualify for the magazine's famous annual world billionaires ranking.
'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,' it added. -- AFP
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Published August 23, 2008
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>King Bhumibol is wealthiest royal: Forbes
Thai monarch's fortune is estimated at US$35b; UAE's Sheik Khalifa is 2nd on list with net worth of US$23b
<TABLE class=storyLinks cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD align=right width=20>
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</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>(NEW YORK) With a fortune estimated at US$35 billion, Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej is the world's richest royal sovereign, and oil-rich Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi is far back at No 2, Forbes magazine reported on Thursday.
<TABLE class=picBoxL cellSpacing=2 width=100 align=left><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR class=caption><TD>King Abdullah: The Saudi king is ranked 3rd with US$21b of wealth </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>King Bhumibol, 80 and, at 62 years on the throne the world's longest-serving head of state, pushed to the top of the richest royals list by virtue of a greater transparency surrounding his fortune, Forbes said.It said that the Crown Property Bureau, which manages most of his family's wealth, 'granted unprecedented access this year, revealing vast landholdings, including 3,493 acres in Bangkok'.
Forbes called it a good year for monarchies, investment-wise. 'As a group, the world's 15 richest royals have increased their total wealth to US$131 billion, up from US$95 billion last year,' Forbes said on its website.
With oil prices soaring, the monarchs of the petro-kingdoms of the Middle East and Asia dominate the list.
Sheik Khalifa, 60, the current president of the United Arab Emirates, was estimated to be worth US$23 billion, on the back of Abu Dhabi's huge petroleum reserves.
In third was the sovereign of the world's biggest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, 84, who inherited the Al-Saud family throne in 2005, came in with a fortune of US$21 billion.
The previous king of kings, wealth-wise, 62-year-old Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of tiny, oil-endowed Brunei on the South-east Asia island of Borneo, fell to fourth place with US$20 billion.
'The sultan, who inherited the riches of an unbroken 600-year-old Muslim dynasty, has had to cut back on his country's oil production because of depleting reserves,' Forbes explained of his dwindling fortune.
Fifth was Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, 58, of another Emirate, Dubai, with a net worth of US$18 billion.
One of two Europeans on the list, Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein, 63, ranked six on the list with US$5 billion in wealth. However, the bank that is a key source of his family's wealth, LGT, is under investigation by the United States for helping wealthy people evade taxes.
Qatar's Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, 56, came in at seventh, worth US$2 billion; eighth was King Mohammed VI of Morocco, 46, his US$1.5 billion fortune based on phosphate mining, agriculture and other investments.
Number nine was Prince Albert II of Monaco, 50, his diverse fortune in the southern European principality put at US$1.4 billion.
Tenth on the list was Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman, 67, worth US$1.1 billion.
Rounding out the top 15 were: The Aga Khan Prince Karim Al Hussein, 71 (US$1.0 billion); Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, 82, US$650 million; Kuwait's Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, 79, US$500 million; Queen Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard of the Netherlands, 70, US$300 million; and King Mswati III of Swaziland, 40, with US$200 million.
Forbes noted that because many of the royals inherited their wealth, share it with extended families, and often control it 'in trust for their nation or territory', none of those on its list would qualify for the magazine's famous annual world billionaires ranking.
'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,' it added. -- AFP
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Will we ever know the truth
