The World’s Top 15 Richest Royals

July 28, 2020 Claire. F Blog, Net Worth 0

richest royals

Members of royal families from around the world are generally born into wealth, though some run their own successful businesses, as well as being philanthropic. Some royals are even known to gamble.

However they make, or lose, their fortunes, let’s see who are the richest? Let’s count down from 15 to 1.

The World’s Top 15 Richest Royals

15) King Mswati III of Swaziland – $100 million

The Swaziland King is worth $100 million according to Forbes; down $100 million of his fortune. The last monarch of Africa took the throne at age 18; he has often been criticized for lavish spending; several of his 13 wives reportedly went on a $6 million shopping spree in summer 2009.

14) Beatrix former Queen of the Netherlands – $200 million

Thirty-three years on the throne, Queen Beatrix relinquished the throne on 30th April 2013. She and her immediate family get most of their fortune from investments and real estate including Castle Drakensteyn in Holland and a villa in Tavernelle, Italy. The family, which includes the Queen and her children, once held a notable stake in Shell Oil; it is not known if the family still owns any shares.The Queen received an annual stipend of $1.2 million, less than one-tenth of what the Queen of England receives. Meanwhile, her son the king and then Crown Prince of Orange, and his wife Princess Maxima each received $360,000 a year. Princess Maxima got a lump sum of around $365,000 when she wed the Prince in 2002.

13 ) Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Emir of Kuwait – $400 million

The Sheikh of Kuwait has a net worth of $400 million.  He used to be the Foreign Minister for 40 years, between 1963 and 2003, which made him one of the longest-serving foreign ministers in the world. Best known as a strong advocate for women’s right in the Middle East. The Emir made the Kuwait Dinar the strongest currency in the world.

12 ) Elizabeth II Queen of the United Kingdom – $530 million

Queen of United Kingdom comes 12th on the list with a personal net worth of £320m ($530m) as of May 2014, according to Sunday Times Rich List. Queen’s fortune are property holdings, extensive art and fine jewelry. Not included are those assets belonging to the Crown Estate. The Queen also receives an annual government stipend of $12.9 million. Her house is one of the most expensive in the world.

11) Qaboos bin Said al Said Sultan of Oman – $700 million

Sultan Qaboos bin Said has a fortune of $700 million. He has led successful diversification of economy with grand objective of reducing the oil sector’s hefty 40% contribution to GDP to 9% by 2020. Promoting gas and tourism industries; government also owns stake in the Wave, a $2.5 billion mixed-use beachfront development in country’s capital, Muscat.

10 ) Aga Khan IV- $800 million

Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan is the spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslims. He also chairs the Aga Khan Development Network, which promotes investments in Asia and Africa.

He is a passionate horse breeder and owner, with over 800 thoroughbreds across Ireland and France. He owns stakes in the French horse auction house Arqana and Goffs in Ireland, one of the largest horse auction houses in Britain.

9) Albert II Prince of Monaco – $1 billion

Prince Albert II is the ruler of the Principality of Monaco and Head of the House of Grimaldi. He is the son of Prince Rainier III and Hollywood darling Grace Kelly, succeeding his father in April 2005, although he had assisted in conducting Stare affairs since 1984. In June 2010 he announced his engagement to former South African Olympian Charlene Wittstock, marrying across two days between the 1st and 2nd July 2011. He inherited his enormous family fortune after his father’s death including real estate, art, antique and classic cars and a stake in the Monte Carlo casino.

8) Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Former Emir of Qatar – $2.4 billion

The current Sheikh of Qatar rose to the position following a coup to dispose of his father in 1995. He was Minister of Defense between 1977 and 1995 and has been considered a progressive leader since his ascension in 1995. Sheikh Hamad took the groundbreaking decision in June 2013 of announcing his 33-yeard old son, Sheikh Tamim, as his successor. This was incredibly unusual as leaders in the Middle East hold office until their death.

7) Hans Adam II Prince of Liechtenstein – $3.5 billion

The royal family of Liechtenstein is the wealthiest royal dynasty in Europe, this due to ownership of a private bank, extensive investment and land holding. The Prince and his siblings own between them 100% of LGT Bank, worth over $2.5 billion. In addition to this they have invested a joint $1.4 billion into the Princely Fund, created by the bank in 1998 and with a gross return of 486% since then.

6) Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of United Arab Emirates – $4.5 billion

The Dubai ruler is best known for his interest in thoroughbred horse breeding and racing. Many commentators speculate that he is the biggest spender in the history of horseracing, with stables in the Middle East, Europe and the United States. Aside from his interest in horseracing, he has a passion for cars and boats. He owns over 100 cars in his Dubai palace and one of the world’s biggest yachts measuring a mind-boggling 163 meters. He is also a prominent Nabti poet in the Arab world and is also recognized for his humanitarian work, which includes $100 million setting up the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation.

5 ) King Mohammed VI of Morocco – $5.7 billion

Mohammed VI ascended to the throne following his father’s death in 1999 and he immediately set about improving upon his appalling human rights record and alleviating poverty. Royal assets include a number of natural resources including the country’s only phosphate mine and a majority stake in the OCP group. The king has also met his own ambitious goal of attracting an annual number of 10 million tourists. The country has also seen a number of Hollywood movies set within the country in recent years including the Sex and the City franchise and Disney’s Prince of Persia.

4) Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan of President of UAE – $15 billion

Al-Nahyan is hereditary ruler of U.A.E. capital Abu Dhabi. He controls 97.8 billion barrels of oil reserve, as well as running the world’s second-largest sovereign wealth fund with assets reported to be $627 billion. His own estimated wealth is a rather modest $15 billion in comparison, although he does spend the majority of his time on his 30-acre Seychelles estate.

3) King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia – $18 billion

Under his leadership Saudi Arabia managed to come through the global recession in a better position than at the start due to government spending and high oil production. This policy breakdown has led to an estimated 4% growth in an incredibly tough climate. Although he passed away in 2015, his estate owns the world’s second largest crude oil deposit of over 265 billion barrels, accounting for a staggering 18% of global reserves. With Saudi Arabia possessing a $727 billion GDP, he had invested $130 billion into unemployment funds and housing projects to counteract the increasing unemployment number in his young country.

2 ) Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei – $20 billion

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has been head of state since 1967. He led his country through the global recession; however with oil reserves expected to last only a further 25 years, his focus is now on diversifying the country’s economy to avoid disaster when reserves run out. He is also infamous for his car collection, with rumours he owns over 7,000 cars costing a grand total of $789 million. According to Guinness World Records his collection has more than 600 Rolls-Royces, 450 Ferraris and 134 Koenigseggs, making it the largest brand collection in the world. In fact, during the 1990s his family accounted for almost half of Rolls-Royce’s global sales as his family looked to add to and diversify their collection.

1 ) King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand – $30 billion

King Bhumibol Adulyadej passed away in 2016 after reigning for 64 years, making him the longest reigning monarch in history and the longest serving head of state in the world. He is credited with the social-economic theory of self-sufficiency, something he developed throughout his long years of study. He owned a fairly large stake in the publicly listed Siam Cement and Siam Commercial Bank, as well as Deves Insurance which was forced to go private due to the amount he invested. The king made generous contributions to different sectors of Thai society. He was considered to be the second richest head of state in the world.

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