Who are the richest Belgians?
The families who own a large stake in brewers AB Inbev feature on the top spot. The Spoelberch, de Mévius and Vandamme families are thought to be worth 49,391,305,000 euros all told. They are followed by the Walloon entrepreneur Albert Frère and the Emsens Family whose assets include the industrial group Etex.
1. AB Inbev families (Spoelberch, de Mévius en Vandamme) - 49,391,305,000 euros.
2. Albert Frère (left on photo) - 6,205,140,576 euros
3. The Emsens Family (Etex) - 3,614,510,000 euros
4. Frans Colruyt (centre) and the Colruyt Family - 3,246,369,000 euros
5. The Lhoist-Berghmans Family (Lhoist) - 2,789,342,500 euros
6. The Janssen Family (UCB and Solvay) - 2,458,359,000 euros
7. The De Nul Family (Jan De Nul) - 2,078,252,000 euros
8. Ackermans & van Haaren - 1,700,863,000 euros
9. The Collinet Family (Carmeuse) - 1,470,600,000 euros
10. The Balcaen Family - 1,305,811,000 euros
You can consult the entire list on the website www.derijkstebelgen.be.
Marc Coucke (right on photo) with an estimated wealth of 1.27 billion euros just missed being included in the Top 10. Eric Domb, who owns the Pairi Daiza animal park, became 15,109 million euros richer since the arrival of pandas Hao Hao and Xing Hui.
The website also includes information on Belgium's richest soccer players: Eden Hazard estimated to be worth 33.535.000 euros features on spot one, Marrouane Fellaini worth 32,315,000 euros on two and Vincent Kompany worth 24,737,000 euros on three.
Three-quarters of the richest Belgians live in Flanders. A quarter of the richest Belgians live in West Flanders.
The ranking is compiled using information from the stock exchange and other information in the public domain including company balance sheets.