Mar, May 16th 2023
Switzerland has the highest concentration of billionaires in the world, with at least 25 residents who are worth more than $2.5 billion.
This week, CEO World published their annual list of the “Wealthiest People in Switzerland.” While celebrities like Tina Turner and Shania Twain call Switzerland home, you won’t find them on this list. At the top sits the Aponte family, the owners of the controversial Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) based in Geneva.
The wealthy family has earned its billions running one of the largest shipping companies in the world. And while the pandemic increased the family’s wealth vastly, it wasn’t the frequency of ships that have Swiss media twittering. It’s what was on – or rather, what wasn’t supposed to be on – the MSC ships that has drug trafficking police investigating MSC.
Read more: The Swiss company at the center of a drug trafficking storm
Meanwhile, let’s take a look at the rest of the list of billionaires living in Switzerland:
One name you will not see on this year’s list is wine merchant Pierre Castel, once considered the 12th richest person in Switzerland. Last year a Geneva court ordered Castel to pay CHF410 million in back taxes.
Castel, who is originally from France, built the Castel Group with his siblings – comprised of 215 different companies in 40 countries. Castel has lived in Switzerland since 1981 and has failed to report for more than 30 years his dividends through a Liechtenstein foundation and another in Singapore.
Moreover, the 96-year-old registered with the tax authorities under his middle name, Jésus, which helped him sidestep many fees. It was only when local media figured out the ruse, that the authorities were alerted. The billionaire is being asked to pay back the sum in total (he has an estimated worth is 13 to 14 billion Swiss francs) it would wipe out Geneva’s cantonal deficit.
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