Thomas Schmidheiny
Source of wealth: Cement
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The scale of their wealth
Health
The price of life
Let's compare Thomas Schmidheiny's fortune with the healthcare spending of a massive country
Thomas Schmidheiny could fund the entire healthcare system of DR Congo, with a population of over 105,800,000 people, for approximately 4.6 years.
But even if we compare their fortune with that of a rich country
On the other end, Thomas Schmidheiny could cover the healthcare spending of Luxembourg, considered the most heavily funded healthcare system in the world, for 2.1 years.
Education
Buying the future
Let's also compare their fortune with education spending, first with a poor country
Thomas Schmidheiny could cover the total cost of Nigeria's education system, the most populous country in Africa with over 243,000,000 inhabitants, for 3.0 years.
And yes, we can also compare it with a rich country
But they couldn't just cover the cost of a poor country; Luxembourg is considered the country with the highest per capita investment in education in the world, and Thomas Schmidheiny could pay for it entirely for 4.1 years.
Research
The monopoly on progress
Coming full circle, we think it's also interesting to add another gigantic country
Thomas Schmidheiny could fully fund the state research budget of Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world with over 260,000,000 inhabitants, for 17.4 years.
And of course, the country that invests the most per capita worldwide
But even if we compare the total wealth of Thomas Schmidheiny with Israel, the country that invests the most per capita in research in the world, they could cover the total cost of the system for 0.4 years.
Gold
Everyday luxuries
Thomas Schmidheiny's fortune is equivalent to 71 tons of gold. It's hard to process, since we don't usually keep a handful of gold bars in our piggy banks.
A standard gold ring usually weighs between 4 and 7 grams. Let's say this one weighs 5 grams. It's usually 18 karats.
Based on today's gold price (excluding the jeweler's commission, shipping, or anything else), that ring would be worth $546.86.
Thomas Schmidheiny could buy 18,890,634 gold rings. That's a lot of fingers and way too many gifts!!
And if you're struggling to visualize that many rings, it would take 3 trucks to transport them. Although Thomas Schmidheiny will almost certainly have enough money left over to pay for the gas.
Biography
Thomas Schmidheiny gets the bulk of his fortune from cement and building materials giant HOLCIM, which was formed via a mega-merger in 2014.
His great-grandfather Jacob founded the family business in 1912; over time the family built an empire of bricks and cement.
His father Max divided the estate in 1984 and Thomas inherited cement and concrete supplier Holcim. His brother Stephan got concrete supplier Eternit.
Thomas, now honorary chairman of Holcim, left the board in 2018. He retired as chairman in 2003 after running the company for 20 years.
Schmidheiny also has wineries in California, Argentina, and Switzerland.
Financial Assets
Monthly wealth history
Fortune comparison
Historical data not available for comparison