Six “crypto millionaires” make it to the list of Switzerland’s greatest fortunes

The list of the largest fortunes in Switzerland produced annually by the economic magazine Bilan, issued on Friday, For the first time in its 2021 release, it includes six “crypto millionaires” who have made huge profits from trading virtual currencies.

The Hoffmann-Oeri-Duschmalé family, which controls pharmaceutical giant Roche, remains in first place for the second year in a row, with A fortune estimated at 35,000 million Swiss francs (33,000 million euros).

They are followed by Klaus Michael Kohn, the largest shareholder in transport group Kühne + Nagel, and French millionaire Gérard Wertheimer, co-owner of luxury brand Chanel, both of whom own A fortune estimated at 30,000 million francs (28.000 million euros).

20,000 residents with more than 10 million

The pandemic, according to Bilan’s analysis, has not particularly affected large fortunes, which doubled in number in the years following the 2008 financial crisis, and there are already some 20,000 residents in Switzerland with assets of more than 10 million francs (9.5 million euros).

The total wealth of the 300 richest Swiss rose 16.3%, the highest in the 30 years since the magazine began making this list. In the case of the new “crypto millionaires,” their fortunes have benefited from a sharp increase in the value of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, which has doubled by five in the past year.

This is the case of Niklas Nikolajsen, a Dane living in the Swiss city of Zug who appears on Bilan’s list at number 231, with Assets of 400 million francs (382 million euros). Basque steel businessman Jose Maria Aristrín re-appears on the list, at number 121 with a net worth of 1,000-1,500 million Swiss francs (950-1,450 million euros).