The number of Egyptian billionaires on the 2015 Forbes annual list of the world's richest people, put together by the US magazine of the same name, has risen to eight. Last year's list included only five Egyptians. Once again, businessman Nassef Sawiris is listed as Egypt's richest person. According to Forbes, Sawiris remains at the top of the 2015 list, despite his net worth dropping from $6.7 billion in 2014 to $6.3 billion this year. He is currently the world's 225th richest person, down from 205th last year. The 54-year-old billionaire obtained his wealth mainly from the construction business. He runs Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), which is active in more than 25 countries. Last November he won an appeal of a tax evasion case dating from the one-year rule of former president Mohamed Morsi. In the case, Sawiris was ordered to pay $1 billion in back taxes over five years. After Morsi's ouster, Sawiris lodged an appealed. Following his successful appeal, Sawiris announced plans to increase his investments in Egypt. With a net worth totalling $4 billion, Mohamed Mansour is the second richest man in Egypt, and ranked 418th in the world. Together with his brothers, the former transport minister owns Mansour Group, a leading automobile and retail company. The company's General Motors (GM) car business in Egypt has recently seen a revival in sales. Forbes states that Mansour, 67, and his brothers have invested more than $500 million outside Egypt, mainly in real estate and telecoms, over the past three years. Telecoms mogul Naguib Sawiris, the brother of Nassef Sawiris, follows Mansour as Egypt's third richest person with a net worth of $3.1 billion. The 60-year-old businessman runs Orascom Telecom Media and Technology (OTMT), which has investments in mobile phones, media and technology companies in Egypt, Lebanon and Pakistan. Sawiris is currently in negotiations to buy 53 per cent of the news channel Euronews in a $40 million deal. He is ranked as the world's 577th richest person this year. Youssef Mansour, 69, and Yassin Mansour, 53, claim the fourth and fifth places in Egypt's top billionaires list. With a net worth of $2.9 billion and $2.3 billion, respectively, the two brothers own stakes in the Mansour Group. The older brother, ranked 628th amongst the world's billionaires, is responsible for the consumer goods division of the Mansour Group, which includes supermarket chains, tobacco brands and McDonald's restaurants in Egypt. The younger, ranked 810th, is the founder of Palm Hills Developments, one of Egypt's biggest real-estate developers. The only person outside the Sawiris and Mansour families on the Forbes list is businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, who has managed to earn a spot amongst Egypt's top billionaires this year. The 86-year-old has a net worth of $2 billion and is ranked the 949th richest man in the world. According to Forbes, he sold the British football club Fulham in July 2013 for a reported $300 million. Onsi Sawiris, 85, and Samih Sawiris, 58, have a net worth of $1.8 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively. Their wealth was obtained by investments mainly in construction, telecoms, real estate and hotels. The 2015 Forbes list of the world's billionaires includes the richest 1,826 billionaires from 70 countries around the globe. Microsoft founder Bill Gates remains the world's richest man, with a net worth of $79.2 billion.
