Sawiris gains $625.5 million on Monday

On the same day that American business magnate and investor Jeff Bezos lost about $4.5 million and the world’s richest man Carlos Slim Helu and family got over $300 million “poorer”, Nassef Sawiris gained $625.5 million, becoming the second biggest winner on Monday. He was preceded by Chinese investor and software engineer Shi Yuzhu, who witnesses a remarkable increase of $1.6 billion.

In 2012, Forbes launched real-time billionaires, which tracked daily changes in the value of three top listed holdings of a handpicked group of high profile billionaires. Later, it started updating the fortunes – and ranks - of more than 1,600 billionaires on a daily basis.

Orascom Construction Industries, which is run by Sawiris, exited the EGX’ capital market in 2013, making it unlikely to have caused the surge in wealth. However, the Q2 net profit of French cement giant Lafarge – in which Sawiris owns several stakes – increased. “Net income - Group share rose to 205 million euros ($276.1 million) from 201 million euros in the prior-year quarter,” Russia Today stated.

Additionally, 53-year-old Sawiris launched a new private equity fund called Nile Holdings Investments, which aims to “tap into buyout opportunities” in Egypt, according to Forbes.

Sawiris is upholding his rank as Egypt’s richest man with a wealth of $6.6 billion, and stands at place 216 in the World’s billionaires list. He recently acquired a penthouse on Fifth Avenue in New York City for $70 million.