A new Colombian entrant appeared on Forbes magazine’s latest global “rich list.”
Medellin-born Woods Staton entered in 764th spot after a stock offering by his company Arcos Dorados boosted his fortune to $1.7 billion.
Arcos Dorados holds the franchising rights for McDonald’s in 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Staton’s grandfather Albert Staton founded the company Panamerican Beverages, which has the bottling rights for Coca-Cola in Latin America.
Highest among the Colombians was Luis Carlos Saramiento Angulo, owner of banking and telecommunications company Grupo Aval, whose $12.4 billion fortune places him 64th in the list.
Alejandro Santo Domingo Davila, heir to the Santo Domingo Group following the death of his father Julio Mario Santo Domingo last October, was ranked 97th with a fortune of $9.5 billion.
Topping the list for the third successive year was Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, whose interests include Telmex and America Movil. Slim has an estimated wealth of $69 billion.
The final list includes 1,226 billionaires from 58 countries.This year Forbes noted that there were almost as many people on the list who lost wealth as those who gained it, with 441 seeing their fortunes slip, while 460 grew more wealthy.
