Romania's top 500 richest people have cumulated wealths of some EUR 18 billion, according to the Forbes 500 Billionaires 2014, launched on October 23. A few notable movements can be highlighted in the top 10: Ion Tiriac went up to the 2nd position, and Dan Adamescu's wealth shrinks, sending him on a lower position.

1. Romanian businessman Ioan Niculae (opening photo) is still the richest Romanian, with an estimated net worth of EUR 1.1 billion, according to this year’s edition of the Forbes 500 Richest Romanians ranking.

Niculae, 60, has held the first place in the Forbes Romania ranking for the last three years as the country’s only true billionaire. Niculae’s largest business is Interagro, an integrated agri-business holding which includes six fertilizer plants in Romania, one bio-ethanol plant, large agriculture exploitations which produce anything from grains to wines, grain silos, cogeneration power plants, fodder plants, animal farms, as well as oil, bread and meat factories. He also controls a tobacco processing factory, two hotels and a football club, Astra Giurgiu, which this earlier this year won the Romanian Cup.

2. Second comes former Romanian tennis player Ion Tiriac, who has made a strong comeback in the ranking in the last two years. Tiriac’s fortune is closing in to EUR 1 billion, according to Forbes estimates. The 75-year old businessman owns high minority stakes in some of the largest businesses in the financial sector. He owns 45% of UniCredit Tiriac Bank, one of the country’s top five lenders, and 44.5% of Allianz-Tiriac Asigurari, one of the largest insurance companies in Romania. There have been rumors this year that Tiriac is negotiating the sale of his stake in UniCredit Tiriac Bank to Italian group UniCredit. Tiriac also owns Tiriac Auto, one of the largest car dealerships in Romania, which controls three auto importers - Hyundai Romania, M Car Trading (Mitsubishi importer) and Premium Auto (Jaguar and Land Rover importer) -, as well as local Mercedes and Ford dealers.

Tiriac owns a premium residential and leisure compound in Northern Bucharest, Stejarii Country Club, a car museum with more than 300 models, which include some rare luxury cars, and an energy business. The former tennis player also holds the license to organize the Madrid Open, one of the most important tennis tournaments in the world.

3. The third richest Romanian is Frank Timis, the creator of Gabriel Resources, the company which holds the rights for the gold exploitation in Romania’s Rosia Montana. He sold the company many years ago to Canadian and American investors and now he is investing in Africa. His companies, African Minerals and African Petroleum, which are listed in London, own iron ore mines and oil perimeters in West Africa, a region strongly affected now by the Ebola outbreak. His companies’ shares have declined in the last year, and so did his fortune, now estimated at some EUR 650 million. Timis is 50 and lives in London.

4. Dan Adamescu, 66, has lost his status as one of the most discrete businessmen in Romania after he was dragged to the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), earlier this year and even arrested for a period, in a bribery case. He is accused of bribing judges to get favorable sentences for his companies. Adamescu’s troubles went beyond this, as his main asset, insurance company Astra Asigurari, was placed under special administration at the beginning of this year. His net worth declined to EUR 550 million, which makes him fourth in the Forbes ranking. Adamescu still owns valuable assets such as the Unirea Shopping Center and the Intercontinental hotel in downtown Bucharest, a mall in Brasov, the Rex hotel in Mamaia and some office buildings in Bucharest, including the one which hosts the Bucharest Stock Exchange headquarters.

5. Veronica Gusa de Dragan is the richest Romanian woman, although she doesn’t live in Romania but in Palma de Mallorca, in Spain. She is Iosif Constantin Dragan’s widow. She controls the Butan Gas LPG business. Her wealth is estimated at some EUR 550 million.

6. Next comes Gabriel Comanescu, on six, with an estimated fortune of EUR 520 million. Comanescu, 46, owns Grup Servicii petroliere, which controls several offshore rigs and oil transport vessels, Upetrom 1 Mai Ploiesti, an oil&gas equipment factory, a shipyard in Constanta, and a five star hotel in Mamaia, hotel Vega.

7. Brothers Dragos and Adrian Paval, the owners of the Dedeman do-it-yourself store network, went up to number seven, with an estimated fortune of EUR 420 million. Dedeman has become one of the most successful entrepreneurial businesses in Romania, with more than EUR 600 million in sales in 2013.

8. Gruia Stoica and Vasile Didila, the owners of Grup Feroviar Roman, the largest private railway transport business in Romania, have had some problems this year. Gruia Stoica, was arrested and then prosecuted in the beginning of this year, for buying influence. His fortune is now estimated at some EUR 420 million.

9. Ovidiu Tender is ninth in this year’s ranking, with a EUR 400 million estimated net worth. He has been investing in Africa, Asia and Cuba, in recent years. He owns Prospectiuni Bucuresti, the largest prospecting company in Romania.

10. The top ten is completed by Zoltan Teszari, the founder and most important shareholder of RCS&RDS, the largest Romanian-owned telecommunication business on the market.

editor@romania-insider.com