Seventeen Israelis make Forbes billionaires list

Idan and Eyal Ofer head record list of local tycoons

Idan Ofer with his late father Sammy Ofer. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)
Idan Ofer with his late father Sammy Ofer. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)

Seventeen Israelis made the 2012 Forbes list of billionaires Monday, with shipping magnate brothers Idan and Eyal Ofer topping the list.

The number is four more than the year before; the 2012 list counted 13 Israeli billionaires. The combined wealth of the 17 is estimated to be $46.5 billion.

Four of those on the list are newcomers to the high-rollers club: high-techie Shaul Shani, with $3 billion; diamond polisher Dan Gertler, worth $2.2 billion; banker and oil prospector Tzadik Bino with $1.05 billion; and pharmaceuticals investor Mori Arkin, with $1.05 billion, according to Forbes Israel.

Of the 17, Idan Ofer was ranked highest in the overall listings: No. 182 in the world, with $6.5 billion. His brother Eyal came in a tight second in the Israeli group of billionaires at No. 198, worth $6 billion. The two inherited much of their fortune from their father, Sammy Ofer, who died in 2011.

The Forbes list included a record 1,426 billionaires, worth some $5.4 trillion.

As in years past, the top of the list was peppered with members of the tribe, including Larry Ellison — owner of Oracle — whose $43 billion makes him the richest Jew in the world; Michael Bloomberg with $27 billion; and Sheldon Adelson with $26.5 billion.

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