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Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index

⬅ # 379 Frank Lowy|# 381 Benu Gopal Bangur ➡

# 380 Helmut Sohmen 

$7.54B

Real Time Net Worth
as of 6/29/2024
$63.5M (0.84%)

# 380 Helmut Sohmen 

$7.54B

Real Time Net Worth
as of 6/29/2024
$63.5M (0.84%)
OccupationCo-owner, BW Group
Source of WealthShipping
Age84
ResidenceHong Kong, Hong Kong
Marital StatusMarried
Children3
EducationJD, Southern Methodist University; BS, University of Vienna
Age-Adjusted Net Worth$1.49B
Helmut Sohmen
Helmut Sohmen
Austria
Net worth: $7.54B

Self-Made Score 

Wealth History

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Biography

Overview

Helmut Sohmen was born on December 10, 1939, in Linz, Austria.
He graduated with distinction from the Linz Realgymnasium in 1958.
Sohmen pursued law studies at the University of Vienna and Southern Methodist University, where he received his doctorate.
In 1970, he moved to Hong Kong to join the family business, World-Wide Shipping Group, owned by his father-in-law, Sir Yue-Kong Pao.
Sohmen became chairman of World-Wide Shipping Group in 1986 and led its expansion and transition to BW Group.
He retired as chairman of BW Group in 2014, succeeded by his son Andreas Sohmen-Pao.
Sohmen served on various boards and held positions in organizations such as HSBC, Dragon Air, and the Hong Kong Legislative Council.

Career Highlights

Sohmen's career began as a legal adviser to the Royal Bank of Canada in Montreal.
He later joined World-Wide Shipping Group and became its chairman in 1986.
Sohmen was CEO of Dragon Air from 1985 to 1989.
He served on the board of HSBC and its parent company, HSBC Holdings Plc, from 1984 to 2007.
Sohmen held positions in various organizations, including the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce and the Pacific Basin Economic Council.
He contributed significantly to the growth and diversification of BW Group, a major maritime company.

Personal Life

Helmut Sohmen married Anna Pui Hing Pao in 1967, daughter of shipping tycoon Sir Yue-Kong Pao.
The couple has three children, two sons, and one daughter.
Anna Pui Hing Pao Sohmen has held notable positions in Hong Kong and was awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star.

Philanthropy and Foundations

Sohmen established the Egon Sohmen Foundation in 1987 for economic research.
In 1991, he founded the Sohmen-Far East Foundation to facilitate Austrians' engagement with Asia.
Sohmen-China Foundation for the Promotion of Austria Society (ÖGCF) was established in 1993 to foster cultural relations.
He supported various cultural and educational initiatives through these foundations.
Sohmen has been involved in promoting friendly and cultural relations between Austria and China.
He served as Honorary President of the Austrian Society for the promotion of friendly and cultural relations with the PRC (ÖGCF).

How long would it take you to become as rich as Helmut Sohmen?

If you started with $10,000 and invested an additional $500 each month at a 44.06% CAGR, it would take you 5 years to reach Helmut Sohmen's net worth of $7.54B.

Is this realistic? It depends how closely the VIX-TA-Macro Advanced model performs to its history in the future. Since Grizzly Bulls launched on January 1, 2022, it's returned 48.24% compared to 16.19% for the S&P 500 benchmark.

Enter data in all but one field below, then calculate the missing value

Helmut Sohmen is very wealthy, but what's stopping you from reaching that same level of success? As summarized in our five fundamental rules to wealth building, becoming wealthy in a modern capitalist economy is not complicated. There's actually only three variables:

  1. Your starting capital
  2. Your earnings after expenses
  3. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of your savings

Most people start with zero or very little, so if you weren't born into wealth, don't fret! The majority of the fortunate folks listed in our Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index came from middle class or lower backgrounds. The most distinguishing characteristic of the group is their ability to consistently earn a high CAGR on their savings.

Every billionaire has a unique strategy to achieve high CAGR. For Helmut Sohmen, Shipping is the primary source. Whether you choose to invest your savings in your own businesses or the businesses of others is not as important. The salient piece of the puzzle is ensuring that your hard-earned savings are generating sufficient CAGR to reach your long term goals.

Most people simply invest their money in index funds and call it a day. There's nothing wrong with this approach, but it guarantees relative mediocrity. To achieve greatness, you need to invest your money to earn higher than average returns. In the long run, better investors will always finish ahead of better earners.

Source: Grizzly Bulls reporting

Methodology: Grizzly Bulls' Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world's billionaires and richest people. Grizzly Bulls strives to provide the most accurate net worth calculations available. We pull data from public equity markets, SEC filings, public real estate records, and other reputable sources.

The index is dynamic and updates daily at the close of U.S. stock market trading based on changes in the markets, economy, and updates to Grizzly Bulls' proprietary algorithm of personal wealth calculation. Stakes in public companies are tracked daily based on the relevant closing prices of the underlying securities. Additionally, stakes in private companies, cash, real estate, and other less easily valued assets are updated periodically through careful analysis of insider transactions, comparable public company sales / EBITDA multiples, etc.

Edited by: Lee Bailey