Ten billionaires with Cypriot nationality have been included on Forbes' 2026 World's Billionaires List.
The billionaires on the Forbes list who have Cypriot citizenship are active in a range of sectors, from shipping and infrastructure to investments, shipping and software development, and aviation. They include shipping tycoon John Fredriksen in 118th place overall and Vinod Adani, who makes his money in the infrastructure and commodities sector and is in 121st place on the list.
Stelios and Polys and Clelia Haji-Ioannou, who are mainly associated with the airline industry, are also listed, along with Yakir Gabay and Sergey Dmitriev, entrepreneurs who have made significant investments in the real estate and software sectors, respectively.
Four of the 10 list Cyprus as their country of residence.
The 10 Cypriots included on this year's List are:
John Fredriksen
Net Worth: $21.2 billion
Age: 81
Source of Wealth: Shipping, Self-Made
Residence: London, United Kingdom
Nationality: Cypriot
Ranking: No. 118
John Fredriksen's empire includes tankers, cargo ships, LNG carriers and offshore drilling platforms. He started trading oil in the 1960s in Beirut and has continued his success through his companies Seadrill and Mowi. He plans to hand over control to his twin daughters, Kathrine and Cecilie.
Vinod Adani
Net worth: $20.8 billion
Age: 77
Source of wealth: Infrastructure, Commodities, Self-made
Residence: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Nationality: Cypriot
Ranking: No. 121
Active in sectors including ports, airports and green energy, Vinod Adani is the elder brother of Gautam Adani, an Indian billionaire businessman who is the founder and chairman of the Adani Group and is at No. 31 on this year's List.
Yakir Gabay
Net worth: $4.2 billion
Age: 59
Source of wealth: Real estate, self-made
Residence: London, United Kingdom
Nationality: Cypriot
Ranking: No. 1011
Yakir Gabay owns 15% of real estate company Aroundtown SA and 63% of Grand City Properties, investing in European real estate. He is originally from Israel and served at Bank Leumi before turning to the real estate sector.
Igor Makarov
Net Worth: $2.3 billion
Age: 63
Source of Wealth: Investments, Self-Made
Residence: Miami, Florida
Nationality: Cypriot
Ranking: No. 1834
The founder of Itera, Igor Makarov played a key role in the export of natural gas from Turkmenistan and continued energy investments through a joint venture with Rosneft. He renounced Russian citizenship in 2023 to acquire Cypriot citizenship.
Vladimir Krupchak
Net worth: $1.6 billion
Age: 68
Source of wealth: Construction, Self-made
Residence: Limassol, Cyprus
Nationality: Cyprus
Ranking: No. 2481
Vladimir Krupchak's wealth comes from his stake in Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill and other Russian businesses. He also invested in the timber market through Titan Group. He has also served as a member of the Russian State Duma.
Stelios Haji-Ioannou
Net worth: $1.4 billion
Age: 59
Source of wealth: EasyJet
Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Nationality: Cypriot
Ranking: No. 2712
Stelios Haji-Ioannou founded EasyJet in 1995 and continues to hold a stake in the company. He also owns the “easy” trademark, with his company easyGroup licensing the name to other businesses such as easyHotel and easyCar.
Polys Haji-Ioannou
Net worth: $1.4 billion
Age: 66
Source of wealth: EasyJet
Residence: Monaco, Monaco
Nationality: Cypriot
Ranking: No. 2712
Polys Haji-Ioannou is the son of Cypriot shipping magnate Louca Haji-Ioannou and brother of Stelios Haji-Ioannou. He retains the family stake in EasyJet and continues the family's shipping tradition with a fleet of 14 tankers.
Sergey Dmitriev
Net worth: $1.4 billion
Age: 59
Source of wealth: Software, Self-made
Residence: Paralimni, Cyprus
Nationality: Cypriot
Ranking: No. 2712
Sergey Dmitriev is a co-founder of JetBrains, a software company that supports over 10 million developers worldwide.
Clelia Haji-Ioannou
Net worth: $1.2 billion
Age: 55
Source of wealth: EasyJet
Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Nationality: Cyprus
Ranking: No. 3017
Clelia Haji-Ioannou is the daughter of shipping magnate Louca Haji-Ioannou and the sister of Stelios and Polys Haji-Ioannou and has a significant stake in EasyJet. She owns properties in Europe and has a private art gallery in Athens.
Valentin Kipyatkov
Net Worth: $1 billion
Age: 49
Source of Wealth: Software, Self-Made
Residence: Cyprus
Nationality: Cypriot
Ranking: No. 3332
Valentin Kipyatkov is a co-founder of JetBrains and a partner of Sergey Dmitriev.
The World's Billionaires is an annual list of people who are considered to have a net worth of $1 billion or more. The ranking was first published in March 1987. It should be noted that the total net worth of each individual on the list is estimated and cited in United States dollars, based on their documented assets and accounting for debt and other factors. The list does not include royalty and dictators whose wealth comes from their positions and also avoids ranking billionaires with wealth that cannot be completely ascertained.
This year's List includes 3,428 billionaires, the highest number so far and 400 more than in 2025. Also, in total, the world's billionaires are $4 trillion richer than last year, with their wealth now standing at $20.1 trillion, another record. The average billionaire's fortune is $5.8 billion, up from $5.3 billion in 2025. Elon Musk tops the list overall, with $839 billion in wealth.
It is worth noting that John Christodoulou, founder and owner of the Yianis Group, a London-based real estate firm with properties in the U.K. and Europe was born in Cyprus and has close ties with the country but has UK citizenship. Overall, he is listed at No. 3137 on Forbes' 2026 World's Billionaires List.
