Money can pretty much buy you anything you want in life these days; a trip to the most exotic locations in the world, some of the most prized pieces of art that mankind has ever seen, luxurious jets/yachts, a surrogate mother so that you don’t have to be bothered with the troubles of pregnancy/childbirth, and even a fancy dinner with your favorite celeb. Soon enough, those with enough cash in their hands will be able to afford tourist trips beyond mother earth to outer space.
Despite all these achievements, one thing that humanity has not been able to discover a solution for is mortality. This is why no matter how rich or famous you become, you will still answer that call someday. Death is no respecter of persons and so, as many ordinary individuals passed away in 2020, they were also several notable billionaires who also passed away, leaving enormous fortunes in their wake.
Lits of Billionaires That Died in 2020
1. Arne Wilhelmsen
- Net Worth At Death – $1.5 billion
- Date of Birth – 15th of June 1929
- Date of Death (Age) – 11th of April 2020 (90 years)
- Citizenship – Norway
- Source of Wealth – Cruise ships
If you have ever been on a cruise and loved the experience, then you owe some gratitude to Wilhelmsen as he is regarded as the man who helped shape the course of the modern cruise ship industry. A native of Oslo, Norway, Wilhelmsen obtained a degree from Harvard before subsequently joining his family’s shipping business in 1954. Once there, he came up with the idea of going to warmer climes as well as using bigger and more efficient ships. This revolutionized the industry and helped turn the family business into the second-largest cruise line operator in the world.
2. Aloysio de Andrade Faria
- Net Worth At Death – $1.7 billion
- Date of Birth – 9th of November 1920
- Date of Death (Age) – 15th of September 2020 (99 years)
- Citizenship – Brazil
- Source of Wealth – Banking
Faria initially qualified as a medical doctor and practiced for a few years before taking over the reins of his father’s bank. He turned it into one of the most successful banks in Brazil, Banco Real, before later selling it off to a Dutch bank. With the profits made, Faria could have easily retired but he chose not to. He rather put his money into several other successful ventures, including agriculture, media, and hotels.
3. Dmitry Bosov
- Net Worth At Death – $1.1 billion
- Date of Birth – 27th of March 1968
- Date of Death (Age) – 6th of May 2020 (52 years)
- Citizenship – Russia
- Source of Wealth – Coal and Anthracite
It is often said that money does not guarantee happiness and this proved true in the case of Bosov. The Russian business magnate made quite a fortune as the chairman and principal shareholder of Alltech Group (an investment firm with substantial holdings in coal, anthracite, energy, and real estate). He then committed suicide in his home in the month of May 2020 by using a pistol on himself. His death led to several sources coming forward to state that he had been on edge for a while and had been transferring assets to himself and laying off employees.
4. Edmund Ansin
- Net Worth At Death – $1 billion
- Date of Birth – 9th of March 1936
- Date of Death (Age) – 26 of July 2020 (84 years)
- Citizenship – U.S.A
- Source of Wealth – Television
Another revolutionary billionaire who passed away in 2020 is Edmund Ansin. Ansin initially inherited a real estate fortune from his father. He then joined hands with his old man and they decided to purchase a local Miami TV station in 1962. Ansin would turn the station into a profit-making venture thanks to his pioneering ideas. Rather than showing sitcoms, game shows, and movies as other independent stations are wont to do, Ansin focused on news. He then went the extra mile of providing fast-paced reporting of violent and crime stories. This was of course devoured by members of the public.
5. Eduardo Cojuangco
- Net Worth At Death – $1.1 billion
- Date of Birth – 10th of June 1935
- Date of Death (Age) – 16th of June 2020 (85 years)
- Citizenship – Philippines
- Source of Wealth – Food and Drinks
There is no arguing the fact that Cojuangco was an astute businessman. However, one thing that cannot be avoided is that he owes his wealth to some deep political patronage. To be able to develop his San Miguel Company into the largest agricultural product company in South East Asia, the businessman relied on the assistance of several administrations, including that of long-ruling Filipino president Ferdinand Marcos. This fetched him criticism as some believe that the government assistance came at the expense of the citizenry.
6. Joseph Safra
- Net Worth At Death – $23.2 billion
- Date of Birth – 1st of September 1938
- Date of Death (Age) – 10th of December 2020 (82 years)
- Citizenship – Brazil
- Source of Wealth – Banking
One of the wealthiest bankers in the world, Joseph Safra was originally born into a Jewish family from Aleppo, Syria. He then spent his early years in Beirut before his father uprooted the family to Brazil. In Brazil, they continued the family’s long-held business of banking and soon founded one of the largest banks in the country, Banco Safra SA. Safra later spread the company’s tentacles to other locations such as New York and Switzerland. He also gathered other assets including a property portfolio worth $2.3 billion and a stake in the Chiquita Brands banana company.
7. Lee Kun-hee
- Net Worth At Death – $17.3 billion
- Date of Birth – 9th of January 1942
- Date of Death (Age) – 25th of October 2020 (78 years)
- Citizenship – South Korea
- Source of Wealth – Samsung
One of the most notable billionaire deaths that occurred in the year 2020 has to be that of Samsung founder, Lee Kun-hee. Lee was one of the most respected businessmen in Asia thanks to his achievement of turning his father’s small trading company into a global conglomerate with interests in fashion, theme parks, insurance, smartphones, and TV. He was, however, convicted for some shady dealings including offering bribes to two sitting presidents. Lee suffered a heart attack in 2014 and there afterward slipped into a coma. He never fully recovered from it until his death.
8. Lo Siu-tong
- Net Worth At Death – $1.3 billion
- Date of Birth – 1930
- Date of Death (Age) – 2nd of January 2020 (90 years)
- Citizenship – Hong Kong
- Source of Wealth – Real Estate
Siu-tong may have passed away but his legacies are in good hands. The tycoon, who founded renowned property developer – Yu Tai Hing, has children who are soaring in different fields. They include eldest son Alexander Law, who owns a chain of budget hotels in China and Hong Kong. His second son Francis Law is the owner of the Sunbeam Theatre space while Siu-tong’s third son, Denis Law, is a director in the property company as well as a movie scriptwriter, producer, and director.
9. Manuel Jove
- Net Worth At Death – $1.7 billion
- Date of Birth – 21st of June 1941
- Date of Death (Age) – 7th of May 2020 (78 years)
- Citizenship – Spain
- Source of Wealth – Real Estate
Jove built his fortune from real estate, developing his Fadesa Inmobiliaria Company into one of the biggest in Spain. He later took the company public but retained a 55% stake. Jove would later sell that stake for $3 billion in the year 2006. This sale led to a serious court battle as the Spanish real estate market collapsed just immediately after the sale. The purchaser, Martinsa, alleged that Jove had jacked up the price of Fadesa and so sued him. His claims were rejected by the courts though and thrown out.
10. Manuel Moroun
- Net Worth At Death – $1.5 billion
- Date of Birth – 5th of June 1927
- Date of Death (Age) – 12th of July 2020 (93 years)
- Citizenship – U.S.A
- Source of Wealth – Transportation and Real Estate
Moroun is one fellow who enjoyed an equal amount of love and loath during his lifetime. For some, he was admired as the son of poor immigrants who took over his father’s small cartage business and turned it into a billion-dollar trucking and real estate empire. For others, they will only remember Moroun’s involvement in two controversial real estate purchases in Detroit; the Ambassador Bridge and Michigan Central Station. These purchases spurned several long litigations with the governments of Canada and Michigan.
11. Marcel Adams
- Net Worth At Death – $1.7 billion
- Date of Birth – 2nd of August 1920
- Date of Death (Age) – 11th of August 2020 (100 years)
- Citizenship – Canada
- Source of Wealth – Real Estate
Adams wasn’t just an astute businessman but also a holocaust survivor as well as a soldier in Israel’s war of independence. Originally from Romania, a 21-year-old Adams was incarcerated in Nazi forced labor camps for three years. He later escaped to Turkey and Palestine before ending up in Israel in 1948. There, he partook in the country’s war of independence before moving on to Canada in 1951. It was in Canada that Adams would make his permanent home and establish the Iberville real estate empire which owns hundreds of properties in both Canada and America, most notably shopping malls.
12. Park Yeon-cha
- Net Worth At Death – $3.1 billion
- Date of Birth – 27th of December 1945
- Date of Death (Age) – January 2020 (75 years)
- Citizenship – South Korea
- Source of Wealth – Sneakers
Another South Korean billionaire who passed away in 2020 is Park Yeon-cha. Yeon-cha overcame a poor family background to found a sneaker manufacturing company known as Taekwang Industrial. The company then tasted astounding success after they were contracted to manufacture shoes for Nike. Taekwang now employs 70,000 people and manufactures 60 million shoes each year. Yeon-cha’s life was not without controversy though. He was implicated in a bribery scandal involving then South Korean president, Roh Moo-hyun, in 2009. He was sentenced to 30 months in jail for tax evasion and bribery while the disgraced president later committed suicide.
13. Randall Rollins
- Net Worth At Death – $5.1 billion
- Date of Birth – 5th of November 1931
- Date of Death (Age) – 17th of August 2020 (88 years)
- Citizenship – U.S.A
- Source of Wealth – Pest Control
Just like Joseph Safra and Aloysio Faria, Rollins is another personality who joined the family business and improved it tremendously. As the story goes, his father and uncle initially founded Rollins Inc. as an umbrella company for several local radio stations in the late 40s. They then switched to the pest control business in 1964, shelling out $62 million to purchase Orkin Pest control. That decision proved to be a most fortuitous one as the pest control arm remains their most profitable subsidiary.
14. Sumner Redstone
- Net Worth At Death – $2.6 billion
- Date of Birth – 27th of May 1923
- Date of Death (Age) – 11th of August 2020 (97 years)
- Citizenship – U.S.A
- Source of Wealth – Media
Summer Redstone graduated from Harvard and went on to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II, helping to decipher Japanese coded messages. He would later qualify as a lawyer after the war and spent the next few years working for the government. He then joined the family’s business, a chain of drive-in theatres, and diversified it into a media conglomerate comprising of the likes of CBS and Viacom.
15. Suna Kirac
- Net Worth At Death – $1.4 billion
- Date of Birth – 3rd of June 1941
- Date of Death (Age) – 15th of September 2020 (79 years)
- Citizenship – Turkey
- Source of Wealth – Koc Holding
The only female billionaire that passed away in 2020 is Suna Kirac, the daughter of the founder of one of Turkey’s largest conglomerates, Koc Holding (a company that deals in energy, autos, consumer goods, finance, retail, agriculture, etc). Suna initially joined her father’s company as a secretary and worked her way to Vice-Chairperson of the Board of Directors. She is credited with forging a strong corporate identity for Koc Holding.
16. Sheldon Solow
- Net Worth At Death – $4.4 billion
- Date of Birth – 20th of July 1928
- Date of Death (Age) – 17th of November 2020 (92 years)
- Citizenship – U.S.A.
- Source of Wealth – Real Estate
This son of an immigrant Russian bricklayer dad and a homemaker mom managed to build himself into one of the richest persons in New York City thanks to real estate as well as art. In real estate, Solow founded and headed the lucrative Solow Building Company which owns several notable skyscrapers dotting the Manhattan skyline. With the money made from real estate, Solow made several forays into the art world, purchasing pricey arts and reselling them for profit. For instance, the Picasso he purchased for $800,000 in 1973 sold for $63.6 million in 2016.
17. Whitney MacMillan
- Net Worth at Death – $5.1 billion
- Date of Birth – 25th of September 1929
- Date of Death (Age) – 11th of March 2020 (90 years)
- Citizenship – U.S.A
- Source of Wealth – Cargill
The 17th billionaire that passed away in 2020 is Whitney MacMillan. A native of Minnesota and a graduate of the prestigious Yale University, MacMillan made his name and money as the CEO of Cargill, a food and agricultural company founded by his ancestors. He was also renowned for his philanthropic activities which saw him support several organizations, including The Mayo Clinic, Council on Foreign Relations, The Rural Development Institute, The International Peace Institute, and the Salzburg Global Seminar.
Recap of the List of Billionaires Who Passed Away in 2020 and Their Net Worth at the Time of Demise
1. Arne Wilhelmsen ($1.5 billion)
2. Aloysio de Andrade Faria ($1.7 billion)
3. Dmitry Bosov ($1.1 billion)
4. Edmund Ansin ($1 billion)
5. Eduardo Cojuangco ($1.1 billion)
6. Joseph Safra ($23.2 billion)
7. Lee Kun-hee ($17.3 billion)
8. Lo Siu-tong ($1.3 billion)
9. Manuel Jove ($1.7 billion)
10. Manuel Moroun ($1.5 billion)
11. Marcel Adams ($1.7 billion)
12. Park Yeon-cha ($3.1 billion)
13. Randall Rollins ($5.1 billion)
14. Sumner Redstone ($2.6 billion)
15. Suna Kirac ($1.4 billion)
16. Sheldon Solow ($4.4 billion)
17. Whitney MacMillan ($5.1 billion)
