Stories Of Entrepreneurial Capitalism Across Our 45 International Editions

Across the planet, our 45 licensed editions span six continents, 27 languages and 14 time zones. They all share the same mission: celebrating entrepreneurial capitalism in all its forms.

ANGOLA

Coca-Cola recently installed a Luanda-based company to handle its Angola bottling needs and appointed Latin America chief Luisa Ortega to take over all Africa operations. The beverage company aims for women to hold 50% of leadership roles by 2030.

ARGENTINA

Fifteen years ago, Manuel Ron saw an early social-impact business opportunity in biofuels. His consortium of four companies, based in Córdoba, now does $100 million in annual revenue using corn and its byproducts to produce ethanol, biogas, fertilizer and animal feed.

AUSTRALIA

A luxury real estate developer, Tim Gurner wants to help his peers reach peak health and fitness. The 40-year-old is opening a chain of high-end wellness clubs called Saint Haven, starting in Melbourne in early 2023. A yearly membership will run about $20,000.

BULGARIA

Grigor Dimitrov ranks among the world’s top 30 tennis players and takes the No. 2 spot on Forbes Bulgaria’s annual list of the country’s top celebrities, behind Hollywood actress Maria Bakalova. The 31-year-old’s on-court earnings total about $22 million.

CHILE

Rosanna Costa fronts Forbes Chile’s first print edition and its list of 30 Powerful Women. The 65-year-old economist became head of the Central Bank of Chile in February 2022—the first woman to hold the position in the institution’s 97 years.

CHINA

Sequoia China partner Colin Guo fronts Forbes China’s 16th annual list of the country’s top 100 venture capitalists, while the firm’s billionaire founding partner Neil Shen ranks No. 1 for the fourth consecutive year. His investments include TikTok owner ByteDance and e-commerce heavyweight Pinduoduo.

COLOMBIA

Alongside fellow musicians Shakira and J Balvin, reggaeton singer Maluma makes Forbes Colombia’s list of the country’s top 50 influential creatives. The Medellín star’s business portfolio includes real estate, a mezcal brand and more, generating $80 million in sales last year.

CYPRUS

“Entrepreneurship should be encouraged and promoted to the point of becoming a part of Cypriot DNA,” says new Doto chief executive Demetrios Zamboglou, tasked with relaunching the Limassol-based trading platform and promoting the island’s ability to lead European fintech innovation.

ECUADOR

As head of health care at FEMSA, Daniel Belaunde oversees roughly 1,000 pharmacies across four countries. The Mexican multinational retailer has invested more than $300 million expanding its presence across Ecuador since entering the market in 2018.

FRANCE

“Learn how to capitalize on social networks. Today, your best calling card is the content you share on platforms,” advises Maye Musk, the 74-year-old mother of Twitter CEO and frequent poster Elon Musk, to older women concerned about their career horizon.

GEORGIA

“The Soviet regime killed the desire to succeed. It made everyone equal.”

GERMANY

Leading cardiac surgeon Dilek Gürsoy is planning to open her own clinic in the western city of Mönchengladbach this year. The first-generation Turk’s competitive strategy: Target self-paying foreigners, while insurance covers Germans’ cost for an artificial heart (about $160,000).

GREECE

Odisseas Athanasiou heads Maroussi-based Lamda Development, which is leading the $9 billion Ellinikon project to convert the former Athens airport into a waterfront residential and commercial district larger than London’s Hyde Park; it will include Greece’s first “green” skyscraper.

GUATEMALA

More than 20% of Central America’s GDP comes from international remittances such as migrants’ wages sent home to family members. The majority of this cash arrives from the U.S., and Guatemala receives the most in the region—some $15 billion in 2022.

HUNGARY

Through the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, Bonafarm CEO Attila Csányi has led growth at the country’s largest agricultural firm (now valued at approximately $500 million), steadily lifting the Csányi family’s billion-dollar fortune—built by his father, Sándor, who heads Hungary’s largest bank.

INDIA

The Securities and Exchange Board of India introduced plans in December to tighten stock buybacks as investors questioned why mobile payments platform Paytm is repurchasing $103 million worth of its poorly performing stock a year after going public in India’s then-largest-ever IPO.

ISRAEL

Forbes Israel presents Google cofounder Sergey Brin, the world’s 13th-richest person, as the face of its 2022 World’s Jewish Billionaires list. Among the 267 members, newcomers include Tiger Global Management partner Scott Shleifer and Israeli venture capitalist Oren Zeev.

ITALY

While Spain begins requiring cigarette manufacturers to contribute to litter cleanup, tobacco company BAT Italia and CEO Roberta Palazzetti are using satellite data to measure their campaign of raising awareness and to reduce the 14 billion cigarette butts polluting Italy’s environment.

JAPAN

Manufacturer Euglena employs Midori Watanabe, 16, in a remunerated role as “chief future officer,” bringing youth into management to propose sustainability initiatives for the company. Watanabe’s predecessor persuaded the Tokyo company—which makes cosmetics, drinks and supplements using algae—to eliminate its use of plastic bottles.

JORDAN

The cofounders of Abwaab—(from left) CEO Hamdi Tabbaa, CTO Hussein AlSarabi and COO Sabri Hakim—launched the Amman-based edtech firm in 2019, months before the pandemic lockdown heightened the need for online learning and tutoring. Abwaab has raised $27.8 million.

KAZAKHSTAN

Elisar Nurmagambet, a 29-year-old Almaty native now living in Houston, created Black Ice AI. The software, used by banks and the U.S. government, aggregates billions of data points in any language to detect cyber threats and crimes.

MEXICO

In November, Mondelēz International CEO Dirk Van de Put finalized the $1.3 billion acquisition of Mexican candy and chocolate maker Ricolino from its parent, baking giant Grupo Bimbo. The acquisition doubled the size of Mondelēz’s operations in Mexico.