Oil has been a source of wealth for the past century and more for countries and certain individuals. It has determined international relations and led to armed conflicts in regions.
But greed for the black gold has led to a season of oversupply. Added to this are global warming and climate change that are playing havoc with the natural weather cycles, which has led people to turn away from fossil fuels to look for viable alternatives.
The oil barons of the world, who have amassed a fortune from fossil fuels and utilities have seen their wealth decline massively in the last few months.
The drop in oil prices has led to many oil barons losing their position of eminence on the rich people’s lists.
Now, only 80 of the 2,095 members of the 2020 World’s Billionaires List derive their wealth from energy, down from 84 in 2019 and 90 in 2018.
The United States fracking and shale oil companies have suffered a beating, wiping billions off from American shale billionaires. Harold Hamm, a fracking billionaire, lost 80 % of his fortune in March.
The richest energy billionaire is from India, Mukesh Ambani, who runs the conglomerate, the Reliance Industries. Russians occupy seven of the top 10 energy slots.
Here we take a look at oil barons of the past and present.
John D.
Rockefeller
Denne historien er fra December 2020-utgaven av Industry Leaders.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra December 2020-utgaven av Industry Leaders.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Architects Pick Their Favorite Building Material
Henry Ford, the father of assembly-line manufacturing, had a saying: “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.”
POWERFUL WOMEN IN FINANCE
The coronavirus is not only a public health crisis of magnitude – it’s also a looming reshuffle of the global economic order. Leading through the pandemic and economic crisis is not a minor accomplishment, but the events of this past year haven’t stopped the 10 trailblazers who make up Industry Leaders’ Most Powerful Women in Finance list.
GERMANY ADOPTS NEW LAW TO HASTEN THE END OF COAL PLANTS
A new climate law adopted by Germany requires that all coal-fired power plants be shut down before the promulgated 2038 deadline. In January 2020, the German government had negotiated a deal worth €40 billion to phase out coal power by 2038, but now it seems the country is in a hurry to end its dependence on coal power due to urgent climate concerns.
IRS AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATING CRYPTO EXCHANGE BINANCE
Singapore-based Binance was co-founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, and is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is probing money laundering and tax-related offenses on the platform by any US citizen. They are investigating whether any illegal trading of derivatives linked to digital tokens was done. The United States residents can only purchase these kinds of products from firms registered with the CFTC.
GEN Z ANGELS
INVESTORS SEEM TO BE GETTING YOUNGER AND YOUNGER.
Biggest AI Talent Grab of the Year
In a post-COVID-19 world, the role of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) will be redefined. Companies striving to defend their existing markets and accelerate recovery are looking at a wide range of strategies such as alliances and partnerships. In addition, deal-makings now have to reflect the new environmental and societal priorities of the post-crisis world, which include making organic changes like going virtual, remote collaborations, and potentially less inperson networking.
POSTWAR BOOM
PANDEMIC BRINGS GOOD SALES GROWTH FOR LUXURY CAR BRANDS
GOOGLE PLANS TO BUILD A COMMERCIAL QUANTUM COMPUTER BY 2029
Google is confident it can build a commercial-grade quantum computer by 2029. The search engine giant’s chief executive Sundar Pichai announced the plan to build a quantum computer during the Google I/O stream. To follow through on this ambitious journey is an important milestone in the form of a new Quantum AI campus in Santa Barbara, California, where Google engineers and scientists will be hard to work to build the world’s first commercial quantum computer.
BEYOND THE STARS
The dream of space tourism is alive and well.
2021 SEMICONDUCTOR CHIP SHORTAGE
The semiconductor chip shortage is far from over but this hasn’t stopped governments around the globe from getting creative to move production ahead. The impact of the chip crisis on the automotive market has been debilitating, resulting in competition between automakers and electronics manufacturers.
