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GENEVA — Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad saw his fortune grow 3 billion Swiss francs ($3 billion) last year to retain his crown as the richest man in Switzerland.
Swedish-born Kamprad topped the list of Switzerland's 300 richest individuals and families for the ninth straight year, according to business magazine Bilanz.
Bilanz, which published the list Friday, estimated the furniture magnate's total fortune at 38-39 billion francs.
A rival list of the world's super-rich compiled by Forbes magazine puts the Kamprad family's combined wealth considerably lower, at $23 billion.
The Hoffmann and Oeri families ranked second, with a combined wealth of 13-14 billion francs from their stake in drug maker Roche Holding AG.
Third was the Brenninkmeijer family, who founded textile company C&A, with an estimated fortune of up to 13 billion francs.
Switzerland's political stability and special flat-rate tax deals for foreign millionaires who earn their money elsewhere have attracted many of the world's ultra-rich to the Alpine nation.
Among the top ten are Russian billionaires Viktor Vekselberg and Dmitry Rybolovlev, with fortunes of 9-10 billion francs and 7-8 billion francs respectively.
According to Bilanz, the biggest losers were the Greek shipping family Latsis, whose wealth fell 2 billion francs since 2009.
The combined wealth of all Switzerland's 300 richest residents is estimated at almost 470 billion francs.
