Crypto and AI entrepreneurs quickly climbing on Quote 500 list of richest Dutch
The wealth of the 500 richest Dutch people grew across the board last year, but entrepreneurs in crypto and AI, in particular, saw their fortunes soar, according to Quote. “Where it used to take decades or even generations to build a substantial fortune, it now sometimes happens within a few years,” the magazine wrote with its Quote 500 list of the richest Dutch people.
For example, Douwe Kiela is new on the list this year. He founded his AI company, Contextual AI, only 2.5 years ago. The biggest climbers on the wealth ladder this year are John and Marius Jansen. Their wealth rose from €600 million to €1.7 billion after selling their crypto company Deribit.
Together, the 500 richest Dutch now own nearly €273 billion. “While the Dutch economy grew by a paltry one percent last year, the combined wealth of Quote 500 members increased by 7.9 percent, or over €20 billion,” Quote wrote. To be included in this list, you now need a net worth of at least €140 million, €10 million more than last year.
In addition to AI and crypto, “old-fashioned” IT is also still thriving. Jitse Groen of Just Eat Takeaway made hundreds of millions from selling his company. And David Wyler entered the list this year as a billionaire by selling his app Humin to Tinder.
There were also some sharp declines this year. Els Blokker, the widow of Jaap Blokker of the retail chain that went bankrupt last year, saw the biggest dip in wealth, and not because of the bankruptcy. A family dispute over the late Jaap’s estate saw her €1.1 billion fortune cut in three to €365 million. The fortune of Kommer Damen of Damen Shipyard was halved to €235 million.
Ten Quote 500 members died in the past year. A few also fell off the list as others became richer than they are. This includes sock king Marc Brouwers and shoe entrepreneurs Pauli and Rene Nelissen.
Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken, heir of beer magnate Freddy Heineken, still leads the list with €12.3 billion. Max Verstappen is the youngest Quote 500 member with a net worth of €260 million at 28.
