Eight new billionaires in the Netherlands; Still few women among country’s wealthiest 500

This year was a good one for the richest people in the Netherlands, according to the Quote 500. The combined wealth of the 500 richest Netherlands residents increased by over 10 percent and the Netherlands now counts a record 37 billionaires. Though for the third year in a row, the magazine mentioned how few women there are in the list - only 37.

The combined wealth of the people on the Quote 500 is now 179.8 billion euros, an increase of 10.1 percent compared to 2018. As a result, you have to be richer and richer to make it onto the list of the richest 500 Netherlands residents. To make the list this year, you had to have at least 88 million euros in assets.

The Quote 500 is still largely a playground for rich men. There are only 37 women on the list, amounting to 7.4 percent of the total. Moreover, the Quote editors note, most of these women did not make their riches themselves, but inherited it. Last year’s list had only two “self-made” women who did not inherit their wealth: Sylvia Tóth and Nina Storms-Vleeschdrager

Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken is still the richest person in the Netherlands, with a capital of 14.2 billion euros. Heineken's growing turnover, partly thanks to the increasing popularity of non-alcoholic beer, increased the beer giant heiress' fortune by 1.5 billion euros.

Frits Goldschmeding, founder of the Randstad temporary employment group, is still number two on the list with a capital of 4.4 billion euros, despite losing 400 million euros when the share price of Randstad fell sharply on the stock market. Third place goes to Gerita and Inge Wessels, daughters of construction entrepreneur Dik Wessels, with a combined wealth of 3.6 billion euros. Media magnate John de Mol is in fourth place with 2.7 billion euros, and Luxaflex owner Ralph Sonnenberg took fifth place with 2.6 billion euros.

The Netherlands now counts 37 billionaires, a record for the country, according to Quote. Newcomer to this exclusive club is Jitse Groen, founder of Thuisbezorgd. Steven Schuurman, founder of software company Elastic, is also new to the billionaires list, as is Remon Vos, the head of a major Czech project developer.