ECUADOR
Patricio Ortiz, 67, heads GO Corp, a Cuenca-based family business that began as a grocery store in 1953. Named for his father, Gerardo Ortiz, the holding company now comprises various business units ranging from liquor to plastics to motorcycles. Altogether, the enterprise generates nearly $1 billion in annual sales and employs some 10,000 people.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1369322608/1740409964/articles/N3GVhYVv11740484094950/5252244470.jpg]
BULGARIA
Forbes Bulgaria calls Rossen Ivanov (left) an "investor at the top." He and three partners cofounded BlackPeak Capital, named for a mountain summit near the city of Sofia, in 2014. It now has $164 million in assets under management and had a 25% annual return last year thanks to bets on global, export-focused companies in southeast Europe. Among its portfolio companies: Slovenian deferred-payments outfit LeanPay and Bulgarian courier euShipments, which delivers e-commerce orders to 27 countries.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1369322608/1740409964/articles/N3GVhYVv11740484094950/2042642156.jpg]
GEORGIA
Elven Technologies, a Sacramento, California-based startup that launched in Tbilisi in 2019, produces fire-resistant battery storage compartments for electric-car makers such as Tesla and Lucid. The enclosures surround the vehicles' lithium ion batteries, which have a tendency to spontaneously ignite at extremely hot temperatures that are difficult for firefighters to suppress. "Our goal isn't to solve the problem of battery ignition-that's for other companies to tackle. We're creating packaging that protects lives and property if a battery does catch fire," explains Elven's CEO, Farid Ismayilzada.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1369322608/1740409964/articles/N3GVhYVv11740484094950/0440601226.jpg]
HUNGARY
István Tiborcz (pictured) lands at No. 15 on Forbes Hungary’s recent list of the country’s 50 richest people, with an estimated fortune of more than $370 million. The entrepreneur and real estate investor, who hails from a wealthy family, married the daughter of right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Ráhel, in 2013. Tiborcz’s net worth doubled last year, thanks in part to his shares in European logistics leader Waberer's Group and Hungarian digital bank Gránit Bank, which went public in December in the Budapest Stock Exchange's largest IPO in 25 years.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1369322608/1740409964/articles/N3GVhYVv11740484094950/4554022244.jpg]
ISRAEL
“I didn’t think antisemitism was a problem of our time,” says billionaire hedge fund titan Bill Ackman. “I thought of it as a problem of the past.” The Wall Street activist tells Forbes Israel in a recent interview how he spoke out against hatred of Jews in 2024 amid the Israel-Hamas conflict and delisted his company from the Euronext stock exchange in Amsterdam following violent acts on Israeli soccer fans in that city last year. Ackman also discusses his transformation from longtime Democratic donor to Donald Trump advocate, plus the best investment he made in 2024: spending $25 million on a 4.9% stake in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange-which has yielded a 100% return to date.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1369322608/1740409964/articles/N3GVhYVv11740484094950/5455475725.jpg]
KAZAKHSTAN
Forbes Kazakhstan 30 Under 30 alumni Kassym Kabylgali (left) and Daniil Matskevich created a sharing-economy startup, Squares, in 2021. The Almaty-based company lists venues available to rent-whether for corporate gatherings, weddings or coworking-plus offers related services such as catering and design at some 2,000 locations in 10 cities across Kazakhstan and Georgia. The idea came to chief marketing officer Matskevich in his previous job at a marketing agency that had difficulty finding studios suitable for client photo shoots. Up next: locations in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Texas, where Matskevich resides.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1369322608/1740409964/articles/N3GVhYVv11740484094950/2421061561.jpg]
POLAND
High school friends from Warsaw, Mati Staniszewski (right) and Piotr Dąbkowski...
Patricio Ortiz, 67, heads GO Corp, a Cuenca-based family business that began as a grocery store in 1953. Named for his father, Gerardo Ortiz, the holding company now comprises various business units ranging from liquor to plastics to motorcycles. Altogether, the enterprise generates nearly $1 billion in annual sales and employs some 10,000 people.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1369322608/1740409964/articles/N3GVhYVv11740484094950/5252244470.jpg]
BULGARIA
Forbes Bulgaria calls Rossen Ivanov (left) an "investor at the top." He and three partners cofounded BlackPeak Capital, named for a mountain summit near the city of Sofia, in 2014. It now has $164 million in assets under management and had a 25% annual return last year thanks to bets on global, export-focused companies in southeast Europe. Among its portfolio companies: Slovenian deferred-payments outfit LeanPay and Bulgarian courier euShipments, which delivers e-commerce orders to 27 countries.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1369322608/1740409964/articles/N3GVhYVv11740484094950/2042642156.jpg]
GEORGIA
Elven Technologies, a Sacramento, California-based startup that launched in Tbilisi in 2019, produces fire-resistant battery storage compartments for electric-car makers such as Tesla and Lucid. The enclosures surround the vehicles' lithium ion batteries, which have a tendency to spontaneously ignite at extremely hot temperatures that are difficult for firefighters to suppress. "Our goal isn't to solve the problem of battery ignition-that's for other companies to tackle. We're creating packaging that protects lives and property if a battery does catch fire," explains Elven's CEO, Farid Ismayilzada.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1369322608/1740409964/articles/N3GVhYVv11740484094950/0440601226.jpg]
HUNGARY
István Tiborcz (pictured) lands at No. 15 on Forbes Hungary’s recent list of the country’s 50 richest people, with an estimated fortune of more than $370 million. The entrepreneur and real estate investor, who hails from a wealthy family, married the daughter of right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Ráhel, in 2013. Tiborcz’s net worth doubled last year, thanks in part to his shares in European logistics leader Waberer's Group and Hungarian digital bank Gránit Bank, which went public in December in the Budapest Stock Exchange's largest IPO in 25 years.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1369322608/1740409964/articles/N3GVhYVv11740484094950/4554022244.jpg]
ISRAEL
“I didn’t think antisemitism was a problem of our time,” says billionaire hedge fund titan Bill Ackman. “I thought of it as a problem of the past.” The Wall Street activist tells Forbes Israel in a recent interview how he spoke out against hatred of Jews in 2024 amid the Israel-Hamas conflict and delisted his company from the Euronext stock exchange in Amsterdam following violent acts on Israeli soccer fans in that city last year. Ackman also discusses his transformation from longtime Democratic donor to Donald Trump advocate, plus the best investment he made in 2024: spending $25 million on a 4.9% stake in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange-which has yielded a 100% return to date.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1369322608/1740409964/articles/N3GVhYVv11740484094950/5455475725.jpg]
KAZAKHSTAN
Forbes Kazakhstan 30 Under 30 alumni Kassym Kabylgali (left) and Daniil Matskevich created a sharing-economy startup, Squares, in 2021. The Almaty-based company lists venues available to rent-whether for corporate gatherings, weddings or coworking-plus offers related services such as catering and design at some 2,000 locations in 10 cities across Kazakhstan and Georgia. The idea came to chief marketing officer Matskevich in his previous job at a marketing agency that had difficulty finding studios suitable for client photo shoots. Up next: locations in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Texas, where Matskevich resides.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1369322608/1740409964/articles/N3GVhYVv11740484094950/2421061561.jpg]
POLAND
High school friends from Warsaw, Mati Staniszewski (right) and Piotr Dąbkowski...
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Forbes (Digital) - 1 Issue, February/March 2025