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Report: Switzerland’s richest got even richer in 2017

This has been a good year for Switzerland’s 300 richest individuals who saw their collective wealth rise by 60 billion francs (61 billion dollars).

Published: 24 November 2017 08:46 CET

Report: Switzerland’s richest got even richer in 2017

Photo: Sebastian Derungs/AFP

According to the annual survey by business magazine Bilanz, the joint net worth of the super-rich was 674 billion francs.

Bilanz said the increase in wealth was thanks to a good stock market performance despite global jitters caused by the election of President Trump in the United States and concerns over Brexit.

Those with a fortune of 100 million francs or over are classed as super-rich, and in 2017 there were nine new entrants into this class.

Still leading the rankings of the wealthiest in Switzerland with assets of 48 to 49 billion francs was the Kamprad family, which owns Ikea.

Although 91-year-old founder Ingvar Kamprad no longer lives in Switzerland, his business interests are continued by his three sons.

In second place was the Brazilian-Swiss investor Jorge Lemann with 28 to 29 billion in assets.

The third position was taken by the Hoffmann-Oeri family, which founded and still controls the Swiss pharmaceutical giant, Roche.

New to the top 10 of the super-rich this year was the family of businessman and right-wing politician Christoph Blocher.

The Blochers saw their assets jump by four billion to 11-12 billion, according to the report.

The massive increase in their wealth is due to the rosy health of the Ems chemical concern that they own and which saw its value rise by one third over the year.

The youngest person to make the list was Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel who at 30 years of age has a personal fortune of 150-200 million francs.

The oldest was 95-year-old property tycoon Robert Heuberger.

The average wealth of the 300 richest individuals – 2.25 billion – has more than tripled over the past three decades.

If that figure was divided out among the Swiss population, each member would receive 80,200 francs.

Bilanz has been compiling its list of the super-rich since 1989.

Inheritance in Switzerland: Which country's laws should dual nationals follow?

First, let’s look at what Swiss inheritance / succession legislation says.

Who gets what depends on whether you have a will or not when you die (the latter’s legal term is ‘intestate.’)

If you don’t have a will, your estate will be divvied up among your legal heirs: spouse or registered partner and children.

Typically, the spouse gets half of your assets and the children the other half, to be divided equally among them.

In case you have no kids, your parents or even grandparents could inherit from you.

Next in the statuary succession rights are siblings.

If, however, you have no living relatives whatsoever, your estate will go to the canton or commune of your last residence.

What if you do have a will?

It will give you some, though not total, flexibility in who you want to leave your assets to — and how much.

For instance, you can choose who your heirs will be and how your estate should be distributed among them.

You can decide to give more than a half to your spouse and less to the children, or vice-versa.

However, your legal heirs — that is, spouse and children — cannot be cut out of your will altogether.

Note that this law applies to Swiss citizens only. If you are a foreign national living in Switzerland, your succession is normally governed by the laws of your country.

However, if you a long-term resident and plan to remain here permanently — for instance, if you have a C permit — you can choose the Swiss law instead of the foreign one to apply upon your death. But you must state your preference in your will.

If you die intestate, then the Swiss legislation will kick in, as it will be deemed the law of your last place of residence.

READ ALSO: 7 things you need to know about Swiss inheritance law

What about dual nationals?

At present, those who have Swiss citizenship in addition to a foreign one, must abide by Switzerland’s inheritance law only.

That’s because, for all intents and purposes (including legal ones), they are considered to be Swiss citizens only.

However, this will soon change.

On December 22nd, 2023, the parliament adopted the Federal Act on International Private Law (PILA), which will give dual nationals in Switzerland the option of basing their succession on the laws of their ‘other’ country of citizenship.

However, in doing so, dual nationals can’t derogate from Swiss statuary succession rules — that is, they won’t be able to exclude spouses and children from inheriting their part of the estate.

The new legislation is expected to come into force on January 1st, 2025.

READ ALSO: What you should know about dying in Switzerland

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