Getting a bit tired reading how real estate mogul and reality TV star whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at $3.7 billion managed to become the wealthy President of the United States of America?
Well, get distracted by some of the other billionaires who also rose to power through the ballot box, going from businessmen to heads of state.
Check out five political leaders who initially amassed billions before seeking the highest office in their country:
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi was the first Italian minister in four governments. He accumulated his fortune in the media and according to Forbes magazine, as of 2016, Berlusconi was Italy’s fifth richest man with a fortune of $6.2 billion and the 188th richest in the world. He is also considered to be one of the most powerful men in the world.
Source of Wealth : By 2017, his net worth had grown to $7.5 billion. He made his money from the media.
Petro Poroshenko
Petro Poroshenko is the incumbent rich manPresident of Ukraine and the fifth President that Ukraine has had. He has been in office since 2014, having previously served as Foreign Secretary from 2009 to 2010 and Minister for Trade and Economic Development in 2012.
Unfortunately, he was removed from Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires in 2015. His last known net worth was $730 million.
Source of wealth : The self-made billionaire made his money from confectionery.
Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra was another media mogul, the prime minister of Thailand from February 2001 to September 2006. He was overthrown in a military coup on September 19, 2006 and has since lived in a self-imposed exile that was only broken in 2008 when he briefly visited the country.
He was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison for abuse of power and has continued to influence Thai politics through the People’s Power Party, which ruled in 2008.
Source of Wealth : Media. Although his family lost a lot of money after he lost power, he remains among the world’s billionaires with a net worth of $1.8 billion.
Rafiq Hariri
Rafiq Hariri was two-time Prime Minister of Lebanon.
He served in the periods 1992-1998 and 2000-2004. His fortune came from a vast empire spanning construction, real estate, media and telecommunications and his total wealth was around $10 billion. However, he met an unhappy end in 2005 when he was murdered.
Source of Wealth : His wealth came from various places before his death, Hariri was once the 108th richest man in the world.
Sebastián Pinera
Sebastian Pinera was President of Chile from March 2010 to March 2014. He climbed the ladder of success the old-fashioned way, starting out selling credit cards and then moving into aviation, mining, media, real estate and pharma. Forbes magazine put his net worth at around $2.5 billion.
Source of Wealth : With a wide source of wealth, he is worth $2.8 billion in 2018.
donald trump
The latest accession to the rich man’s president is America’s Donald Trump. To the greatest surprise of almost the entire world, he was elected the 45th President of the United States in 2016 because no one really believed he would be elected. To be honest, not even the man.
Listed among the World’s Richest Billionaires by Forbes in 2017, Trump had a ton of cash to spend on campaigns and received a ton of donations from many other wealthy Americans. The interesting thing about Trump’s victory is that not only was he a very wealthy man, but he was also seen as a reality star who was not only a Washington outsider, but also had no governance experience whatsoever, or indeed any experience in the policy decreed.
His government has been beset by many ill-fated controversies, as has his military campaigns and his victory are seen as greatly aggravated by Russians, who are believed to have swayed the elections in his favour. He currently has a net worth of $3.1 billion.
Source of Wealth : Much of Trump’s wealth comes from his estates, clubs, and hotels.
With one court battle in court, one resigning from his position as a billionaire, another imprisoned in absentia and living in exile, and another murdered billionaire don’t seem to be coping well with their country’s reign.