Forbes - USA (2019-06-30)

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JUNE 30, 20 19 FORBES.COM

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In two years, sales for

UiPath, a maker of

“software robots,” jumped

2,400% to $200 million.

ROMANIA RUSSIA

VIETNAM

On the cover: Three

years ago Japanese

entrepreneur Tatsuya

Hamada took over

Mobicom, Mongolia’s

largest telecom.

MONGOLIA

The country’s two video

game giants, CD Projekt

and Techland, now have a

combined a total value of

$7 billion; the former has

sold 38 million copies from

the Witcher series.

POLAND

The Czech Republic and

Slovakia remain closely

tied: Of the 50 largest

Slovak companies, 9 are

co-owned by Czechs. And

five of the eight Czech

billionaires have significant

assets in Slovakia.

SLOVAKIA

Michelin-starred

chef Ferran Adria,

the creator of El

Bulli, is plotting

a life outside the

kitchen: “I’ll never

open another

restaurant for all

the money in the

world.”

SPAIN

Zug, Switzerland, is the

center of “Crypto Valley,”

home to 410 blockchain

companies.

SWITZERLAND

Over 100 million

Mexicans will be online

by 2020, an 18% increase

in a year thanks to a

surge in smartphones

and improved

infrastructure.

MEXICO

U.S. blue chips like

Citi and Capital One

use cybersecurity

software from Portugal’s

Feedzai, which detects

fraud on banking and

e-commerce websites. It’s

raised $82 million, most

recently receiving a $575

million valuation.

PORTUGAL

PANAMA

JAPAN

The Chinese government is

investing in Atasu Group, a

logistics business founded

by Marat Zhuman, a former

railroad worker.

KAZAKHSTAN KOREA

Some 400,000 tons of

carpets are discarded

annually here, and

Soner Alayurt’s recycling

company, Hagelson Plastik,

aims to turn that waste into

raw plastic to be reused.

TURKEY

The first and

only female

running a Ferrari

distributorship in

Asia is Nandhamalee

Bhirombhakdi. Since

the ex-Citibank

executive took the

wheel, Thailand

now boasts some of

the highest sales in

Southeast Asia.

THAILAND

KENYA

Ten years ago Ilze Švāne

cofounded SexyStyle

online; now she has the

largest sex shop in the

Baltics on the main street

of Riga and almost $2

million in revenues.

LATVIA

Billionaires Martin and

Olivier Bouygues have a $1.1

billion construction project

that’ll turn 15 acres of sea

in Portier Cove into usable

land.

MONACO

Pinkfong, the

cartoon fox, reigns

supreme; created

as an education

prop by Seoul-based

SmartStudy, the

character now has TV

shows, live concerts,

books, apps and

28 million YouTube

subscribers.

At the Giraffe Manor

in Nairobi, 11 of

the long-necked

creatures roam the

grounds, visiting

guests at breakfast

and then heading

out to a protected

sanctuary. (A room

starts at $1,240.)

The Leonardo, a $3

billion, 55-story mixed-use

building in Johannesburg,

will be the tallest structure

on the continent when it

opens later this year.

SOUTH AFRICA

Sandro Salsano may have

Buffett-esque returns, but

unlike the Oracle, he likes

tech, investing in startups

like Dropbox, Stripe and

Uber.

On the cover: Yukihiro

Sugihara, whose

successful investment firm

has a diverse workforce,

including chaos theorists.

Turning 15, Forbes Russia

profiled the country’s top

minds, like Yuri Milner.

On the cover: Vietnam’s

50 most influential women

in business, a group that

includes airline billionaire

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao.