Chinese billionaire is Belizean citizen

He’s a naturalized Belizean who lives abroad and boasts a net worth somewhere around one point four billion U.S. dollars. Obviously, I could only be referring to Michael Ashcroft, right? Actually … I’m not. According to Forbes Magazine, which has just published its list of the world’s billionaires, the richest person in Belize is named Huang Maoru. Huang, a native of Shenzen, Mainland China, is believed to have purchased his citizenship, presumably legally when previous governments promoted such a programme. It is not known if Huang, who made his fortune in retailing, has ever set foot in Belize. According to Forbes, Huang is number eight hundred thirty-four on its list of one thousand, two hundred and twenty-five billionaires. A year ago the total number of global billionaires was only one hundred and seventy-nine. As for our other, better known, Belizean billionaire, we scoured the Forbes list and could not find the name of Lord Ashcroft appearing anywhere.