To every tom, dick and harry, accountants are people who basically manage other people’s money and that’s all to the profession but when you look at the profession from a wider perspective, you will agree with me that this noble profession affords its members the opportunity to amass vast wealth beyond the dreams of the common man.
If you have set out on the path to being an accountant or you are considering the possibility of pursuing an accounting career, we hope you are inspired and motivated by the list of world richest accountants. So without much ado, let’s dive right into it.
Top 8 Richest Accountants In The World
- Phil Knight, who was born in 1938 is the co-founder and current chairman emeritus of Nike Inc, the number one shoe company in the world. As of October 2019, Phil was ranked as the 21st richest person in the world, with an estimated wealth of $37.6 billion. But before he became a successful businessman, knight started out as an accountant, having previously worked with Coopers & Lybrand and then Price Waterhouse. Upon graduating from Stanford business school in 1962, Phil set out on a journey around the world during which an opportunity arose and he secured the US distribution rights of Tiger brand running shoes which later led to the birth of Nike which he co-founded with his former track coach, Bill Bowerman. Nike was recently estimated to be worth $82 billion.
- Tony Fernandes, a native of Kuala Lumpur and born in 1964. Tony graduated from the London School of economics with a degree in accounting. He worked in the department of finance at various corporations before he was admitted as member of ACCA and ICAEW in 1991 and 1996 respectively. He had a Fernandes left Time Warner Inc. after its merger in 2001 to establish AirAsia which he propelled to worldwide success. Since setting up AirAsia, Tony has pursued a range of other successful ventures. His estimated net worth as of 2018 was $745 million.
- Kumar Mangalam Birla, who happens to be a fourth-generation member of the Marwari Birla Family in India is also the current head of Aditya Birla Group, a group whose interest spans cement, aluminum, to telecom and financial services. Not long after qualifying as a chartered accountant the responsibility to steer the wheels of the family business came upon him at the young age of 28 following the death of his father. Birla has successfully increased the revenue of Aditya group from 3.33 bn in 1995 when he took over the reins of the company to a staggering 48.3bn in 2019. Birla ranks tenth on the list of 2019 India’s richest
- Bob Parsons, is a famous American entrepreneur, billionaire, and philanthropist. He established GoDaddy group of companies in 1997 having started out with a degree in accountancy from the University of Baltimore. His move into the IT and software industry made lots of fortune for him as his estimated net worth is $2.7 billion while he sold about 70% of his stake in GoDaddy to a private company, he still remains its largest shareholder and like others who appear in our list of richest accountants, parson also uses his wealth for a wide range of philanthropic activities.
- Denis Coates, born in 1967 is the founder and joint chief executive of an online gambling company; Bet365. Denis started out as a cashier before training as an accountant within her family business. Her net worth stands at $12 billion as of 2019. She built her personal fortune after turning around the already dwindling fortune of her family business in the late 90s, before finally securing a significant loan in 2001 to float bet365 where she holds around 50% shareholdings. bet365 has grown to be one of the world’s largest online gambling companies.
- David Ross, born in 1965 and a popularly known as a British billionaire businessman, started his career at Arthur Andersen although he studied law at the University of Nottingham, David later qualified as a chartered accountant in 1991. Ross is the grandson of the famous Carl Ross, also a notable business in the history of Britain so it didn’t come off as a big surprise when David used £6000 of his savings to start Carphone warehouse, together with his friend Charles Dunstone. David is worth £700 million and ranks as the seventh richest man in the East Midlands.
- Arthur Blank, popularly regarded as a successful businessman and co-founder of The Home Depot, Arthur attended Babson College where he earned a degree in accounting and business administration before working in various positions at a different accounting firm, thereafter he moved into the retail sector where he rose to become the vice president of Finance. When he got fired alongside Bernanad Marcus in 1978, they both decided to set up a joint business—called The Home Depot, with an estimated worth of $212.24 billion. Asides The home depot, Marcus owns two professional sporting teams, MLS’s Atlanta United and Atlanta Falcons
- Paul Coulson born in 1952 with an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion, Paul is one of the richest people in Ireland, he attended Trinity College Dublin where he received a degree in business studies before he qualified as a chartered accountant in 1978. Paul later went on to work at Price Waterhouse before he established a Yoeman International Group. He seems to be associated with the famous Irish luck as he later on transformed Irish Glass Bottle Company to Ardagh group but Coulson not only transformed the name of the glass-bottling company but also transformed its fortune to an estimated $2.5 billion.
- Sir Brian Souter, Brian was born in 1954 and he’s a billionaire businessman of Scottish origin. He graduated with a CA diploma in accountancy and economics before he became a chartered accountant at Arthur Andersen & Co. together with his sister Ann Gloag, he went on to establish an international transport company Stagecoach Group in 1980. Souter has more than 200 private investments asides Stagecoach which are managed by his company Souter investments. Sir Brian Souter’s net worth is estimated to be £875 million.
- John D Rockefeller, this list wouldn’t be complete without mention the richest accountant/man in the history of the United States. John started out as a bookkeeper at the young age of 16 and went into forming business partnerships when he was 20. He founded standard oil through which he made vast fortunes and propelled himself to worldwide success. He redefined philanthropy with major impacts on education, medicine, and scientific research as he funded/founded many educational institutions and was instrumental in the eradication of yellow fever and hookworm in the United States.
We hope our list of the world’s richest accountants Northampton is able to serve as a kind reminder that you can achieve anything as an accountant and you are motivated and inspired to keep on chasing your dreams.
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