Dinu Patriciu, the only Romanian in Forbes's billionaire list

Dinu Patriciu (photo) is the only Romanian entrepreneur present in the Forbes ranking of the world’s wealthiest people, with his fortune – estimated by the prestigious American magazine at 1.8 billion dollars (1.41 billion euros) – placing him at No. 397. This year’s ranking includes 793 people, with the No. 1 position occupied by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, with a 40 billion-dollar (31.4 billion-euro) fortune. The last position is filled by American Jeffrey Lurie, owner of American football team Philadelphia Eagles, with a 1 billion-dollar fortune. In the 2008 ranking, the Romanian businessman ranked 462nd out of 1,125, with a 2.5 billion-dollar (1.6 billion-euro) fortune. Patriciu is one of the few Romanian entrepreneurs who managed to sell their businesses – petroleum group Rompetrol in his case – just before the outbreak of the financial crisis, in the summer of 2007, thus keeping away from the losses generated by the decline of capital markets. Over last year, shares of Rompetrol Rafinare, the group’s refining company Rompetrol Rafinare, lost around 80% in value. The other Romanian businessman present in last year’s ranking, Ion Tiriac, lost his position after his fortune fell below the 1 billion-dollar minimum threshold. Tiriac has significant exposure to the financial, automotive and real estate sectors, among the worst hit by the current economic turmoil. Patriciu, 58, built his fortune in the petroleum sector, after buying state-held Rompetrol in 1998, and turning it into a multinational company with 4.6 billion dollars (3.61 billion euros) in turnover. In 2007, he sold 75% of Rompetrol to Kazakhstan’s KazMunaiGaz, focusing instead on real estate investments.