World Of Forbes: Stories Of Entrepreneurial Capitalism Across Our 47 International Editions

Across the planet, our 47 licensed editions span six continents, 25 languages and 14 time zones. They all share the same mission: celebrating entrepreneurial capitalism in all its forms.

ANGOLA

Over five days in July, the annual Luanda International Fair showcased 627 of the region’s most innovative companies. SOCIA, for one, is an Angolan e-commerce business enabling split wholesale purchases among multiple customers.

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ARGENTINA

Miguel Zonnaras heads Georgalos, a Buenos Aires–based confectionery and cereal maker that his grandfather founded in 1939. The $72 million (revenue) company recently bought back beloved candy bar Mantecol, which British giant Cadbury had acquired in 2001.

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BENIN

Angélique Kidjo, a five-time Grammy Award–winning singer from Benin with 2.4 million Facebook followers, fronts Forbes Africa’s list of the continent’s top 20 musicians.

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BRAZIL

“I’ve been through countless prejudices for being a woman. Economic crises. I lost my husband. And I’m here helping to reinvent my company.”

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BULGARIA

Bulgaria-born soft ware engineer Vince Gaydarzhiev has raised nearly $50 million for Alcatraz AI, the Cupertino, California–based company he founded in 2016. Its facial recognition security systems are used by American banks, hospitals and stadiums.

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CHILE

In August, Swedish home furnishings chain IKEA opened its first location in South America and is scheduled to open additional stores in the Chilean capital and Colombia by 2023. Retailer Falabella acquired franchise rights in 2018.

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COLOMBIA

A Salvadoran pilot and 53-year veteran of the airline industry, Roberto Kriete is forming a low-cost Latin American group, Abra, that will bring together regional carriers Avianca and Viva from Colombia and GOL from Brazil.

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CYPRUS

Born in the Philippines and raised in California, Dominique Laconico now heads the 33-year-old Cypriot gaming company Megabet Plus, which operates 170 casino and sports betting locations on the island.

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CZECH REPUBLIC

As the face of its 11th annual Most Influential Women issue, Forbes Czech features Tamara Kotvalová, who opened Carollinum in 1996. The luxury watch retailer, which has four boutiques in Prague, generates roughly $30 million in yearly revenue.

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ECUADOR

As CEO of Teojama Comercial, Manuel Malo Vidal leads the family business, started by his father in the 1960s. It is Ecuador’s official distributor of Japanese-made Hino and Daihatsu commercial trucks, with more than 300 employees. Annual revenue is about $80 million.

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FRANCE

Since May 2021, entrepreneur and osteopath Claire Hermet has opened four Faciology locations between Paris and Lyon. The centers treat patients for facial paralysis and signs of aging, and to ease pain.

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GERMANY

GetYourGuide, a Berlin-based travel booking website, lets tourists peruse 60,000 tour options offered by 13,000 providers from Rome to Dubai to Hawaii. The company has raised north of $883 million since Johannes Reck cofounded it as a college student in 2009.

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GREECE

A country with a population of just 10 million, Greece nonetheless manages about 20% of the world’s maritime trade. Angelicoussis Group, led by third-generation shipwright Maria Angelicoussis, tops Forbes Greece’s list of the 50 largest Greek shipping companies.

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HUNGARY

As a mother of two unable to find hormone-free contraceptives on the Hungarian market, Janka Cserháti-Herold founded Hormonmentes in 2015. The online store, which sells condoms, multivitamins and menstrual products, is profitable and has attracted more than 3,000 women to its fertility education course.

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INDIA

In his nine years at the helm of Unilever subsidiary HUL, a Mumbai-based consumer goods giant, Sanjiv Mehta has nearly doubled its revenue to $6.8 billion by individualizing its marketing approach to 15 geographic clusters.

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INDONESIA

Impack Pratama Industri, a Jakarta-based manufacturer of plastic building materials led by Haryanto Tjiptodihardjo (right), saw revenue rise 24% to $156 million in 2021, as consumers invested in their homes during the pandemic.

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ISRAEL

Sylvan Adams fronts Forbes Israel as one of the country’s 1OO richest people and the nation’s only Giving Pledge signatory. The Canada-born philanthropist, who helps fund many projects promoting Israeli culture and tourism, is now crafting a bid for Israel to host the World Cup and Tour de France.

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ITALY

Dionna Dorsey Calloway, an American designer who studied fashion at Milan’s Istituto Marangoni, formed a nonprofit with actor Ryan Reynolds earlier this year. Creative Ladder will help up-and-coming nonwhite professionals hone their multimedia talents and land jobs.

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KAZAKHSTAN

Hailing from the northern town of Kostanay, Azat Suleimenov appeared on Forbes Kazakhstan’s 30 Under 30 list in 2021 and has since been promoted from engineer to team manager at Lucid Motors, a California-based, Nasdaq-listed electric car company pursuing Tesla.

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MEXICO

Baja California’s governor recently announced an anticipated December start date for construction of the $189 million “Sky Tren Baja.” The privately financed elevated electric railway will run 13 miles from the San Ysidro border crossing near Tijuana to Rosarito Beach.

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PERU

Peruvian Ph.D. and biomedical engineer Fanny Casado co-leads a new university laboratory in Lima that has produced equipment such as ventilators and Covid-19 tests. The team already has agreements with a range of organizations including MIT.

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POLAND

Ewa Szmidt-Belcarz, the CEO of Empik Group, exercised a management buyout in August, acquiring a 51% stake in the books, music and entertainment retailer headquartered in Warsaw. Revenue reached nearly $600 million in 2021.

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PORTUGAL

Portuguese artist Alexandre Farto, known as Vhils, has developed an underwater exhibition called “Art Reef.” Divers will be able to view the 13 sculptures, pending local approval, at a maximum depth of 45 feet off the southern coastal city of Albufeira.

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ROMANIA

Brothers Mihai (pictured) and Cristian Logofătu publicly listed their Bucharest-based IT company, Bittnet, in 2015. The $30 million (market cap) company is now racing to staff up and keep pace with clients’ digital shifts accelerated by the pandemic.

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SLOVAKIA

In its issue featuring the country’s top 20 social media influencers, Forbes Slovakia interviews comedian František Košarišťan (known as “Fero Joke”), who has attracted hundreds of thousands of followers for his videos parodying Slovak stereotypes.

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SOUTH KOREA

“Those who find solutions on their own, no matter what you entrust to them, will eventually acquire great roles and achievements.”

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THAILAND

Wandee Khunchornyakong Juljarern, 64, chairs and owns 28% of publicly traded Solar Power Company Group. The Bangkok holding company and its subsidiaries operate more than 35 renewable-energy projects in Thailand and Japan.

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UAE

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer heads state-owned utility firm DEWA, Dubai’s only electricity and water services provider. Its April IPO, which listed 18% of its shares, raised $6.1 billion as the Emirates’ government aims to energize the market and public participation.

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UKRAINE

Forbes Ukraine’s third annual 30 Under 30 list honors several young military leaders and paramedics—plus nominees who have been taken captive by Russian forces or who died before the magazine was published.

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VIETNAM

Nguyen Ba Diep (pictured left) and Nguyen Manh Tuong founded one of Vietnam’s first unicorn companies: MoMo, a mobile money app and e-wallet with 31 million users and a valuation of $2 billion.