I 2020’s Lost Billionaires

By Jamila Gandhi

LEADERBOARD • BILLIONAIRES

2020’s Lost Billionaires

Here are some notable billionaires we have sadly bid farewell to this year.

I Whitney MacMillan

Nationality: American Died: March 11

Net worth at the time of death: $5.1 billion

MacMillan, the former chairman and CEO of agribusiness giant Cargill, passed away in Florida at age 90. He was the last member of the Cargill-MacMillan family to serve as CEO of Cargill, America’s largest private company, retiring in 1995 at the company’s mandatory age of 65. The family still owns the vast majority of Cargill, which operates food, agriculture, financial and industrial divisions.

I Sumner Redstone

Nationality: American Died: August 11

Net worth at the time of death: $3 billion

Redstone, the billionaire who built a media empire that counted CBS and Viacom among its holdings, died at age 97. Once a World War 2 codebreaker, Redstone made his first foray into the media industry by joining his father’s company, National Amusements, in 1954. He was made CEO in 1967. The tycoon infamously said he would never retire and would live forever. In 2012, Redstone was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

I Dmitry Bosov

Nationality: Russian Died: May 6

Net worth at the time of death: $1.1 billion

Coal mining billionaire Bosov died at age 52, reportedly of a gunshot wound to the head in the village of Usovo. He was best known for owning the Sibanthracite Group, which united several coal producers in Siberia and claimed to hold over 670 million tons of coal and anthracite reserves. In 2015, he and partner Alexander Isayev founded Blackspace, which got licenses for coal, nickel, manganese, and bauxite mining spots in Indonesia.

I Randall Rollins

Nationality: American Died: August 17

Net worth at the time of death: $5.1 billion

Atlanta resident Rollins, the longserving chairman of one of the world’s largest pest control companies, died at age 88 after a short but unspecified illness. Rollins Inc. was created by Rollins’ father and uncle, who bought several local radio stations. Rollins Broadcasting went public in 1961. The family ventured into pest control when it purchased exterminator Orkin in 1964, in one of the first leveraged buyouts in American history.

I Eduardo Cojuangco

Nationality: Filipino Died: June 16

Net worth at the time of death: $1.1 billion

Politician-diplomatbusinessman and Marcos era crony, Cojuangco, or “Boss Danding,” died at age 85. From 1998 until his death, the Filipino was chairman of the powerful food and infrastructure conglomerate San Miguel, Southeast Asia’s first brewery. Cojuangco made an unsuccessful bid for the 2012 presidency; before that, he served as a member of the Philippine’s House of Representatives and Tarlac’s governor.

I Lee Kun-hee

Nationality: South Korean Died: October 25

Net worth at the time of death: $20 billion

South Korea’s richest man since 2007 and the ailing chief of the sprawling Samsung empire passed away at age 78. The second-generation heir of South Korea’s largest conglomerate had been in a coma following a heart attack in 2014. Lee grew the tech firm since the death of his father and Samsung’s founder, Lee Byungchull, in 1987.