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Gold surge adds $3 billion to fortunes of these three families

While gold bugs are gaining, 2020 has largely been the year of technology and pharmaceuticals as Covid-19 has kept people home and scientists race to find a cure.

Tech and pharma may be getting the attention these days, but three mining billionaires are quietly padding their fortunes with an investment that’s decidedly more old school.

Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Al Amoudi and Russia’s Alexander Nesis and the family of Suleiman Kerimov have the largest exposure to gold among the world’s wealthiest people, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. As a result, they’ve collectively become $2.8 billion richer this year.

With the coronavirus pandemic devastating economies and central banks and governments boosting stimulus measures, gold is once again king. Investors flocking to the precious metal pushed its price to a record high this week. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp., among others, say the rally could go even further as interest rates fall with the U.S. dollar.

The top gold-mining billionaires

Kerimov, whose family controls about 77% of Polyus PJSC, Russia’s biggest gold miner, is now worth $6.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg index. Polyus Gold is controlled by Suleiman Kerimov’s son Said.

The fortune of Nesis, whose ICT Group has a 27% stake in Polymetal International Plc, has risen to $3.7 billion, while that of Midroc Gold Mine Plc’s Al Amoudi stands at $9.2 billion.

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris said in March he was increasing his exposure to the metal. He currently owns $1.1 billion worth of gold mining stocks.

Spot gold slipped 1.1% at 3:26 p.m. in London after a nine-day rally.

While gold bugs are gaining, 2020 has largely been the year of technology and pharmaceuticals as Covid-19 has kept people home and scientists race to find a cure.

Amazon.com Inc.’s Jeff Bezos, Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s Pony Ma, and Jiang Rensheng, chairman of vaccine maker Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products Co., are among the billionaires whose fortunes have surged the most. They’ve gained more than $14 billion each this year, according to the Bloomberg index.