Wealth
Finans (Финанс.), the Russian business magazine, will publish its annual “rich list” on Monday. This time around, the list will show that there are more billionaires in Russia today — 114 — than ever before. The Financial Times “beyondbrics” blog provided details earlier this week. Here’s last year’s list (in Russian) for comparison.
Philanthropy
The latest edition of University World News featured an article about Indian philanthropists supporting universities in the United States with large gifts. Although donations on the same scale have not been directed to higher education institutions in India so far, the author listed several recent examples of Indian donors supporting existing universities in India with major gifts and discussed how some of the country’s universities are actively pursuing gifts from alumni. Meanwhile, some Indian philanthropists are focusing their efforts on starting new higher education institutions from scratch. According to the article,
“There are at least 20 to 30 Indian entrepreneurs who can single-handedly create world-class universities by philanthropic efforts of the right scale.”
The recent trip by Chen Guangbiao to Taiwan, during which he was expected to give away US$17 million directly to people in need of financial help, raised many questions about his intentions and the form philanthropy should take. Chen believes his methods will encourage other wealthy Chinese businesspeople to engage in large-scale philanthropy.
Real estate trends
A new report announced that the cost of Shanghai’s villas and townhouses spiked more than 33% last year. (A tutorial on Shanghai’s housing stock can be found here.) This huge increase is a clear sign of China’s real estate bubble, which the government is trying to control with a new set of regulations. Existing homeowners who wish to purchase a second home in the same urban area are now required to make a 60% downpayment on the second property; additional homeownership within the same urban area has been prohibited. A pilot property tax went into effect in two cities — Shanghai and Chongching — in late January. (Sources: Shanghai Daily,Danwei, Reuters.)
High-end property sales are up in Tokyo, according to the New York Times.
A new Urban Land Institute/ PriceWaterhouseCoopers report on “Emerging Trends in Real Estate: Europe 2011” gave high ranks to Istanbul. This year, the city “ranks second for existing investments and first for both new acquisitions and development” among European cities. “Both local and international investors have become more positive about Istanbul since last year.” For examples of luxury residential real estate in Istanbul and elsewhere in western Turkey, see this recent profile from the Curbed website.