The World's Richest People Forbes - Royals & Rulers Lea Goldman, 03.15.05, 6:00 AM ET NEW YORK - Fidel Castro, Queen Elizabeth II and the Sultan of Brunei. Their fortunes span decades, even centuries. Still, none of these world leaders are exemplars of capitalism and, as a result, do not qualify for the world billionaires list. (Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra transferred his holdings in telecommunications to his family members before taking office.)

Valuing these treasures can get tricky. Buckingham Palace and the crown jewels, for example, aren't credited as personal possessions of Queen Elizabeth II. Rather, they belong to the British nation, but are entrusted in her care.

These estimates are more art than science. We may never know the extent of the Prince of Liechtenstein's estate, which dates back some 800 years. In the past, we have relied on a percentage of Cuba's gross domestic product to estimate Fidel Castro's fortune. This year we have used more traditional valuation methods, comparing state-owned assets Castro is assumed to control with comparable publicly traded companies. A reasonable discount was then applied to compensate for the obvious disclosure issues.
 

Fidel Castro
President, Cuba
$550 million
Cuba's socialist dictator-for-life derives his fortune from a web of state-owned businesses. Among his profit-generating operations: El Palacio de Convenciones, a convention center near Havana; retail conglomerate CIMEX; and Medicuba, which sells vaccines and other pharmaceuticals produced in Cuba. Castro has ruled the impoverished nation of 11 million since his revolutionary army ousted Fulgencio Batista in 1959. Travels exclusively in a convoy of black Mercedes-Benzes. Sold state-owned Havana Club rum to French liquor giant Pernod Ricard for $50 million in 1993. At age 78, Castro continues to rage against the U.S. Last year he banned the use of American dollars as currency in Cuba and imposed a 10% exchange fee for tourists.

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