Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein: Europe's Wealthiest Royal as of 2023

Royal Houses are always associated with wealth and fortune. The royals inherited valuables, properties, and large estates from their ancestors down the centuries. 

But with so many wealthy royals in the current times, we are curious to know, who is the wealthiest royal in Europe?

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index of 2023, the wealthiest royal in Europe is none other than His Serene Highness Prince Hans Adam II, the Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein. He has a reported personal fortune of approximately US$9.2 billion. 

HSH The Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein, Europe's richest royal.  ©The Princely House of Liechtenstein

The reigning Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein is the current head of the multi-billion dollar dynasty that owns The LGT Group, one of the world's most prosperous asset management companies, and the family's main source of wealth. 

Their vast fortunes are a combination of inherited wealth with highly successful family-run businesses. The Liechtenstein royal family possesses a significant portfolio of investments, property businesses such as estates, a winery, and a private bank. 

Prince Hans Adam II also owns a valuable collection of art, a vast land in Austria, used for wood production, growing grain, a nature reserve, and hunting and fishing grounds. and a winery in Liechtenstein.

He is also the only Crown Head in Europe who retains his sweeping legislative powers, which means he can influence or veto any government laws and policies. 

The small Alpine nation located between Austria and Switzerland is one of the smallest nations in the world with just over 39,000 inhabitants. The Prince's family lived in Vaduz Castle surrounded by greenery and rolling hills in Liechtenstein. 

The LGT Group's headquarters in Vaduz, Liechtenstein,  ©The LGT Group

The main source of the Royal House of Liechtenstein's fortune is The LGT Group, the royal family’s private banking and asset management firm. Its record assets Under Management are reportedly $306 billion Swiss francs in 2023. 

The Princely House of Liechtenstein has always pursued a broadly diversified investment strategy and their businesses operate according to the principles of sustainable development and ethical standards. 

Today, the finance empire behind Liechtenstein’s Prince Hans Adam II is thriving from its main area of expertise: managing money for the world’s super-rich. The firm offers wealth management services across Europe and Asia.

Unlike other European monarchs, Prince Hans-Adam II owns his family’s most valuable assets personally, making it the oldest fortune on Bloomberg’s wealth ranking. 

Assets of King Charles III and other European monarchs are tied to the states (Crown Properties) and cannot be quantified as their personal fortune.

The prince and his family’s wealth originated with land acquired in the 12th century that at one point spread across a wide swath of what’s now Germany, Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

The LGT Group

The LGT Group was founded on November 22, 1920, as The Liechtenstein Global Trust. Currently, it is the world's largest royal family-owned private banking and asset management group. 

It is operated by the Princely House of Liechtenstein through the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation and led by its royal family members.

Prince Philipp and Prince Maximilian

His Serene Highness Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein (CEO), the second son of Prince Hans-Adam II, and His Serene Highness Prince Philipp of Liechtenstein (chairman of the board), the younger brother of Prince Hans-Adam II.

LGT is headquartered in Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, with offices in Zürich, Switzerland. The company has more than 3,000 employees in over 20 offices around the globe (Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America).

LGT operates through several divisions: Private Banking, Asset Management, Impact Investing, and Philanthropy.

They provide wealth management services to private clients. Their Asset Management division has over $60 billion worth of capital invested in investment funds, hedge funds, and private equity investments.

LGT also invested in social enterprises such as M-kopa through the LGT Venture Philanthropy Foundation and LGT Impact.

The company has made several acquisitions of high-value transactions. They acquired the Swiss operation of Dresdner Bank from Commerzbank in 2019. They also acquired more than $12 billion of HSBC Private assets, and in 2017 they acquired Dutch giant ABN AMRO Asia Private with $20 billion in assets. 

Vineyard and Winery

Prince Hans Adam II also owned a vast vineyard and winery in Liechtenstein. The Prince of Liechtenstein Winery in Vaduz is home to the Herawingert vineyards. 

Vineyard in Vaduz. ©Liechtenstein Cellars and Winery website

The Princely Winery. ©Liechtenstein Cellars and Winery website

The Princely Wine Cellars of the Prince of Liechtenstein Foundation include the Domaine Wilfersdorf, Austria, the Domaine Vaduz, Principality of Liechtenstein as well as the Hofkellerei im Gartenpalais - Vinothek & Bar in Vienna.

The Princely House of Liechtenstein

married Countess Marie Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau in 1967. They shared four children - three sons and a daughter. Princess Marie died in August 2021 after suffering from a stroke. 

Prince Hans Adam II ascended to Liechtenstein's throne in November 1989 following the death of his father, Franz Joseph II. Since August 2004, he transferred his day-to-day state and government duties to his eldest son and heir, Hereditary Prince Alois. But he remained the country's Head of State.

The Sovereign Prince also bears the titles Duke of Troppau and Jägerndorf, and Count of Rietberg. He was born on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1945, in Zurich, Switzerland.

Prince Hans-Adam II, Princess Sophie, and Prince Alois. ©Princely House of Liechtenstein 

Hereditary Alois married Duchess Sophie of Bavaria, a member of the defunct Royal House of Wettelsbach, the former ruling family of Bavaria, Germany. They have four children together.

The Princely House of Liechtenstein maintains the Salic Law or the Agnatic Succession Law, making Liechtenstein the only monarchy in Europe that's still following this archaic law of succession. Agnatic Succession Law barred women or female descendants from succeeding the throne. 

Vaduz Castle, the family seat of the Princely House of Liechtenstein

The first 16 in the Line of Succession to the Liechtenstein Throne:

The Sovereign Prince, Hans-Adam II:

1. Alois, the Hereditary Prince - eldest son of Hans-Adam II
2. Prince Joseph Wenzel - eldest son of Prince Alois
3. Prince Georg - second son of son of Prince Alois
4. Prince Nikolaus - third son of son of Prince Alois
5. Prince Maximilian - second son of Hans-Adam II
6. Prince Alfons - the only child of Prince Maximilian
7. Prince Moritz - eldest son of Prince Constantin (youngest son of Hans-Adam II who died in 2023 at the age of 51. He was the former CEO of The LGT Group)
8. Prince Benedikt - second son of Prince Constantin
9. Prince Philipp - younger brother of Hans-Adam II
10. Prince Alexander - eldest son of Prince Philipp
11. Prince Wenzeslaus - second son of Prince Philipp
12. Prince Rudolf - third son of Prince Philipp
13. Prince Karl Ludwig - eldest son of Prince Rudolf
14. Prince Nikolaus - younger brother of Hans-Adam II
15. Prince Josef-Emanuel - the only son of Prince Nikolaus
16. Prince Leopold - eldest son of Prince Josef-Emanuel