Forbes’ new list: Samir Mane breaks a record by reaching $1.9 billion in wealth

One year ago, Samir Mane entered Forbes’ billionaire list for the first time. This year, he has increased his wealth by 500 million US dollars, according to data published by the global magazine, as reported by noa.al.

The well-known Albanian businessman, sole partner in several commercial companies and a large business group, appears in the Forbes 2026 billionaire list ranked 2,177th among 3,428 billionaires.

Last year, Forbes recorded 2,933 billionaires, and Mane was ranked 2,356th.

For 2026, according to Forbes, Samir Mane, 58, has broken his own record by increasing his wealth to 1.9 billion dollars, or nearly 162 billion new Albanian lek.

“Samir Mane is the founder and president of BALFIN Group, an investment conglomerate headquartered in Tirana, Albania,” Forbes states.

It adds that BALFIN owns shopping malls, retail chains for electronics and toys across the Western Balkans, as well as a bank and luxury real estate projects in Albania.

Mane left communist Albania in 1991 and settled in Austria as a refugee. In 1993, he began selling household electronics in Albania.

In 1998, he founded Neptun, an electronics retail chain in Albania, and in 2005 he returned to the country to open the first modern shopping mall in Albania.

BALFIN also owns real estate in the United States, Canada, and Austria, as well as logistics parks and a private university in Albania.

“KORÇA BOOM”