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《福布斯》这一以编制富豪排行榜而著称的杂志想必你是早有耳闻了，而一提到《福布斯》与中国富豪的关系，首先想到的人物非胡润莫属了。虽然现在他已将接力棒传了下去，但他的成就是永远抹煞不了的……
Rupert Hoogewerf was born in Luxembourg and had his higher education at Durham University of England with majors in Chinese，Japanese and history．After working for now-defunct①Arthur Andersen for nearly seven years in London and Shanghai， Hoogewerf took his first crack②at calling out China's hidden millionaires when he publicized the list of China's 50richest people in 1999．Now he has become well-known in China in his own right for tracking down the country's super-wealthy．The number of people who could be termed a“tycoon①”has continued to grow for the past three years， and the list has now expanded to 100．He said that these figures of wealth should make it clear to the whole world that China has already undergone many positive economic changes．
In 1999，before Rupert Hoogewerf joined hands with Forbes（the U．S．magazine famous for its annual list of the most wealthy people），Chinese people had hardly any concept of personal wealth in their country． In China's earlier days，a massive fortune was deemed to be“evil”or“shameful”．Now， China's business people have been playing an increasingly prominent role in powering the country's fast-growing economy．
Starting four years ago，the British charter account has been working with Forbes to bring some of these influential successes into the spotlight②．
The ranking has also made Hoogewerf， who is fluent in Chinese due in part toa year's study at the People's University in Beijing，quite famous．He is already a public figure in China now，often making the headlines of newspapers and magazines．
Hoogewerf and his research team have been working continuously on the list for these past four years．Sometimes they even pay personalvisits to candidates to confirm as legitimate③the amount of their wealth，otherwise calculated by public information sources such as library dossiers④，media reports and statements of public companies．
“Most of the people I have contacted take a do-not-care attitude．Ifthe company is quite solid，then you are not frightened with the prospect of either being on or off the list，”said Hoogewerf．
With his quick rise to popularity in China，Hoogewerf has also been challenged on the accuracy and authority of his wealth- based ranking．Hoogewerf admits that he might leave out some rich people that cannot be assessed due to the lack of availability of public data on their enterprises．
“There are certain people who have not yet come to light，”he said．“I cannot expect to find everybody，because many persons have not floated to the surface！”
“If you look at the U．S．Forbes or the Forbes World 500，they have the same problem．According to public information， we are ninety percent correct．If we are missing more than 10people，I would be very surprised．I haven't today heard of a single person in publicrecords thatwe haven't sought out，”he said．
“But as people become more confident of their business，more private tycoons will list themselves on the stock market and we will find more people，”he added．
Hoogewerf has bought an apartment in Shanghai and currently lives there with his family．
Notes：①tycoon／tai5ku:n／n．企业界大亨②spotlight／5spCtlait／n．公众注意中心③legitimate／li5dVitimeit／v．使合法④dossier／5dCsiei／n．档案
胡润出生于卢森堡，毕业于英国杜伦大学，主修汉语、日语和历史。当他在伦敦和上海为如今已停业的安达信公司工作了七年之后，胡润由于在1999年公布了一份中国富豪前50名的排行榜而一鸣惊人。由于编制中国大陆富豪榜，而今，他已经当之无愧地被公众所知晓。三年多以来，在榜上可以被称作是“大亨”的数量已经增长到了 100个。胡润说，他想通过这些财富数字告诉世界，中国在经济上已经发生了巨大的变化。
1999年，在胡润加盟《福布斯》之前（美国一本以编制年度富豪排行榜而著称的杂志），中国人对国内个人私有财产的多少没有过多的想法，因为在早期的中国，拥有大量个人财产曾经被看作是“罪恶”或“羞耻”的象征。而今，中国的商届人士为推动中国经济的飞速发展起到了举足轻重的作用。
这位英国注册会计师与《福布斯》合作编制中国富豪排行榜已经四年了，他志在发掘出那些影响巨大的成功人士。
胡润曾在北京的中国人民大学学习了一年的语言，所以可以讲一口流利的汉语。由于做中国富豪排行榜，他已经倍受瞩目，并成为中国的公众人物。他经常出现在报刊、杂志的头条上。
四年来，胡润和他的工作小组一直忙于这项事业。有时他们甚至亲自登门拜访那些“入围者”，以保证他们的财产数额是合法的，或者参考一些公众信息来源，如图书馆档案、媒体报道和公司的公开声明。
“我接触过的大部分人对此都采取一种漠然的态度。其实如果你的公司实力雄厚，那你就不应该担心榜上有名或无名。”胡润说道。
随着胡润在中国的声望与日俱增，他也同样面临着他的财富排行榜是否具有准确性和权威性的挑战。胡润坦白说自己有可能会遗漏一些富豪，因为那些人在他们的企业公开信息中无迹可寻。
“有些人还一直没有为人所知，”他说，“我当然不能期望一个不落地找出每一个人，因为许多富翁都还没有被世人所了解。”
“如果你看一下美国的《福布斯》杂志或《福布斯世界500人》，就会发现他们也存在同样的问题。通过公众的反馈信息，我们的结果90％都是准确的。如果有10个以上的人被我们遗漏了，那我就会感到惊讶了。至今我还没有听说过在公共信息中出现过的哪个富翁被我们遗忘了的！”他说。
“但由于人们对商业越来越自信，所以更多富豪的名字将会出现在股市，这样我们就能发掘出更多的人了。”他又补充道。
现在他已在上海买了一套公寓，并且全家已移居那里。
