Bai Wen

From Indonesia to Taiwan, tycoons continue to reap the benefits of empires that span the region even as they face new threats at home and abroad.

New World Development and Chow Tai Fook tycoon Cheng Yu Yung, who died in September, edges out Li Ka-shing as property billionaires dominate our top 10.

In Hong Kong and China, the financial industry - including property - is the main source of tycoon wealth. In India, however, new sectors are on the rise.

Li Ka-shing has dominated FinanceAsia's list of Asia's wealthiest, as measured by dividend income, since its inception. Not any more.

Indonesia's family fortunes haven't necessarily sprung from its abundant natural resources but from the goods and services sector catering to a burgeoning consumer class.

Family-owned conglomerates like Tata and Mittal continue to expand holdings on the back of policy support courtesy of business-friendly Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

If Warren Buffet is the Oracle of Omaha, Li Kai-shing is the Sage of South China. And Li's dynasy extends well beyond the region; the tycoon recently acquired a telecom in the EU.

China's has generated fortunes at a rate that is the envy of the developed and emerging worlds, much of it produced by far-sighted digital entrepreneurs.