This guy fled Albania with $100 in 1991.

This guy fled Albania with $100 in 1991. Today, he built Balfin into a $1.9 billion empire across the Balkans with 60+ businesses across 11 countries. His Neptun chain became the largest electronics retailer in Albania and expanded across Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. His Tirana East Gate mall is the largest shopping center in the country, bringing brands like H&M, Flying Tiger, Kiabi and Kiko to a market that barely had modern retail two decades ago. And through projects like Skopje East Gate in North Macedonia, Balfin helped introduce western-style retail infrastructure across the Balkans. But retail was only the beginning. Samir later expanded into banking, real estate, logistics, tourism, and asset management. He bought Tirana Bank in 2019 and turned it into one of Albania's fastest-growing lenders. Projects like Rolling Hills transformed luxury housing in Tirana, while his $900 million Green Coast development is turning Albania's Ionian coastline into a new Mediterranean tourism hub with hotels from Hyatt, Accor, and Grand Meliá. Last summer, he opened Green Coast Hotel and MGallery Collection, one of Albania's most ambitious elite tourism projects, on the Green Coast, a jewel of the Albanian Riviera. Today, Balfin employs more than 5,000 people, supports another 20,000 jobs indirectly. In 2026, Forbes recognized Samir Mane as Albania's first billionaire, with a fortune estimated at $1.9 billion.