The 8 richest people in Europe

Europe is home to many of the most powerful and economically developed countries in the world, as well as more than 740 million people. 

But only eight of the 50 richest people in the world come from the continent - and half of them inherited their fortunes. The others, including second-richest person on earth Amancio Ortega, forged their fortunes in fashion and furniture.

This comes from new data provided to Business Insider by Wealth-X, a company that conducts research on the super-wealthy, featured in our recent ranking of the world's richest people. Wealth-X maintains a database of dossiers on more than 110,000 ultra-high-net-worth people, using a proprietary valuation model to discern the size of their fortunes. 

Read on to learn more about the richest people in Europe, including a man who has a near-monopoly on eyewear and the founder of the world's largest furniture maker.