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Bill Gates, the richest no more
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Mexican telecom titan overtakes Gates
NEW YORK: The goddess of wealth seems to have part ways with the American Bill Gates as the world has found the new richest person. The Mexican telecom titan Carlos Slim Helu now the world's richest person, Forbes magazine's annual list of the richest people revealed late Wednesday.
Forbes says the improving global economy has pushed up the number of billionaires from 793 last year to 1,011 in 2010. Carlos Slim added $18.5 billion to his fortune last year and has a net worth of $53.5 billion, according to the list. This is the first time since 1994 that a person from outside the United States has held the title of "world's richest person".
"Carlos Slim is very dominant in the Mexican economy. He foresaw the rise of communications, so cell phones he embraced, but he's also into more nitty gritty businesses like cement, and he's put together quite an empire," says Steve Forbes, the magazine's editor-in-chief.
Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates slips to number two on the list with a net worth of $53 billion, and Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett comes in at number three with a net worth of $47 billion. Both Gates and Buffett have given billions of dollars to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
"The gap between Bill Gates and Carlos Slim is a very narrow one. Carlos Slim is ahead by about $500 million, which in that atmosphere is pretty close. But if Bill Gates was truly interested in just being number one, he would not have given away so much money, same with Warren Buffett. They have given away tens of billions of dollars, and Warren Buffett has made it very clear that in the years ahead most of his wealth is going to go to the foundation that was started by Bill Gates and his wife," said Forbes. India's Mukesh Ambani and Lakshmi Mittal rounded out the top five with net worth $29 billion and $28.7 billion respectively.
Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited is the largest private business in India, dealing in petrochemicals, oil and gas, and Lakshmi's ArcelorMittal is one of the world's biggest steel companies. Forbes magazine generated its billionaire's list on February 12, 2010. Forbes says the list is a global snapshot of where money is being made and where it is being lost.
55 countries are represented on the billionaire list, with Pakistan and Finland adding their first billionaires and Iceland losing its super wealthy, says Forbes. The United States continues to have the most billionaires at 403. Crediting the improving global economy, Forbes says 97 new billionaires were added to the list this year, including 62 new billionaires from Asia. The world's youngest billionaire is 25-year old Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg with a net worth of $4 billion. Forbes says Zuckerberg's net worth has quadrupled in the past year. His Facebook social networking website is valued at more than $15 billion. This is the 24th year of the annual list.-Agencies
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