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The World's Richest People

The Forbes list of billionaires throws up a new man at the top and dozens of newcomers thanks to a worldwide resurgence

Published: Mar 27, 2010 06:50:01 AM IST
Updated: Mar 22, 2011 02:12:16 PM IST

Claiming the top spot this year on the Forbes World’s Billionaires list is Mexican telecom titan Carlos Slim Helu and family. They are worth $53.5 billion, up by more than 50% compared with last year’s $35 billion. Helu was ranked third last year. Slipping to third position from second last year is legendary investor Warren Buffet. He is worth $47 billion, an increase of $10 billion over his net worth in 2009.

Losing the pole position is Bill Gates who is ranked No. 2 this year. The Microsoft founder is worth $53 billion, $13 billion more than last year. Asia has staged a strong showing in the latest Forbes World’s Billionaires list released today. The number of tycoons from the Asia-Pacific region with a ten-figure net worth has risen to 234 from 130 last year. This accounts for 23% of the 1,011 billionaires on the global list against 16% the year before.

To know all about this year’s Forbes Billionaires, visit www.forbes.com/billionaires

(This story appears in the 02 April, 2010 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)

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