Carlos Slim Tops Forbes List of World's Wealthiest
The Mexican telecom tycoon, worth $53-billion, has moved ahead of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
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The 2010 Forbes Rich List is out and for the first time in 16 years, an American is not in the top spot of the top 10.
This year, Mexican telecommunications tycoon Carlos Slim Helu replaced Bill Gates, the 2009 leader. Slim's net worth increased $18.5 billion to $53.5 billion.
“He’s [Slim] proven himself to be one the smartest businessmen in Mexico’s entire history,” says Eduardo Garcia, editor of Mexican magazine Sentido Común, which monitors Slim’s fortune and regularly updates the public. “It’s just that he has too much power for the good of the country.”
Gates' net worth also soared, just not as much. Forbes said Gates is $13 billion richer than a year ago as shares of Microsoft rose 50 percent.
Warren Buffett finished third.It marks the first time since 1994 that a non-U.S. billionaire has led the Forbes' rankings – and the second time since 1995 that Gates was not ranked No. 1 in the world. That year, in 2008, Buffett beat him.
“If you’re rich enough there will be resentment no matter what,” Gates told reporters at a U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations conference. “I recognize that you must be able to explain your choices to your constituents and show them what they get for their taxpayer dollars. You must be able to assure them that their money is being spent on efforts that will save lives, reduce suffering, and positively impact our country’s future.”
Assessment of Wealth
Also on the list this year are a number of other tech savvy giants, including Gates's former partner, Paul Allen, and Amazon's Jeff Bezos.
Other famous faces on the list include Oprah Winfrey (tied for No. 400 with $2.4 billion), Donald Trump ($2.0 billion) and designer Ralph Lauren ($4.6 billion). Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling came in at number 937 with a cool $1 billion.
Fifty-five countries were represented in the list, including people from Pakistan, Finland, Russia, America and the UK.
While nearly 700 billionaires lost money in 2009, 44 added to their fortunes. Those who made money include discount retailer Uniqlo's Tadashi Yanai, investor John Paulson, and Cirque du Soleil's Guy Laliberte.
Top 25
Rank Name Citizenship Age Net Worth ($bil) Residence
1 Carlos Slim Helu & family Mexico 70 53.5 Mexico
2 William Gates III United States 54 53.0 United States
3 Warren Buffett United States 79 47.0 United States
4 Mukesh Ambani India 52 29.0 India
5 Lakshmi Mittal India 59 28.7 United Kingdom
6 Lawrence Ellison United States 65 28.0 United States
7 Bernard Arnault France 61 27.5 France
8 Eike Batista Brazil 53 27.0 Brazil
9 Amancio Ortega Spain 74 25.0 Spain
10 Karl Albrecht Germany 90 23.5 Germany
11 Ingvar Kamprad & family Sweden 83 23.0 Switzerland
12 Christy Walton & family United States 55 22.5 United States
13 Stefan Persson Sweden 62 22.4 Sweden
14 Li Ka-shing Hong Kong 81 21.0 Hong Kong
15 Jim Walton United States 62 20.7 United States
16 Alice Walton United States 60 20.6 United States
17 Liliane Bettencourt France 87 20.0 France
18 S. Robson Walton United States 66 19.8 United States
19 Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud Saudi Arabia 55 19.4 Saudi Arabia
20 David Thomson & family Canada 52 19.0 Canada
21 Michael Otto & family Germany 66 18.7 Germany
22 Lee Shau Kee Hong Kong 82 18.5 Hong Kong
23 Michael Bloomberg United States 68 18.0 United States
24 Sergey Brin United States 36 17.5 United States
24 Charles Koch United States 74 17.5 United States
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2010-03-11 14:25:48
Si pero se le dio Telmex, que era de los mexicanos, osbre la corrupsion, pero que aya ayudado a alguien que no, en Sonora nos quiere quitar el agua un proyecto con padres con el gobernador, no ls importa matan gente pagana, etc y quieren dejar a la Gente de Obregón otravez sin agua, no el de Bill Gates como ayuda al contrario .. : (Que lastima que un Costilla De qué se hiso el hombre mas rico del mundo .. si lo ve esto porfavor Carlos Slim Haga la Desaladora, o quiere hacer gente mas pobre en orbeogn ciudad llebandose el agua de la presa del novillo con el goberandor un padre Hermosillo Tenga piedad! porfavor y en lugar de llebarse el agua con su constructora, Ayude a ala gente de orbegon que mucha falta le hace, como es posible que todos los grandes Hagan algo y usted no se lo agradeceriamos muchisimo si hiciera obras en Obregón, para peor en quitarnos el agua si no hacerlo para mas porspero ..
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