Listmaking is big business for the magazine industry: Time uses one issue each year to tell us who the world’s most influential leaders and thinkers are; U.S. News & World Reports stirs panic in college administrators everywhere with its annual ranking of the nation’s best colleges.
Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim, last year’s top-ranked billionaire, nabbed the No. 1 spot again with an estimated net worth of $74 billion. Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investing guru Warren Buffett also held their positions from last year’s list, coming in at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively.
Despite the lack of change at the top, Forbes notes that the list was noteworthy nonetheless: It was its largest list ever, with more than 1,200 billionaires included, and their total net worth added up to the largest amount ever, $4.5 trillion.
There is plenty of interesting trivia to be culled from the list, but here are some highlights:
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is almost the world’s youngest billionaire, but not quite. That honor goes to Dustin Moskovitz, who is six days younger than Zuckerberg. Moskovitz was Zuckerberg’s roommate and used to work at Facebook before leaving to start his own company. Still, Zuckerberg’s estimated $13.5 billion dwarfs Moskovitz’s estimated $2.7 billion.
Moscow is now home to more billionaires than any other city.
The only woman to crack the top 20 on the list is Christy Walton, whose fortune primarily comes from the retailer Wal-Mart, founded by her late father-in-law.
You view the full list on Forbes site as well as check out brief profiles of each member.
By Sarah Halzack/ washingtonpost.com
NEW YORK, March 9 (Reuters)
Moscow now home to most billionaires, beating New York
* China and Russia now have more than 100 each
* Mexican Carlos Slim retains crown as world’s richest man
* Bill Gates and Warren Buffett hang on to No. 2 and No. 3
* LV Sands’ Adelson and Facebook’s Zuckerberg surge up list
Rising global commodities prices and Asia’s economic boom led to a big increase in the number of billionaires in Russia, China and Brazil in 2011.
China nearly doubled its number of billionaires to 115, while Russia and Brazil posted two-third jumps to 101 and 30, respectively, Forbes said in its annual list of the world’s richest people.
It was the first time any country outside the United States, which has 413 billionaires, had more than 100. Moscow is now home to the most people on the list with 79 billionaires, easily outstripping New York, which has just 58.
The world’s richest man, Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, retained his crown for the second year in a row and made more money than any of the other 1,209 billionaires in the past year: $20.5 billion, taking his fortune to $74 billion.
Russia’s billionaire growth was attributed to a commodities boom. Brazil also benefited from higher commodity prices, as well as stricter disclosure rules and a stronger currency. In China and India, which has 55 billionaires after adding six, strong economies helped create wealth from a range of sectors.
„The bottom line is BRICs, commodities and Asia Pacific,“ Forbes Chief Executive Steve Forbes told a news conference on Wednesday. „There is a global commodities boom. But as we should have learned … commodities can go up very sharply, they can go down very sharply.“
The Reuters Jefferies CRB commodities index rose 17 percent last year and is up another 8 percent this year as copper and gold hit record highs, grains are near their 2008 peaks and, most recently, oil surged beyond $100 a barrel.
Brazil, Russia, India and China produced half the world’s 214 new billionaires, double last year’s 97 newcomers.
Among the newbies in the Forbes list are four billionaires whose fortunes are tied to social networking site Facebook – co-founders Dustin Moskovitz and Eduardo Saverin and investors Yuri Milner and Sean Parker. They join Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, who soared to No. 52 from No. 212 and now has an estimated worth of $13.5 billion, and Facebook investor Peter Thiel, who was also previously on the list. (Facebook billionaires: )
One of the biggest movers up the list was U.S. casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who posted the biggest increase in wealth behind Slim.
He is worth $23.3 billion, up from $14 billion, and soared to No. 16 from No. 73 last year in a remarkable turnaround for a businessman whose Las Vegas Sands Corp came close to defaulting on its debt in 2008.
While India’s number of billionaires did not increase much, their „average net worth … is huge – $4.5 billion for an Indian billionaire versus $2.5 billion for a Chinese billionaire,“ said Forbes.
Russia is also trumping China with 15 billionaires in the top 100, compared to China’s one, while India has seven and Brazil three.
RICH AND GENEROUS
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates held on to second place, growing his wealth to $56 billion from $53 billion last year, and investor Warren Buffett again came in third with $50 billion, up from $47 billion.
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc has fared better than Gates’ Microsoft. Microsoft shares now trade about where they were a decade ago, while Berkshire shares have roughly doubled.
Forbes said that Gates would have still been the richest man in the world if he had not so far given $28 billion of his wealth to his foundation. He was only knocked off the top spot on the list twice between 1995 and 2010.
NEW YORK, March 9 – Reuters
Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu is the world's richest person
Moscow now home to most billionaires, beating New York
* China and Russia now have more than 100 each
* Mexican Carlos Slim retains crown as world’s richest man
* Bill Gates and Warren Buffett hang on to No. 2 and No. 3
* LV Sands’ Adelson and Facebook’s Zuckerberg surge up list
Rising global commodities prices and Asia’s economic boom led to a big increase in the number of billionaires in Russia, China and Brazil in 2011.
China nearly doubled its number of billionaires to 115, while Russia and Brazil posted two-third jumps to 101 and 30, respectively, Forbes said in its annual list of the world’s richest people.
It was the first time any country outside the United States, which has 413 billionaires, had more than 100. Moscow is now home to the most people on the list with 79 billionaires, easily outstripping New York, which has just 58.
The world’s richest man, Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, retained his crown for the second year in a row and made more money than any of the other 1,209 billionaires in the past year: $20.5 billion, taking his fortune to $74 billion.
Russia’s billionaire growth was attributed to a commodities boom. Brazil also benefited from higher commodity prices, as well as stricter disclosure rules and a stronger currency. In China and India, which has 55 billionaires after adding six, strong economies helped create wealth from a range of sectors.
„The bottom line is BRICs, commodities and Asia Pacific,“ Forbes Chief Executive Steve Forbes told a news conference on Wednesday. „There is a global commodities boom. But as we should have learned … commodities can go up very sharply, they can go down very sharply.“
The Reuters Jefferies CRB commodities index rose 17 percent last year and is up another 8 percent this year as copper and gold hit record highs, grains are near their 2008 peaks and, most recently, oil surged beyond $100 a barrel.
Brazil, Russia, India and China produced half the world’s 214 new billionaires, double last year’s 97 newcomers.
Among the newbies in the Forbes list are four billionaires whose fortunes are tied to social networking site Facebook – co-founders Dustin Moskovitz and Eduardo Saverin and investors Yuri Milner and Sean Parker. They join Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, who soared to No. 52 from No. 212 and now has an estimated worth of $13.5 billion, and Facebook investor Peter Thiel, who was also previously on the list. (Facebook billionaires: )
One of the biggest movers up the list was U.S. casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who posted the biggest increase in wealth behind Slim.
He is worth $23.3 billion, up from $14 billion, and soared to No. 16 from No. 73 last year in a remarkable turnaround for a businessman whose Las Vegas Sands Corp came close to defaulting on its debt in 2008.
While India’s number of billionaires did not increase much, their „average net worth … is huge – $4.5 billion for an Indian billionaire versus $2.5 billion for a Chinese billionaire,“ said Forbes.
Russia is also trumping China with 15 billionaires in the top 100, compared to China’s one, while India has seven and Brazil three.
RICH AND GENEROUS
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates held on to second place, growing his wealth to $56 billion from $53 billion last year, and investor Warren Buffett again came in third with $50 billion, up from $47 billion.
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc has fared better than Gates’ Microsoft. Microsoft shares now trade about where they were a decade ago, while Berkshire shares have roughly doubled.
Forbes said that Gates would have still been the richest man in the world if he had not so far given $28 billion of his wealth to his foundation. He was only knocked off the top spot on the list twice between 1995 and 2010.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates held on to second place, growing his wealth to $56 billion from $53 billion last year, and investor Warren Buffett again came in third with $50 billion, up from $47 billion.
