For the third time in three years, the world has a new richest man.
Riding surging prices of his various telecom holdings, including giant mobile outfit America Movil, Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu has beaten out Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to become the wealthiest person on earth and nab the top spot on the 2010 Forbes list of the World's Billionaires.
Slim's fortune has swelled to an estimated $53.5 billion, up $18.5 billion in 12 months. Shares of America Movil, of which Slim owns a $23 billion stake, were up 35% in a year.
That massive hoard of scratch puts him ahead of Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, who had held the title of world's richest 14 of the past 15 years.
Gates, now worth $53 billion, is ranked second in the world. He is up $13 billion from a year ago as shares of Microsoft rose 50% in 12 months. Gates' holdings in his personal investment vehicle Cascade also soared with the rest of the markets.
Buffett's fortune jumped $10 billion to $47 billion on rising shares of Berkshire Hathaway. He ranks third.
The Oracle of Omaha shrewdly invested $5 billion in Goldman Sachs and $3 billion in General Electric amid the 2008 market collapse. He also recently acquired railroad giant Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $26 billion.
In his annual shareholder letter Buffett wrote, "We've put a lot of money to work during the chaos of the last two years. When it's raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble."
Many plutocrats did just that. Indeed, last year's wealth wasteland has become a billionaire bonanza. Most of the richest people on the planet have seen their fortunes soar in the past year.
This year the World's Billionaires have an average net worth of $3.5 billion, up $500 million in 12 months. The world has 1,011 10-figure titans, up from 793 a year ago but still shy of the record 1,125 in 2008. Of those billionaires on last year's list, only 12% saw their fortunes decline.
U.S. billionaires still dominate the ranks--but their grip is slipping. Americans account for 40% of the world's billionaires, down from 45% a year ago.
The U.S. commands 38% of the collective $3.6 trillion net worth of the world's richest, down from 44% a year ago.
Of the 97 new members of the list, only 16% are from the U.S. By contrast, Asia made big gains. The region added 104 moguls and now has just 14 fewer than Europe, thanks to several large public offerings and swelling stock markets.
The new billionaires include American Isaac Perlmutter, who flipped Marvel Entertainment to Disney for $4 billion last December. The Spider-Man mogul netted nearly $900 million in cash and 20 million shares of Disney in the transaction.
Also new to the ranking: 27 billionaires from China, including Li Shufu, whose automaker, Geely, announced plans to buy Swedish brand Volvo from Ford in December. The deal is expected to close in March 2010.
Finland and Pakistan both welcomed their first billionaires.
For the first time China (including Hong Kong) has the most billionaires outside the U.S. with 89.
Russia has 62 billionaires, 28 of them returnees who had fallen off last year's list amid a meltdown in commodities. Total returnees to the list this year: 164.
Eleven countries have at least double the number of billionaires they had a year ago, including China, India, Turkey and South Korea.
Thirty members of last year's list fell out of the billionaire's club. Moguls who couldn't make the cut: Iceland's Thor Bjorgolfsson, Russia's Boris Berezovsky and Saudi Arabia's Maan Al-Sanea.
Another 13 members of last year's list died. Among the deceased: real estate developer Melvin Simon and glass tycoon William Davidson.
11 comments:
Everybody in America always hears of Buffett and Gates. Especially Gates since he is so popular. Buffett, not so much, but he tends to like it that way. It's not really that exciting seeing that next year there might be a new richest man like the year before and possibly the year after this.
This man has got it down. Since the cellphone market has pretty much revolutionized it self over the last two or three years, it was pretty much inevitable that someone who had any sort of monoply would get rich. But who thought it would be THAT rich. Wow. Just wow.
It's ironic and somewhat upsetting that despite the economic downturn, the rich are just getting richer. I'd be interested to know what spurs that little income boost for these men. This guy must be bankin' if he can beat out China and Saudi Arabia. America has dropped that ball a bit, but I predict that America's Billionaires will decline even more next year.
The rich get richer for a reason, smart handling of money, they don't blow it in Vegas, and a dash of luck. I'm glad there is someone new as the world's richest man, Bill Gates shouldn't have all the fun.
Wow, i wonder what i'd have to do to get that kind of mpney. and if would actualy be legal. we you know what, never mind the legal part just give me the money.
Ironically the richest this year became even richer while the rest increasingly lost money and some their jobs. Billionaries know how to gather the remaining money before it all falls. Hopefully in the next year out economy will grow and become stable again for the population.
this information is very skewed due to the fact that this man is mexican. luckily however this man is not female according to my sources. this means that although it is possible that a mexican can be the new wealthiest man, it is very unlikely and would be impossible if he were a woman.
Isn't it ironic that in a depression, the rich get richer? I hope that they are at least doing something worthwhile or charitable with their money.
I don't understand how when Americans are going through a recession the billionaires have gained even more money. Something isn't right when the rich keep getting richer as the middle class move their homes and the poor lose everything. You could say it's because they know how to play the game, but it doesn't hurt to be the one making the rules either.
To me it seems pretty ironic how the rich
getting richer yet the recession has come
and not quite yet gone but in an essence
it's staying for those who are trying to make
ends meet yet for those who are sustainably
wealthy. The average has risen in the amount
they get. In my opinion. Seems to be something
wrong here.....
That is really neat.Gates has finally been showed up by Helu,way to go.i kinda dont like the fact that they rank people but how much money they have but hey thats life i guess.thats crazy how we have more billionaires than china who has a better economy/way more people and money than the u.s but as it said the u.s is loosing it.man what a battle.
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