Richest on Earth

Telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim Helu is world’s richest man

The Mexican telecoms magnate Carlos Slim Helú has been named the world’s richest man, with a net worth of $53.5 billion (£36 billion), the first time since 1994 that the No 1 spot has been held by a non-US citizen.

The annual billionaires list published by Forbes magazine shows that the number of billionaires increased from 793 to 1,011.

Recovering financial markets and commodities and strong economic growth from some Asian-Pacific and Latin American economies helped to increase the collective wealth of the world’s richest by $2.4 trillion to $3.6 trillion.

This works out at $3.5 billion each, up from $3 billion last year.

Mr Slim added $18.5 billion to his net worth. He beat Bill Gates by $500 million, even though the Microsoft chairman increased his fortune by $13 billion to $53 billion.

It is the first time since 1995 that Mr Gates has not topped the list.

He would be worth nearly $80 billion had he not given billions to charity through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Mr Slim’s rise is part of a general shift of wealth away from the United States.

Although the US still dominates the list with 403 billionaires, they make up 40 per cent, against 45 per cent last year.

The Asia-Pacific region secured an 80 per cent gain in the number of billionaires, bringing the tally for the region to 234.

Of the 97 billionaires making their debut, 62 are from Asia. Mainland China has the most billionaires outside the US with 64.

“What is striking is that Asia is leading the comeback,” said Steve Forbes, the magazine’s chief executive and editor-in-chief.

Lakshmi Mittal, of India, moves three places to No 5 as his net worth rose by $19.3 billion to $28.7 billion.

The Brazilian iron ore tycoon Eike Batista made the biggest gains, from $19.5 billion to $27 billion.

Bernard Arnault, head of the luxury goods company LVMH, is Europe’s richest person, at No 7. His fortune rose $11 billion to $27.5 billion.

Britain has 29 billionaires on the list, four more than last year.

The Duke of Westminster is the highest-placed Briton, with a net worth of $12 billion, up $1 billion. He is 45th on the full list.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7057414.ece