Mexican telecommunications entrepreneur Carlos Slim has narrowly captured the title of the world’s richest person, after Forbes magazine found his wealth climbed an amazing $US18.5 billion in 12 months to $US53.5 billion.
That puts the tycoon just ahead of Mircosoft founder and major shareholder Bill Gates, who has held the title of world’s richest man for 14 out the last 15 years. Gates also had a good year, with his fortune jumping $US13 billion to $US53 billion.
Veteran investor Warren Buffett was in third place, after his fortune jumped $US10 billion to $US47 billion after a healthy jump on the US sharemarket.
There are 10 Australian citizens on the list, led by Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest with a fortune of $US4.1 billion.
However, Forrest is not Australia’s richest resident – that honour belongs to Blair Parry-Okeden, the granddaughter of US media magnate James M. Cox who died in 1957. While she is not involved in the running of the company today, Parry-Okeden retains a large stake in the business. She lives in the NSW town of Scone.
The incredible comeback of global sharemarkets have helped all but wipe out the big fall in the value of the billionaires list in 2008.
The number of billionaires had jumped from 793 a year ago to 1,011. Only 12% of the billionaires on last year’s list saw their fortune fall in 2010.
The list welcomes 164 billionaires back onto the list after the GFC and also includes 97 new members, with 64 new members from Asia.
However, the richest debutant is from Chile. Horst Paulmann emigrated from Germany to Chile as a teenager after World War II and now owns the country’s largest retail conglomerate.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
