Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecommunications billionaire with a net worth of $53.5bn, has been crowned the world’s richest person by Forbes magazine – the first time in 16 years the post has been held by a non-American.
The annual Richest People list reflects the growing power of emerging economies, with Asia supplying most of the 97 billionaires making their debut on the list in 2010, minting 62 new contenders. Forbes said Asia trailed the number of European billionaires by only 14.
Mr Slim, who came to the rescue of the New York Times in 2009 with a loan and investment, added $18.5bn to his net worth. He beat Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and last year’s number one, and Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, for the top spot. Mr Gates and Mr Buffett’s net worths were $53bn and $47bn respectively.
For the first time, China, with 64 billionaires, is the region with the most members outside of the US, which has 403, followed by Russia with 62.
Judging by the number of new tycoons, the rich have rebounded from the 2009 doldrums. “What was shocking to me was how much the global economy has recovered,” said Matthew Miller, senior editor of Forbes, who added that recovery was seen across nearly all sectors.
“If you look at the number of billionaires a country has and how the country is faring, they go hand in hand. The number of billionaires a country has is a leading indicator in how the country will fare in the coming year.”
Although the number of billionaires failed to surpass 2008 levels, the tally of the world’s richest jumped to 1,011 from 793 last year. Average net worth rose $500m to $3.5bn.
Mukesh Ambani, chief executive of Reliance Industries, landed the number four spot with $29bn, up from seventh. Lakshmi Mittal, owner of ArcelorMittal, secured the fifth spot with $28.7bn, up from eighth last year.
Li Ka Shing of Hong Kong, the world’s 16th richest person in 2009, also rose two spots to secure the 14th position.
Forbes said the net worth figures were based on a broad range of assets including real estate, art, jewellery collections, cash, investable assets and debt.
