The World's Richest People

Claiming the top spot this year on the Forbes World’s Billionaires list is Mexican telecom titan Carlos Slim Helu and family. They are worth $53.5 billion, up by more than 50% compared with last year’s $35 billion. Helu was ranked third last year. Slipping to third position from second last year is legendary investor Warren Buffet. He is worth $47 billion, an increase of $10 billion over his net worth in 2009.

Losing the pole position is Bill Gates who is ranked No. 2 this year. The Microsoft founder is worth $53 billion, $13 billion more than last year. Asia has staged a strong showing in the latest Forbes World’s Billionaires list released today. The number of tycoons from the Asia-Pacific region with a ten-figure net worth has risen to 234 from 130 last year. This accounts for 23% of the 1,011 billionaires on the global list against 16% the year before.

To know all about this year’s Forbes Billionaires, visit www.forbes.com/billionaires