1. Carlos Slim Helu $74 billion.
Carlos Slim Helu (born January 28, 1940) is a Mexican business magnate and philanthropist who as of 2011 is the richest man in the world, for the second year in a row. He is the chairman and chief executive oftelecommunications companies Telmex and America Movil and has extensive holdings in other Mexican companies through his conglomerate, Grupo Carso SAB, as well as business interests elsewhere in the world.
America Movil, which in 2010 was Latin America's largest mobile-phone carrier, accounted for around US$49 billion of Slim's wealth by the end of 2010. His corporate holdings as of March 2011 have been estimated at US$74 billion.
On March 29, 2007, Slim surpassed Warren Buffett as the world's second richest person with an estimated net worth of $53.1 billion compared to Buffet's $52.4 billion.
On August 4, 2007, The Wall Street Journal ran a cover story profiling Slim. The article said, "While the market value of his stake in publicly traded companies could decline at any time, at the moment he is probably wealthier than Bill Gates". According to The Wall Street Journal, Slim credits part of his ability to "discover investment opportunities" early to the writings of his friend, futurist author Alvin Toffler.
On August 8, 2007, Fortune reported that Slim had overtaken Gates as the world's richest man. Slim's estimated fortune soared to $59 billion, based on the value of his public holdings at the end of July.Bill Gates net worth was estimated to be at least $58 billion.
On March 5, 2008, Forbes ranked Slim as the world's second-richest person, behind Warren Buffettand ahead of Bill Gates.
On March 11, 2009, Forbes ranked Slim as the world's third-richest person, behind Gates and Buffettand ahead of Larry Ellison.
On March 10, 2010, Forbes once again reported that Slim had overtaken Gates as the world's richest man, with a net worth of $53.5 billion. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett now have a net worth of $53 billion and $47 billion respectively. He was the first Mexican to top the list. It was the first time in 16 years that the person on top of the list was not from the United States. It was also the first time the person at the top of the list was from an "emerging economy."
In March 2011, Forbes stated that Slim had maintained his position as the wealthiest person in the world, with his fortune estimated at $74 billion. 2. Bill Gates $56 billion.
William Henry "Bill" Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is anAmerican business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, thesoftware company he founded with Paul Allen. He is consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people and was the wealthiest overall from 1995 to 2009, excluding 2008, when he was ranked third. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of CEO and chief software architect, and remains the largest individual shareholder, with 6.4 percent of the common stock. He has also authored or co-authored several books.
Bill Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution.Bill Gates has been criticized for his business tactics, which have been considered anti-competitive, an opinion which has in some cases been upheld by the courts. In the later stages of his career, Gates has pursued a number of philanthropic endeavors, donating large amounts of money to various charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 2000.
Bill Gates stepped down as chief executive officer of Microsoft in January 2000. He remained as chairman and created the position of chief software architect. In June 2006, Bill Gates announced that he would be transitioning from full-time work at Microsoft to part-time work, and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He gradually transferred his duties to Ray Ozzie, chief software architect, and Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer. Gates' last full-time day at Microsoftwas June 27, 2008. He remains at Microsoft as non-executive chairman.
Bill Gates was number one on the Forbes 400 list from 1993 through to 2007 and number one onForbes list of The World's Richest People from 1995 to 2007 and 2009. In 1999, Gates's wealth briefly surpassed $101 billion, causing the media to call him a "centibillionaire". Since 2000, the nominal value of his Microsoft holdings has declined due to a fall in Microsoft's stock price after the dot-com bubble burst and the multi-billion dollar donations he has made to his charitable foundations. In a May 2006 interview, Gates commented that he wished that he were not the richest man in the worldbecause he disliked the attention it brought. Gates has several investments outside Microsoft, which in 2006 paid him a salary of $616,667 and $350,000 bonus totalling $966,667. He founded Corbis, a digital imaging company, in 1989. In 2004 he became a director of Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company headed by long-time friend Warren Buffett. In March 2010 Bill Gates was bumped down to the second wealthiest man behind Carlos Slim Helu.
3. Warren Buffett $50 billion.
Well known for his outspoken views on politics, finance, and social issues, the 82 year old Nebraskan is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Columbia University. He’s also renown for his philanthropic ventures.
4. Bernard Arnault $41 billion.
The French magnate is 64 years old and hails from Roubaix, France. He attended Ecole Polytechnique and is now chairman and CEO of LVMH and chairman of Christian Dior S.A..
5. Larry Ellison $39.5 billion.
This New Yorker from the Lower East Side of Manhattan is the CEO of Oracle Corporation and its co-founder. He attended both the University of Illinois at Ubana Champaign and the University of Chicago. An avid professional tennis fan and player he’s also a yachtsman.
6. Lakshmi Mittal $39.1 billion.
The ever smiling Indian business man and chairman and CEO of the ArcelorMittal conglomerate he’s also the co-owner of Queens Park Rangers F.C. And Karrick Limited. The steel industry magnate resides in London, UK and is of Indian and British heritage.
7. Amancio Ortega $31 billion.
Has competition from three others. Li Ka-Shing, David Koch and Charles Koch. Ortega is a 76 year old Spanish business man. He co-founded the Inditex group. His line of Zara clothing and related shops and accessories are his bread and butter.
8. Eike Batista $30 billion.
The 56 year old German of Brazilian nationality attended RWTH Aachen University. He’s CEO of the EBX Group. He got rich from oil and gas. His wealth has been up and down but he’s still in the top ten.
9. Mukesh Ambani $27 billion.
May have beaten out Liliane Bettencourt for the ninth spot as Liliane has a reported $30 billion from L’Oreal. Ambani, a 55 year old from Aden, Yemen is of Indian heritage and graduated from the University of Bombay. He’s the CEO of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) an Indian enery and materials company known as Reliance Group.
10. Christy Walton $26.5 billion.
Christy Walton and her family hauled in $26.5 billion. Christy and her family’s Walmart chain of stores are still a juggernaut in the retail business and even with the controversy involving labor relations the chain of stores and related business keeps on hauling in the money. Bernaud Arnault of LVMH is said to be in the tenth spot at $29 billion but that’s in question.