Forbes has
unveiled the updated list of the world’s richest people, showing us again who’s
making money around the globe. We’ve extracted the top ten entries of the
incredibly long list of 1153 billionaires of the world, and we are ready to
share the news with you.
The 2012
top ten list is not that different from that of 2011, with only three new
names marking the difference between the two. Together, the
Earth’s billionaires sum up a whopping $4.6 trillion in personal wealth, which
is considerably more than the Gross Domestic Products (GDPs) of the 127 poorest
countries in the world, and a little higher than India’s GDP.
New in the
top ten are Li Ka-Shing, who is the richest person in all of Asia, Stefan
Persson of H&M, who last year occupied the 13th position, and Karl
Albrecht, who this year made it to the 10th position on the list.
1.Carlos Slim Helu: $69 Billion
This is the third year of “reign” for Carlos Slim Helu. Half of his
entire wealth comes from American Movil shares, which have dropped
lately, resulting in a $5 billion reduction in his fortune, as compared
to the year 2010. At 72 years of age, the magnate doesn’t want for
anything. Even though the Mexican regulators fined one of his brands for
monopolistic prices with a mind-boggling sum of $1 billion, Slim’s
fortune is too large for such an event to affect him personally.
Furthermore, the company is appealing the fine, so the money will
probably not even leave his accounts.
2. Bill Gates: $61 Billion
One of the mot generous wealthy people in the world, Bill Gates has
played a huge role in the eradication of poliomyelitis in India, and he
still keeps donating staggering amounts of money to different causes
around the world. As he keeps receiving huge amounts of money from
Microsoft shares, stocks, bonds, and private equity, Gates continues to
pour out his generosity on millions of people. He also invested a couple
of billions in small farmers as he wants to help reestablish
agricultural traditionalism. Not only does he himself give away
generously, but by creating the Giving Pledge, he also encourages other
magnates to do the same.
3.Warren Buffett: $44 Billion
Another generous soul is Warren Buffett, a man who believes that the
wealthy should give away more than the average people. He is 81 years
old now, and a great example for the rest of the world. According to his
“Buffett Rule”, the wealthy should pay at least 30% tax rate, thus
contributing more than the less fortunate people. In one year he lost $6
billion, after taking some bad decisions – as he himself has admitted –
that led to a 7% decrease in Berkshire stock value.
4.Bernard Arnault: $41 Billion
His ever blooming business – the famous LVMH group and world leader in
luxury – has helped the wealthy Frenchman to considerably increase his
fortune this year. Even though he lost some cash due to the lower
turnover of the Carrefour supermarket chain, Arnault still made a lot of
money this past year, especially since LVMH’s profits went up by 22
percent. Aged 63, the magnate owns the superb Indigo Island in the
Bahamas, and Cheval Blanc ski chalet in Courchevel. His island is
available for rent at $300,000 per week.
5. Amancio Ortega: $37.5 Billion
Mr. Ortega started out as an employee in his father’s store, and now
he is the fifth richest person in the world. Aged 75, he resigned from
the position of Inditex Chairman a year ago, but is still earning pots
of money through his blooming company. Inditex shares went up by a
quarter this year, raising Amancio Ortega’s wealth by a whopping $6.5
billion.
The Spanish magnate owns stakes in a soccer league, a horse-jumping
track, the luxurious Epic Residences & Hotel in Miami, and the
Torre Picasso skyscraper in Madrid.
6.Larry Ellison: $36 Billion
The Oracle Corporation has been facing serious difficulties during the
past months, due to significant fluctuations that affected its profits.
As the company’s sales decreased, Mr. Ellison’s fortune dropped down by
$3.5 billion. In an attempt to solve this issue, the Oracle CEO
purchased Taleo and RightNow for $1.9 billion and $1.5 billion,
respectively. Oracle also recently bought social marketing platform
Vitrue and Collective Intelligence.
7. Eike Batista: $30 Billion
ike Batista is the richest man in Brazil, and the owner of OGX
Petroleo e Gas gas and oil driller. Two thirds of his immense fortune
comes from the 61 percentages that he owns in the aforementioned
company. This translates to a whopping $19.8 billion.
Currently living in Rio de Janeiro, Mr. Batista has two children and
is divorced. Last year he invested $1.5 billion in what can be described
as a very promising opportunity. He used the money to buy a private
gold mine in Colombia, Canada, called Ventana Gold. And we all know the
price of gold can only go higher with every passing year!
8.Stefan Persson: $26 Billion
The main shareholder and chairman of H&M, Stefan Persson, also
purchased Versace and Marni last year, and had its first stores opened
in Croatia, Romania and Singapore. He now owns an impressive 2,500
stores in 43 countries!
The company was founded by Stefan Persson’s father, Erling, back in
1947, and he took over H&M in 1982. He resigned from the position of
CEO in 1998, and later promoted his son, Karl-Johan, to the position,
in 2009. One interesting move that he made for his company was that he
bought 5 million additional shares only to give 4 million of them
(worth roughly $150 million) to an employee stimulating program.
9.Li Ka-Shing: $25.5 Billion
The 83 year old Chinese magnate was first named the richest person in
Asia back in 2004. This year, however, it is the first time since 2007
that he made it to the top ten list of wealthiest people in the world.
His main business is
Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL), a company that has 270,000 employees all around the world, covering 53 countries.
Interestingly, one of every seven residences in Hong Kong was built
by his company, and approximately 13 percent of all container traffic in
the world is dealt with by Hutchison Port Holdings. One of his most
recent purchases was Northumbrian Water, the group providing sewage
services and supplies drinking water to millions of people. It’s a
wonder, really, how he needed so much time to make it on the list.
10.Karl Albrecht: $25.4 billion
Karl Albrecht’s story of success began in his mother’s corner grocery
store, after World War II. He and his brother Theo began their small
venture there, and expanded their business in the years that followed.
The huge company – Aldi Sud – is now a successful retail chain, with
4,500 stores around the world, of which 1,200 are spread across the U.S.
Karl and his brother split the brand, with the former taking the
rights for UK, US, and Australia, plus the more profitable stores in
Southern Germany. In order to keep costs as low as possible, the stores
have a strict no-bling policy, and it doesn’t accept credit card
payments for the same reason.
