New Delhi: It's boom time in the billionaire club.
Thanks to an economic boom worldwide, this tribe has grown by 15 per cent in the past year to a record total of 793 individuals worldwide.
According to the new billionaires' list of Forbes, the combined net worth of the 793 billionaires today stands at $2.6 trillion and US billionaires account for just under-half the amount. The magazine said strong markets around the world contributed to the increase in wealth.
India takes the lead in the billionaires' bracket in Asia and steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal tops the list of richest Indians with a net worth of more than $20 billion.
Rank
Name
Nation
US state
Worth (billions)
Industry/ Company
Age
1
William Gates III
United States
Washington
50.0
Microsoft
50
2
Warren Buffett
United States
Nebraska
42.0
Berkshire Hathaway
75
3
Carlos Slim Helu
Mexico
-
30.0
telecom
66
4
Ingvar Kamprad
Sweden
-
28.0
Ikea
79
5
Lakshmi Mittal
India
-
23.5
steel
55
6
Paul Allen
United States
Washington
22.0
Microsoft, investments
53
7
Bernard Arnault
France
-
21.5
LVMH
57
8
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud
Saudi Arabia
-
20.0
investments
49
9
Kenneth Thomson & family
Canada
-
19.6
publishing
82
10
Li Ka-shing
Hong Kong
-
18.8
diversified
77
11
Roman Abramovich
Russia
-
18.2
oil
39
12
Michael Dell
United States
Texas
17.1
Dell
41
13
Karl Albrecht
Germany
-
17.0
supermarkets
86
14
Sheldon Adelson
United States
Nevada
16.1
casinos, hotels
72
15
Liliane Bettencourt
France
-
16.0
L'Oreal
83
16
Lawrence Ellison
United States
California
16.0
Oracle
61
17
Christy Walton
United States
Wyoming
15.9
Wal-Mart inheritance
51
18
Jim Walton
United States
Arkansas
15.9
Wal-Mart
58
19
S Robson Walton
United States
Arkansas
15.8
Wal-Mart
62
20
Alice Walton
United States
Texas
15.7
Wal-Mart
56
21
Helen Walton
United States
Arkansas
15.6
Wal-Mart
86
22
Theo Albrecht
Germany
-
15.2
supermarkets
83
23
Amancio Ortega
Spain
-
14.8
Zara
70
24
Steven Ballmer
United States
Washington
13.6
Microsoft
50
25
Azim Premji
India
-
13.3
software
60
Microsoft Corporation Chairman Bill Gates retains his title as the richest man in the world for the 12th consecutive year with an estimated net worth of $50 billion.
According to the Forbes' annual survey, Gates' fortune increased 7.5 per cent from $46.6 billion last year.
Gates is followed by 75-year old investor Warren Buffett of US with a net worth of $42 billion and Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim Helu with $30 billion and Ingvar Kamprad of Sweden, founder of Ikea, the world's biggest home furnishing retailer, with $28 billion.
Steel tycoon Mittal finds the fifth place among the world's richest with a net worth of more than $20 billion. The 55-year-old dropped two places to fifth with $23.5 billion, down $1.5 billion.
Azim Premji, who owns 82 per cent of the New York-listed Information Technology giant Wipro, is second richest Indian with an estimated net worth of $11 billion.
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Mukesh Ambani with a net worth of $7 billion, army officer-turned-property baron Kushal Pal Singh ($5 billion), Sunil Mittal, who built his Bharti Group into India's largest mobile phone operator with 14 million customers, ($4.9 billion) and Kumar Mangalam Birla ($4.4 billion) are among those who find place among the top 10 richest persons in India.
Others include Tulsi Tanti, who has built Asia's largest wind energy farm, Pallonji Mistry ($3.3 billion), biggest shareholder in Tata Sons, and Anurag Dikshit ($3.1 billion) who owns 30.4 per cent of Internet Casino company, which went public in London in June last.
The Forbes list of 40 richest Indians shows that a person had to have a net worth of $590 million, up from $305 million in the previous year, to make the grade.
It has 27 billionaires, more than the double of the count of the previous year.
Seven newcomers join the ranks, including four who took their companies public in 2005.
They include former airline agent Naresh Goyal, who today runs Jet Airways, and Vikrant Bhargava, marketing director at Internet casino outfit PartyGaming.
Forbes Asia also added two 'low-profile', privately-held fortunes: Kushal Pal Singh, whose DLF group is India's biggest real estate developer; and Indu Jain, the matriarch of India's most powerful media house, Bennett and Coleman.
* The youngest billionaire is a Lebanese woman, 22-year-old Hind Hariri, who inherited $1.4bn from her assassinated father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
* India's 23 billionaires have a combined net worth of $99 bn, surpassing former Asian leader Japan's 27 billionaires with their total worth of $67bn
* Russia's 33 billionaires now have a combined wealth of $172 bn, based largely on oil and gas prices, compared to a total of $68bn for oil-rich Saudi Arabia's 11 billionaires.
* India's rich are richer than China's and have much higher net worth, Forbes magazine has reported.
* The collective net worth of 40 richest persons in India is $106 billion compared with China's $26 billion.
* To make it to the list, an Indian has to have a net worth of $590 million while it is much less at $321 million in case of China.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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