THE TELEGRAPH: Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has stripped Bill Gates of his crown as the world’s richest man, as Latin American and Asian entrepreneurs begin to outpace the US and Europe when it comes to wealth creation.
Mr Slim, with a fortune of $53.5bn (£36bn) from his investment in telecoms and banking in Latin America, is worth $500m more than Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder, according to the just-released Forbes annual billionaires survey.
It is the first time in 16 years that a non-American has taken the top spot, with the Mexican, who saw his wealth increase by $18.5bn in the year, following in the footsteps of the Rausing Brothers in 1994.
But Mr Slim’s rise to the top is part of a much wider trend in the annual Forbes list – that of the rise of dollar billionaires from developing nations at the expense of those from more traditional wealthier countries.
Although the US still has the most billionaires on the list – some 403 with a combined net worth of $1.1 trillion – their hold is beginning to loosen, accounting for 40pc of the world’s billionaires in the latest list compared to 45pc last year.
At the same time, countries such as China, Turkey, Russia, Brazil and Argentina have all seen a significant rise in the number of billionaires. Pakistan now has its first billionaire in the shape of Mian Muhammad Mansha, who owns the country’s MCB Bank.
China is now home to 64 billionaires – the most of any country outside the US – with 27 of them reaching the $1bn mark for the first time. >>> James Quinn, US Business Editor | Wednesday, March 10, 2010
