Mexican telecom giant Carlos Slim is the richest man in the world, according to the latest list released by Forbes magazine.
A list of the richest people in the world is out, and Carlos Slim just managed to edge out Bill Gates by a meager $500 million. Though, a marginal increase in the value of Microsoft shares would see Gates leap past Slim by a big margin.
This year, our planet has more billionaires and richer people around. The world saw an increase in the number of billionaires from 793 to 1,011. The highest at a point of time was just recently in the year 2008, at 1,125. The United States of America has around 40% of the total billionaires worldwide, more than any other country, and they are followed by China. Previously, Russia had the 2nd most after the US. Likewise, at the city level, New York has more billionaires than any other city in the world. Also, 89 out of the total billionaires are women. Considering the age factor, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of social networking website Facebook, is the youngest billionaire, at 25, while Walter Haefner from Switzerland is the oldest at 99 years of age.
Top Ten Richest People in the World
| Rank | Individual | Company Name | Net Worth (in billion USD) |
| 1 | Carlos Slim | America Movil | 53.5 |
| 2 | Bill Gates | Microsoft | 53.0 |
| 3 | Warren Buffett | Berkshire Hathaway | 47.0 |
| 4 | Mukesh Ambani | Reliance Industries | 29.0 |
| 5 | Lakshmi Mittal | ArcelorMittal | 28.7 |
| 6 | Lawrence Ellison | Oracle | 28.0 |
| 7 | Bernard Arnault | LVMH | 27.5 |
| 8 | Eike Batista | EBX, MMX, OGX, MPX, LLX, Mr. Lam, Porto de Peruibe | 27.0 |
| 9 | Amancio Ortega | Inditex | 25.0 |
| 10 | Karl Albrecht | Aldi | 23.5 |
While the United States still dominates the list, Asian billionaires seem to have swelled in numbers. On the other hand, the numbers from Europe have been pretty stagnant.