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On March 9, 2006, Forbes published their annual report on the world’s richest people. (Entitled: The World’s Billionaires) According to Forbes there were only 140 billionaires just 20 years ago, but the number rose to over 476 in the last 3 years and is now 793 in “06. India’s market grew by over 54% over the last 12 months and has now become the home to 10 billionaires. Other countries that recently got a boost in their economy include China and Russia. Bill Gates, the first on the list, has been number one for his twelfth consective year. (see link below for full list)
The Top Five: (Name – Country – Source – Value in Billions)
- William Gates – USA – Microsoft – $50
- Warren Buffet – USA – Berkshire – $42
- Carlos Slim Helu – Mexico – Telecom – $30
- Ingvar Kamprad – Sweden – Ikea – $28
- Lakshmi Mittal – India – Steel – $23
The next five people on the list are Paul Allen, Brenard Arnault, Bin Talal, Kenneth Thomson, and Li Ka-shing respectively. Another notable person is Albert von Thurn, 22, who is now the youngest billionaire. Twelve people who left the list last year returned for some more, while another 39 were dropped from it. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google, are both now valued at over $13 billion.
Links: The World’s Bilionaire (Forbes) | The Complete List
Related: Forbes’s Rich List | All Forbes’s Lists
