William Gates III
Rank: 1 Net Worth: $40.0 bil, Fortune: cocky made
william-gates
Software abstracted regains appellation as the world’s richest man admitting accident $18 billion in the accomplished 12 months. Stepped bottomward from circadian duties at Microsoft aftermost summertime to allot his talents and abundance to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Organization’s assets were $30 billion in January; anniversary letter lauds award administrator Michael Larson for attached aftermost year’s losses to 20%. Gates absitively to access donations in 2009 to $3.8 billion, up 15% from 2008. Dedicated to angry ache in developing countries, convalescent apprenticeship in America’s aerial schools and developing vaccines adjoin malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. Appointed Microsoft Office adept Jeffrey Raikes arch exec of Gates Foundation in September. Gates charcoal Microsoft chairman. Sells shares anniversary quarter, redeploys gain via advance agent Cascade; added than bisected of affluence invested alfresco Microsoft. Banal bottomward 45% in accomplished 12 months. "Creative capitalist" wants companies to bout accumulation authoritative with accomplishing good.
Warren Buffett
Rank: 2 Net Worth: $37.0 bil, Fortune: cocky made
warren-buffett
Last year America’s best admired broker was the world’s richest man . This year he has to achieve for additional abode afterwards accident $25 billion in 12 months. Shares of Berkshire Hathaway bottomward 45% aback aftermost March. Injected billions of dollars into Goldman Sachs, GE in barter for adopted banal aftermost fall; propped up allowance close Swiss Re in February with $2.6 billion infusion. Admits he fabricated some "dumb" advance mistakes in 2008. Upbeat about America’s future: "Our bread-and-butter arrangement has formed abnormally able-bodied over time. It has unleashed animal abeyant as no added arrangement has, and it will abide to do so." Scoffs at Wall Street’s over-reliance on "history-based" models: "If abandoned attractive up accomplished banking abstracts would acquaint you what the approaching holds, the Forbes 400 would abide of librarians." Son of Nebraska baby-kisser delivered newspapers as a boy. Filed aboriginal tax acknowledgment at age 13, claiming $35 answer for bicycle. Advised beneath amount advance authority Benjamin Graham at Columbia. Took over bolt close Berkshire Hathaway 1965. Today captivation aggregation invested in allowance (Geico, General Re), adornment (Borsheim’s), utilities (MidAmerican Energy), aliment (Dairy Queen, See’s Candies). Additionally has noncontrolling stakes in Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo.
Carlos Slim Helu & family
Rank: 3 Net Worth: $35.0 bil, Fortune: cocky made
carlos-slim-helu
Economic abatement and bank peso baldheaded $25 billion from the affluence of Latin America’s richest man. All-around recession testing his adeptness to alive up to the attempt he sets for his employees: "Maintain acerbity in times of fat cows." Son of a Lebanese immigrant bought anchored band abettor Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex) in 1990; now controls 90% of Mexico’s blast landlines. Would be a billionaire based on his assets alone. Biggest holding: $16 billion pale in America Movil, Latin America’s better adaptable buzz aggregation with 173 actor customers. America Movil and Telmex reportedly planning to accordingly advance $4 billion to bolster telecom basement in Latin America. Buying up bargain media, activity and retail assets. Aftermost year took stakes in Fresh York Times Co., above billionaire Anthony O’Reilly’s Independent News & Media and Bronco Drilling; additionally added position in Saks. Baseball statistics aficionado, art collector
Lawrence Ellison
Rank: 4 Net Worth: $22.5 bil, Fortune: cocky made
lawrence-ellison
Database titan continues to absorb the competition; Oracle has racked up 49 acquisitions in the accomplished 4 years. Bought BEA Systems for $8.5 billion aftermost year. Still sitting on $7 billion in cash. Revenues up 11% to $10.9 billion in the six months concluded November 30; profits additionally up 11% to $2.4 billion. Banal bottomward 25% in accomplished 12 months. Invested $125 actor in Webcomputer application accouterments Netsuite; took accessible in 2007, banal has collapsed 80% since. His shares still account $300 million. Chicago built-in advised physics at U. of Chicago, didn’t graduate. Started Oracle in 1977. Accessible 1986, a day afore Microsoft. Owns 453-foot Rising Sun; congenital a abate leisure baiter because superyacht is adamantine to park. Squabbling in cloister with Swiss canoeing billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli over agreement of abutting America’s Cup. Recently apparent ample 90-foot trimaran he intends to use to win it.
Ingvar Kamprad & family
Rank: 5 Net Worth: $22.0 bil, Fortune: cocky made
ingvar-kamprad
Peddled matches, fish, pens, Christmas cards and added items by bike as a teenager. Started affairs appliance in 1947. Opened aboriginal Ikea abundance 50 years ago; stores’s name is a aggregate of cast of his aboriginal and aftermost name, his ancestors acreage and the abutting village. Retired in 1986; company’s "senior adviser" still reportedly works endlessly on his brand. Abatement banker now sells 9,500 items in 36 countries; prints archive in 27 languages. Revenues up 7% to $27.4 billion in budgetary year 2008. Opened tenth abundance in China this February; planning to accessible aboriginal in Dominican Republic afterwards this year. Three sons all assignment at the company. Thrifty administrator flies abridgement class, frequents bargain restaurants and furnishes his home mostly with Ikea products.
Karl Albrecht
Rank: 6 Net Worth: $21.5 bil, Fortune:self made
karl-albrecht
Source:Aldi , Age:89, Country Of Citizenship:Germany,Residence:Mulheim an der Ruhr
Industry:Retail.
Germany’s richest actuality owns abatement bazaar behemothic Aldi Sud. Banker faring able-bodied amidst bread-and-butter downturn; analysts apprehend its 2008 sales to be up 9.4% to $33.7 billion. Sales in the U.S. up estimated 20% aftermost year to $7 billion. Affairs to accessible 75 U.S. aliment in 2009, including aboriginal in Fresh York City. With adolescent brother, Theo, adapted their mother’s bend grocery abundance into Aldi afterwards World War II. Brothers breach buying in 1961; Karl took the aliment in southern Germany, additional the rights to the cast in the U.K., Australia and the U.S. Theo got arctic Germany and the blow of Europe. Retired from circadian operations. Fiercely private: little accepted about him added than that he allegedly raises orchids and plays golf.
Mukesh Ambani
Rank: 7 Net Worth: $19.5 bil, Fortune: affiliated and growing
mukesh-ambani
Oversees Reliance Industries, India’s best admired aggregation by bazaar cap admitting banal falling 40% in accomplished year. Merging his Reliance Petroleum with flagship Reliance Industries. As allotment of deal, will exercise appropriate to shop for aback Chevron’s 5% pale in Reliance Petroleum at $1.20 per share—the aforementioned amount at which he awash it 3 years ago. Today the banal trades for $1.80 a share. Added pale in Reliance Industries in October; paid $3.4 billion to catechumen 120 actor best warrants into shares. Reliance Petroleum refinery on India’s western bank began operating in December admitting falling all-around appeal and crumbling margins. Late ancestor Dhirubhai founded Reliance and congenital it into a massive conglomerate. Afterwards he died Mukesh and his brother, Anil, ran the ancestors business calm for a abrupt time. But ancestors feuded over control; mother eventually brokered breach of assets. Brothers may be attractive to coffin hatchet; played collective hosts at mother’s contempo 75th-birthday bash. Has yet to move into his 27-story home that he’s architecture at a appear amount of $1 billion. Ardent fan of Bollywood films. Wife, Nita, oversees academy called afterwards his father.
Lakshmi Mittal
Rank: 8 Net Worth: $19.3 bil, Fortune: affiliated and growing
lakshmi-mittal
Indian immigrant active world’s better animate company; ArcelorMittal was formed via adverse takeover 3 years ago. Banal in aggregation makes up aggregate of his fortune; shares at a 4-year low with animate prices bottomward 75% aback aftermost summer. Aggregation affected to pay abundant fines afterwards a French antitrust analysis begin 10 companies accusable of price-fixing in European animate markets. Arcelor acquaint $2.6 billion accident in best contempo quarter; appear affairs to apathetic acquisitions, cut basic expenditures, pay bottomward debt. Started in ancestors animate business in the 1970s, angled out on his own in 1994. Initially bought up animate mills on the bargain in Eastern Europe. Aggregation bought 19.9% pale in Australia’s Macarthur Coal aftermost year. Additionally owns pieces of Mumbai’s Indiabulls Group, London’s RAB Capital; owns pale in, sits on lath of Goldman Sachs. Holds abundant cash; owns 12-bedroom abode in London’s chichi Kensington neighborhood.
Theo Albrecht
Rank: 9 Net Worth:Net Worth:$18.8 bil, Fortune:self made
theo-albrecht
Source:Aldi, Trader Joe’s, Age:87, Country Of Citizenship:Germany
Residence:Foehr, Industry:Retail
Runs abatement bazaar accumulation Aldi Nord; close captivation up amidst bread-and-butter downturn. Sales accepted to hit $31 billion in 2008. Afterwards World War II he and earlier brother Karl adapted their mother’s bend grocery into Aldi. Brothers breach buying in 1961; Karl took the aliment in southern Germany, additional the rights to the cast in the U.K., Australia and the U.S. Theo got the arctic Germany aliment and the blow of Europe. Unable to accomplish Aldi aliment in U.S., Theo developed abatement aliment abundance Trader Joe’s; now has added than 320 U.S. stores. Additionally owns pale in Supervalu. Became a anchoress afterwards actuality kidnapped for 17 canicule in 1971; said to aggregate old typewriters; loves golf.
Amancio Ortega
e="Georgia">Rank: 10, Net Worth: $18.3 bil ,Fortune: cocky made
amancio-ortega
Railway worker’s son started as a abettor in a shirt store. With then-wife Rosalia Mera, additionally now a billionaire, started authoritative bathrobe gowns and lingerie in their active room. Business became one of world’s best acknowledged accoutrement manufacturers. Today Inditex has added than 4,000 aliment in 71 countries. Sales: $12.3 billion. Ortega is chairman. Aggregation exported its bargain chichi Zara aliment to 4 fresh markets aftermost year: Ukraine, South Korea, Montenegro and Honduras. Banal up 1% in accomplished 12 months, but affluence bottomward because of anemic euro. Additionally has claimed investments in gas, tourism, banks and absolute estate. Owns backdrop in Madrid, Paris, London, Lisbon, additional a affluence auberge and accommodation circuitous in Miami, a horse-jumping circuit, and an absorption in a soccer league. Shuns neckties and fanfare. Daughter Marta works for Inditex; contempo belief suggests she is actuality clean-cut to eventually alter her father.
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