The world’s billionaires (Slim pickings for the UK)
Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is the richest person in the world for the second year in a row, with Russia and China boosting the ranks of the super-wealthy. Channel 4 News maps the billionaire boom.
At a time of inflation it is surely natural that the number of billionaires around the globe is on the way up too.
The latest survey of the super-rich, published annually by Forbes magazine, lists some 1,210 dollar billionaires – the most it has ever named.
Carlos Slim made more than 56 million dollars every day in 2010.
At the top, for the second year running, is the Mexican telecoms mogul Carlos Slim, with an astonishing personal wealth of 74 billion dollars. It’s been a good year for Mr Slim, who added 20.5 billion dollars to his fortune in the last 12 months alone.
That means he made more than 56 million dollars every day in 2010.
It widens the gap between him and his nearest rival on the list – Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
But as our map shows, the super-rich are spread around the globe: in the listing are 115 Chinese citizens and 101 Russians.