Rich Revealed: Record Year For Billionaires

Last Updated 23:44 07/03/2012
Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim has been named the world's richest person for the third year in a row with a fortune estimated at $69bn (£43.8bn).
Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, 56, held on to second spot with a net worth of $61bn (£38.77bn) in Forbes' 25th anniversary issue of its world billionaire rankings.

He was followed by US investment guru and head of the Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate Warren Buffett, 81, with a net worth of $44bn (£27.96bn).

A record 1,226 billionaires made the list this year, up from 1,210 in 2011, with an average net worth of $3.7bn (£2.35bn).

They came from 58 countries, with most hailing from the US, followed by the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East and Africa.

There was plenty of movement on the list, with 128 billionaires entering for the first time and 117 dropping off.

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, 27, continued his rise up the ranks with a net worth of $17.5bn (£11.12bn), making him the 35th richest person in the world.

Last month, the social networking site filed paperwork to become a public company, seeking to raise $5bn (£3.1bn) in the largest floatation ever by an internet company on Wall Street.

The most notable people to leave this year's list were Harry Potter author JK Rowling and Jim Balsillie, former co-chief executive of Research in Motion, the maker of BlackBerry.
The first British billionaire listed is at number 78 - the Duke of Westminster, Gerald Grosvenor, one of the UK's biggest landowners.

Virgin boss Richard Branson, industrial design innovator James Dyson and high street retail tycoon Philip Green and his wife Cristina came in at number 255, each with a fortune of $4.2bn (£2.66bn).

Steve Forbes, chairman and editor in chief of Forbes Media, said he believed British entrepreneurs should be performing better.

He told Jeff Randall Live on Sky News: "I think one way to get more entrepreneurial activity in UK is to drop your very high capital gains tax rate.

"We did that 30 years ago which helped Silicon Valley blossom.

"I hope Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne do the same for the UK.

"You're not moving very fast and you should be because you have all the ingredients for good growth."