Do you know who is the richest person in the world ?……….
William Gates III
Rank: 1 Net Worth: $40.0 bil, Fortune: self made
Software visionary regains title as the world’s richest man despite losing $18 billion in the past 12 months. Stepped down from day-to-day duties at Microsoft last summer to devote his talents and riches to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Organization’s assets were $30 billion in January; annual letter lauds endowment manager Michael Larson for limiting last year’s losses to 20%. Gates decided to increase donations in 2009 to $3.8 billion, up 15% from 2008. Dedicated to fighting hunger in developing countries, improving education in America’s high schools and developing vaccines against malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. Appointed Microsoft Office veteran Jeffrey Raikes chief exec of Gates Foundation in September. Gates remains Microsoft chairman. Sells shares each quarter, redeploys proceeds via investment vehicle Cascade; more than half of fortune invested outside Microsoft. Stock down 45% in past 12 months. "Creative capitalist" wants companies to match profit making with doing good.
Warren Buffett
Rank: 2 Net Worth: $37.0 bil, Fortune: self made
Last year America’s most beloved investor was the world’s richest man . This year he has to settle for second place after losing $25 billion in 12 months. Shares of Berkshire Hathaway down 45% since last March. Injected billions of dollars into Goldman Sachs, GE in exchange for preferred stock last fall; propped up insurance firm Swiss Re in February with $2.6 billion infusion. Admits he made some "dumb" investment mistakes in 2008. Upbeat about America’s future: "Our economic system has worked extraordinarily well over time. It has unleashed human potential as no other system has, and it will continue to do so." Scoffs at Wall Street’s over-reliance on "history-based" models: "If merely looking up past financial data would tell you what the future holds, the Forbes 400 would consist of librarians." Son of Nebraska politician delivered newspapers as a boy. Filed first tax return at age 13, claiming $35 deduction for bicycle. Studied under value investing guru Benjamin Graham at Columbia. Took over textile firm Berkshire Hathaway 1965. Today holding company invested in insurance (Geico, General Re), jewelry (Borsheim’s), utilities (MidAmerican Energy), food (Dairy Queen, See’s Candies). Also has noncontrolling stakes in Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo.
Carlos Slim Helu & family
Rank: 3 Net Worth: $35.0 bil, Fortune: self made
Economic downturn and plunging peso shaved $25 billion from the fortune of Latin America’s richest man. Global recession testing his ability to live up to the principles he sets for his employees: "Maintain austerity in times of fat cows." Son of a Lebanese immigrant bought fixed line operator Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex) in 1990; now controls 90% of Mexico’s telephone landlines. Would be a billionaire based on his dividends alone. Biggest holding: $16 billion stake in America Movil, Latin America’s largest mobile phone company with 173 million customers. America Movil and Telmex reportedly planning to jointly invest $4 billion to bolster telecom infrastructure in Latin America. Buying up cheap media, energy and retail assets. Last year took stakes in New York Times Co., former billionaire Anthony O’Reilly’s Independent News & Media and Bronco Drilling; also increased position in Saks. Baseball statistics aficionado, art collector
Lawrence Ellison
Rank: 4 Net Worth: $22.5 bil, Fortune: self made
Database titan continues to engulf the competition; Oracle has racked up 49 acquisitions in the past 4 years. Bought BEA Systems for $8.5 billion last year. Still sitting on $7 billion in cash. Revenues up 11% to $10.9 billion in the six months ended November 30; profits also up 11% to $2.4 billion. Stock down 25% in past 12 months. Invested $125 million in Web software outfit Netsuite; took public in 2007, stock has fallen 80% since. His shares still worth $300 million. Chicago native studied physics at U. of Chicago, didn’t graduate. Started Oracle in 1977. Public 1986, a day before Microsoft. Owns 453-foot Rising Sun; built a smaller leisure boat because superyacht is hard to park. Squabbling in court with Swiss boating billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli over terms of next America’s Cup. Recently unveiled hulking 90-foot trimaran he intends to use to win it.
Ingvar Kamprad & family
Rank: 5 Net Worth: $22.0 bil, Fortune: self made
Peddled matches, fish, pens, Christmas cards and other items by bicycle as a teenager. Started selling furniture in 1947. Opened first Ikea store 50 years ago; stores’s name is a combination of initials of his first and last name, his family farm and the nearest village. Retired in 1986; company’s "senior adviser" still reportedly works tirelessly on his brand. Discount retailer now sells 9,500 items in 36 countries; prints catalog in 27 languages. Revenues up 7% to $27.4 billion in fiscal year 2008. Opened tenth store in China this February; planning to open first in Dominican Republic later this year. Three sons all work at the company. Thrifty entrepreneur flies economy class, frequents cheap restaurants and furnishes his home mostly with Ikea products.
Karl Albrecht
Rank: 6 Net Worth: $21.5 bil, Fortune:self made
Source:Aldi , Age:89, Country Of Citizenship:Germany,Residence:Mulheim an der Ruhr
Industry:Retail.
Germany’s richest person owns discount supermarket giant Aldi Sud. Retailer faring well amid economic downturn; analysts expect its 2008 sales to be up 9.4% to $33.7 billion. Sales in the U.S. up estimated 20% last year to $7 billion. Plans to open 75 U.S. stores in 2009, including first in New York City. With younger brother, Theo, transformed their mother’s corner grocery store into Aldi after World War II. Brothers split ownership in 1961; Karl took the stores in southern Germany, plus the rights to the brand in the U.K., Australia and the U.S. Theo got northern Germany and the rest of Europe. Retired from daily operations. Fiercely private: little known about him other than that he apparently raises orchids and plays golf.
Mukesh Ambani
Rank: 7 Net Worth: $19.5 bil, Fortune: inherited and growing
Oversees Reliance Industries, India’s most valuable company by market cap despite stock falling 40% in past year. Merging his Reliance Petroleum with flagship Reliance Industries. As part of deal, will exercise right to buy back Chevron’s 5% stake in Reliance Petroleum at $1.20 per share—the same price at which he sold it 3 years ago. Today the stock trades for $1.80 a share. Increased stake in Reliance Industries in October; paid $3.4 billion to convert 120 million preferential warrants into shares. Reliance Petroleum refinery on India’s western coast began operating in December despite falling global demand and declining margins. Late father Dhirubhai founded Reliance and built it into a massive conglomerate. After he died Mukesh and his brother, Anil, ran the family business together for a brief time. But siblings feuded over control; mother eventually brokered split of assets. Brothers may be looking to bury hatchet; played joint hosts at mother’s recent 75th-birthday bash. Has yet to move into his 27-story home that he’s building at a reported cost of $1 billion. Ardent fan of Bollywood films. Wife, Nita, oversees school named after his father.
Lakshmi Mittal
Rank: 8 Net Worth: $19.3 bil, Fortune: inherited and growing
Indian immigrant heads world’s largest steel company; ArcelorMittal was formed via hostile takeover 3 years ago. Stock in company makes up bulk of his fortune; shares at a 4-year low with steel prices down 75% since last summer. Company forced to pay heavy fines after a French antitrust investigation found 10 companies guilty of price-fixing in European steel markets. Arcelor posted $2.6 billion loss in most recent quarter; announced plans to slow acquisitions, cut capital expenditures, pay down debt. Started in family steel business in the 1970s, branched out on his own in 1994. Initially bought up steel mills on the cheap in Eastern Europe. Company bought 19.9% stake in Australia’s Macarthur Coal last year. Also owns pieces of Mumbai’s Indiabulls Group, London’s RAB Capital; owns stake in, sits on board of Goldman Sachs. Holds substantial cash; owns 12-bedroom mansion in London’s posh Kensington neighborhood.
Theo Albrecht
Rank: 9 Net Worth:Net Worth:$18.8 bil, Fortune:self made
Source:Aldi, Trader Joe’s, Age:87, Country Of Citizenship:Germany
Residence:Foehr, Industry:Retail
Runs discount supermarket group Aldi Nord; firm holding up amid economic downturn. Sales expected to hit $31 billion in 2008. After World War II he and older brother Karl transformed their mother’s corner grocery into Aldi. Brothers split ownership in 1961; Karl took the stores in southern Germany, plus the rights to the brand in the U.K., Australia and the U.S. Theo got the northern Germany stores and the rest of Europe. Unable to operate Aldi stores in U.S., Theo developed discount food store Trader Joe’s; now has more than 320 U.S. stores. Also owns stake in Supervalu. Became a recluse after being kidnapped for 17 days in 1971; said to collect old typewriters; loves golf.
Amancio Ortega
e="Georgia">Rank: 10, Net Worth: $18.3 bil ,Fortune: self made
Railway worker’s son started as a gofer in a shirt store. With then-wife Rosalia Mera, also now a billionaire, started making dressing gowns and lingerie in their living room. Business became one of world’s most successful apparel manufacturers. Today Inditex has more than 4,000 stores in 71 countries. Sales: $12.3 billion. Ortega is chairman. Company exported its cheap chic Zara stores to 4 new markets last year: Ukraine, South Korea, Montenegro and Honduras. Stock up 1% in past 12 months, but fortune down because of weak euro. Also has personal investments in gas, tourism, banks and real estate. Owns properties in Madrid, Paris, London, Lisbon, plus a luxury hotel and apartment complex in Miami, a horse-jumping circuit, and an interest in a soccer league. Shuns neckties and fanfare. Daughter Marta works for Inditex; recent speculation suggests she is being groomed to eventually replace her father.
More on The World’s Billionaires
Related posts:
i wish i was one of them…………..wow
what will it take to become rich like you?
No one is richest and poorest in this world, all is equal behind Allah.But the difference is the money.Money can’t buy happiness and a square yard in heaven.
the persons are magnificiant…. i will be learn more things about his history…
I would like 4 all D richest men in d world 2 help d poorest countries like sierra leone n zimbabwe
proud 2 have 2 people in top 10 richest person.
Let them brush their teeth first and then be proud ….
i will like to meet all of them in person i mean i will like to make them all my mentor for them to make that list of top 10 richest men in the whole wide world.
Will first you would have to graduate some type of grammar school because “i will like to meet all of them in person i mean i will like to make them ” will should be would.
I wish they would sponsor me to go through my academic progress so that at i can also be rich and help the needy! All in all may God bless them!
I wish they would sponsor me to go through my academic progress so that at least I can also be rich and help the needy! All in all may God bless them!
Theres your problem right there!, going to school only gets you a job, stop relying on school to make you wealthy, it will never happen. University means nothing people, stop being tricked…
Is there any idea to become a 11 richest person,MYSELF
Yes!! Get some monopoly money and you’ll be the 11th lol…for real! if u be the 11th i wanna be the 12th
THE ARE THE GREATEST IN THIER FEILD. A PERSON HAS TO BE REALLY LUCK ,2 BE 1 OF THEM.
I have dream that i will one day be like them and change the world a round me
I thought bill gates was riches in the world.
who is william gates III??
ie William Henry Gates III
William Gates III is Bill Gates
wow! really luckiest person they are. I wish i would be one of them.
i want to become one of them….
I believe the individuals who self made thier inheritence deserved everything for the hard work. The ones who inherited, good luck in the future to uphold your lucky fortune. Hard work always pays off.
i want the great richest Man to help me in my Education,l don’t have money to go to school,l want to help my community and the whole my country.and windows. i will like to be among the richest man in the whole world. l believed God will do it in the name of Jesus Christ .Amen.God will bless you the great people.Amen.
Money is power in this world, it answers and solves problems. I believed that the true richest is in heaven were all things is completed in JESUS CHRIST. We all are going to die one day and we can not take our richest with us. There is more than just been rich. The Bible is the best book of wealth. Thank you.
one day i wnt to be like one of them ,,,,,,,and my friend vivek also
bill gates got his riches by stealing the software from his friend.he hired two mens in his friends company and making them to steal the microsoft windows and launchig it by doing few changes
Thats life and business nothing in life nor business is fair or free. Its everyman for themselves show mw a business person who has not stepped on anyones toes to get where they are today. You know why you cant because they dont exist!!!
this is really cool i would help all the people in africa
maggie walden is a loser
I”LL be the NEXT
weirdo, you cant be a billionaire just by saying it you have to have moola, dough, cash, money lol keep dreaming loser
yes you’ll be…and i am gonna also be the richest person but faster than others….if u want also to be rich faster than i am here…
I am African,the first 10 richest please look at Africa contries most especially our country Guinea.
but hey we all gonna die 1 day so whats all that billions for any way?as long as you got enough to live i think its all good.my oppinnion any way!!!!
they should think about poorty of the africa
weirdo, you cant be a billionaire just by saying it you have to have moola, dough, cash, money lol keep dreaming
after a year i will be there in the top 10 reachest person list.
so be aware frm me
i wish iwill be 1 of this top 10 world richest if god say yes.
watch out for me in the next 5 years i will be among the top 10 richest people in the world.
they all look old mad and unhappy.♥I like my life the way it is♥!
yes yes me tooo i agree whit you
Indeed they are realy been blessed. If any or all of them could help me in my educatoinal career…I’ll be very grateful.
I am going to be the richest man in the world,For those who want to be one of the richest in the world just believe that you will be and imagine yourself already a very rich person,that will keep you happy for know.
why are the old people only rich us kids deserve to be rich too and what is with the two brown guys?
hamara tata ji kidhar gaye
I want to be like these.
If Gods Want’s that’s.
That Day Comes True.
Iwnsha Allah after soon year i will be there in the top 10 reachest person list.
so be aware frm me
I hope i was one of them but one day i would be there.
They are so cool..Wish some of them or one of them would like to collection Handmade Silk Carpet.And buy some from our factory! LOL….
what shall profit a man if HE gain the whole world and loss his own soul???
Why does everyone wish to be rich? Does monetary wealth equal emotional happiness? Also, who decided that having a lot of money meant you were rich? Who constituted the definition of being rich?
I agree with Mario Clark in ways. you can’t bring your riches with you when you die. these riches are yours temporarily.
I am very happiest person in the world.. i am very happy with the way i live.. in that sense i am telling that i am the world most richest person…
im an African that have a nice tallent on football,but have no manenger.i am 18 and in the high school doing civil engineering.i am pleading for ur help,thanks
i now you are very rich one day i will be a very richest person in the whole universe
got it
Congratulations to you all. I hope one day my name is on the top ten richest people in the world.
i dont bilieve in what i’ve just read!! the only purpose in your life is to becoming rich?? i fell shame! that’s why the humanity suffers! coz of the capitalism system which makes this inequality among us!
Now everybody knows Indian values .Really I am proud to be an INDIAN. Hands of INDIAN richest people. Definitely in 2010 top 5 richest people Indian will be NO-1. I love INDIAN
i like who likes indian….we should also try to make country proud of us….
i like who likes indians…we should also try to make country proud of us…..
i like who like indians….
i know they are fame person but i will sit in same place ………..nd i have it in me…………….got it…
i think riches is n ot a privilage but a callenge
it is bad to live without money but it is a shame to die with money
money is made to pass though man, not a property to be kept.
try to improve the liife of the next person close to u with your money if you have it
i also wanted to be rich,. u people r really great ……
well….congrats u all…..1 day i also b 1 of them
I wish I was one of them …….