Carlos Slim Widens Lead as World’s Richest Man
By DEALBOOKJin Lee/Bloomberg News Carlos Slim Helú, picked up 420.5 billion in wealth in the last year.
When it comes to the race for money, Carlos Slim Helú, the world’s richest man, has surged even further into the lead. The Mexican billionaire accumulated an additional $20.5 billion over the last year, bringing his total fortune to $74 billion, according the Forbes annual rankings of the world’s billionaires.Mr. Slim has held the top spot since last year, when he pushed aside the two past leaders, Bill Gates and Warren E. Buffett. Still, both men added $3 billion to their wealth since the last Forbes billionaires survey. Mr. Gates, the richest man in the United States, is worth $56 billion, while Mr. Buffett is worth $50 billion, according to the magazine.
Forbes attributes the stunning gains in Mr. Slim’s estimated wealth to 19 percent rise in the Mexican stock market, a stronger peso and successful mining and real estate spin-offs from his conglomerate, Grupo Carso. The magazine notes that his family’s stake in América Móvil, the giant Latin American wireless operator, accounts for 62 percent of his fortune. Mr. Slim also owns significant stakes in other companies, including the retailer Saks and the New York Times Company.
Forbes notes that Mr. Gates, a founder of Microsoft, is no longer the world’s richest man because he has already given away $30 billion to his charitable foundation. He and Mr. Buffett, who runs Berkshire Hathaway, have pledged to give away a majority of their wealth by the time they die, as have 57 other wealthy people who have signed the Giving Pledge.
Bernard Arnault, the chairman of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, easily remains the richest European at No. 4 on the list. Forbes reports his wealth jumped $13.5 million over the last year, to $41 billion. Earlier this week, the French luxury goods company agreed to buy Bulgari, the Italian jeweler, for $6 billion including debt.
Rounding out the top five is Lawrence J. Ellison, the chief executive of Oracle, whose fortune surged $11.5 billion, to $39.5 billion.
The richest New Yorker on the list remains David Koch, who supplanted Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg last year. Mr. Koch and his brother Charles Koch of Wichita, Kan., each have fortunes of $22 billion, as gains of $4.5 billion apiece pushed them up to No. 18 on the Forbes list.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bloomberg dropped to 30th place from 23rd on the list, as his fortune showed little gain at $18.1 billion. Like Mr. Gates and Mr. Buffett, Mr. Bloomberg is a major philanthropist.
Among the Wall Street notables, the hedge fund manager John Paulson came in 39th on the Forbes list with $16 billion, a gain of $5 billion over 2010. The financier George Soros dropped to 46th from 39th, although his wealth rose moderately, to $14.5 billion. And the financier Carl C. Icahn came in 61st, down from 59th, even though his wealth rose $2 billion since last year, to $12.5 billion.
In percentage terms, the biggest gainer in the United States was Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, whose wealth rose 238 percent over the last year, to $13.5 billion.
All told, there are 1,210 billionaires on the Forbes list, the most ever, whose combined wealth totals $4.5 trillion.
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The MasterLiving Blog
