Despite plunging oil prices and a weakened euro, the ranks of the
world’s wealthiest defied global economic turmoil and expanded yet
again. For
our 29th annual guide to the globe’s richest, we found a record 1,826
billionaires with an aggregate net worth of $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4
trillion a year ago. The total includes 290
newcomers, 71 of whom hail from China. Youth are on the rise: A record
46 among the ranks are under age 40. One earthward note: The average net
worth of list members came in at $3.86 billion, down $60 million from
2014.
Bill Gates
is once again the richest person on the planet, a title he’s held for
16 of the past 21 years. His fortune grew $3.2 billion since last year
to $79.2 billion, despite a gift of $1.5 billion in Microsoft MSFT +0.64% shares to The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in November 2014. Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico comes in again at No. 2 while revered American investor Warren Buffett took back the No. 3 spot from Spain’s Amancio Ortega
(now No. 4); not even the largest IPO in history was enough to beat the
Oracle of Omaha this year. Buffett was the list’s biggest gainer, up
$14.5 billion to $72.7 billion, thanks to Berkshire Hathaway’s rising
share price. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg moves up 5 spots to number 16,
his first time ranked among the world’s 20 richest. Ma and three other
Chinese are among the the biggest gainers and appear among the 50
richest on the list.Read More...
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