Thread: Carlos Slim Helu dethrones Bill Gates as world's richest man

Carlos Slim Helu dethrones Bill Gates as world's richest man
Updated 21m ago
By Matthew Miller and Luisa Kroll, Forbes.com

For the third time in three years, the world has a new richest man.
Riding surging prices of his various telecom holdings, including giant mobile outfit America Movil (AMX), Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu has beaten out Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to become the wealthiest person on earth and nab the top spot on the 2010 Forbes list of the World's Billionaires.

IN PICTURES: 2010 Forbes list of the world's billionaires

Slim's fortune has swelled to an estimated $53.5 billion, up $18.5 billion in 12 months. Shares of America Movil, of which Slim owns a $23 billion stake, were up 35% in a year.

That massive hoard of scratch puts him ahead of Microsoft (MSFT) cofounder Bill Gates, who had held the title of world's richest 14 of the past 15 years.

Gates, now worth $53 billion, is ranked second in the world. He is up $13 billion from a year ago as shares of Microsoft rose 50% in 12 months. Gates' holdings in his personal investment vehicle Cascade also soared with the rest of the markets.

Buffett's fortune jumped $10 billion to $47 billion on rising shares of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB). He ranks third.

The Oracle of Omaha shrewdly invested $5 billion in Goldman Sachs (GS) and $3 billion in General Electric (GE) amid the 2008 market collapse. He also recently acquired railroad giant Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI) for $26 billion.

In his annual shareholder letter Buffett wrote, "We've put a lot of money to work during the chaos of the last two years. When it's raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble."

Many plutocrats did just that. Indeed, last year's wealth wasteland has become a billionaire bonanza. Most of the richest people on the planet have seen their fortunes soar in the past year.

This year the World's Billionaires have an average net worth of $3.5 billion, up $500 million in 12 months. The world has 1,011 10-figure titans, up from 793 a year ago but still shy of the record 1,125 in 2008. Of those billionaires on last year's list, only 12% saw their fortunes decline.

U.S. billionaires still dominate the ranks — Americans account for 40% of the world's billionaires.

The U.S. commands 38% of the collective $3.6 trillion net worth of the world's richest.

Of the 97 new members of the list, only 16% are from the U.S. By contrast, Asia made big gains. The region added 104 moguls and now has just 14 fewer than Europe, thanks to several large public offerings and swelling stock markets.

The new billionaires include American Isaac Perlmutter, who flipped Marvel Entertainment to Disney (DIS) for $4 billion last December. The Spider-Man mogul netted nearly $900 million in cash and 20 million shares of Disney in the transaction.

Also new to the ranking: 27 billionaires from China, including Li Shufu, whose automaker, Geely, announced plans to buy Swedish brand Volvo from Ford in December. The deal is expected to close in March 2010.

Finland and Pakistan both welcomed their first billionaires.

For the first time China (including Hong Kong) has the most billionaires outside the U.S. with 89.

Russia has 62 billionaires, 28 of them returnees who had fallen off last year's list amid a meltdown in commodities. Total returnees to the list this year: 164.

Eleven countries have at least double the number of billionaires they had a year ago, including China, India, Turkey and South Korea.

Thirty members of last year's list fell out of the billionaire's club. Moguls who couldn't make the cut: Iceland's Thor Bjorgolfsson, Russia's Boris Berezovsky and Saudi Arabia's Maan Al-Sanea.

Another 13 members of last year's list died. Among the deceased: real estate developer Melvin Simon and glass tycoon William Davidson.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2 ... ires_N.htm

RELATED

Carlos Slim tops Bill Gates as world's richest man

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-190826.html

Better get your latest and greatest M$ software, before Bill raises the rates! He has a reputation to keep!

One lone Computer replaced how many jobs? I remember walking into my Dad's office when I was a child, and seeing an office full of typists, some thirty people plucking away on a typewriter. They were mostly replaced with a computer or two. Computers reduced the labor force!

How many mexicans are living in the U.S.? Some 50 million illegals alone? How many legal former mexicans have migrated to the U.S. in the last ten years? Maybe they are running away from greedy people such as Carlos Slim. I wonder what Carlos Slim's take is on Aztlan?

What is so good about an excess of money, when the rest of the country is barely afloat? Does it give America an incentive to be good, or does it turn us into criminals? Greedy people are not healthy for any Countrys' economy! It's the reason why Countries like Haiti fail.

"When it's raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble."

Many plutocrats did just that. Indeed, last year's wealth wasteland has become a billionaire bonanza. Most of the richest people on the planet have seen their fortunes soar in the past year.

U.S. billionaires still dominate the ranks — Americans account for 40% of the world's billionaires.

The bailout certainly worked - for billionaires. How the heck do we get our share?

I wonder what Carlos Slim's take is on Aztlan?

He would rather keep the southwest part of the USA so his fellow citizens can keep taking our money and wiring it to Mexico, he gets a percentage of each wire transfer. Why do you think he bought the NY Times?

Originally Posted by Bowman

I wonder what Carlos Slim's take is on Aztlan?

He would rather keep the southwest part of the USA so his fellow citizens can keep taking our money and wiring it to Mexico, he gets a percentage of each wire transfer. Why do you think he bought the NY Times?

Oh! So he is part of the plan to destroy the Constitution, and hand over control of the U.S to the N.A.U.? All so he can dance around and say " Oh, look at me, I'm rich", like anybody cares.

I don't now about the rest of you but I figured out a long time ago that the only reason that I'm not rich is because appearently I'm not smart enough to figure out how to get rich.

And I will admit that I am a little jealous of people like Slim, not because he's rich and I'm not, but because he's smart enough to figure out how to get rich, and I'm not.

I have never seen one comment attributed to Slim about immigration or politics, so he must be to busy getting richer to be bothered with those things.

"Carlos Slim is one of the world’s most important philanthropists and most people have never heard about his humanitarian activities. He owns stock in more than 200 companies that employ more than 200,000 people in Latin America and beyond. He has used his resources to help develop the communities where his businesses are located. In his own country, Mexico, he has personally supported more than 165,000 young people in attending university, paid for numerous surgeries, provided equipment for rural schools and covered surety bonds for 50,000 people who were entitled to their freedom but could not afford. He recently created the Carso Institute for Health, and designed it to provide a new approach to health care in Mexico. He has four billion dollars of investments ready to promote education, health and other great challenges, and has recently announced an additional six billion dollar investment in several programs, including his Telmex Foundation."

Bill Clinton
Former President of the United States
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Social responsibility is a fundamental part of Carlos Slim Helú’s business strategy and culture, which is focused on maximizing the positive impact of his companies to benefit the communities where they operate, and contributing to the fight against poverty with nutrition, education and employment through aid programs from various foundations and institutes.

http://www.carlosslim.com/responsabilidad_ing.html

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helú has joined forces with a handful of local academic and ... genomic-medicine research effort to address public-health issues globally. ... Carlos Slim Helu ranks 3 on The World's Billionaires
2007 . ...
www.zimbio.com/Carlos+Slim+Helu