Richest People In The World
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 +0.00% 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.
Zuckerberg is also the
leader in a youth revolution that has minted 46 billionaires under the age of
40. The youngest billionaire on the planet is Evan Spiegel, 24, co-founder of
photo- messaging app Snapchat. California, driven by Silicon Valley tech
companies, has spawned 23 new billionaires, including cofounders of car-hailing
service Uber cofounders Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp, and their first
employee Ryan Graves. Elizabeth Holmes, who runs blood-testing firm Theranos,
debuts on the global list as the youngest self-made woman at age 31. The state now has
131 individuals with 10-figure net worths, more than any other country besides
China and the U.S.
The year’s biggest loser in dollar terms is Aliko Dangote of
Nigeria, whose fortune dropped to $14.7 billion from $25 billion last year,
propelled downward by a weaker Nigerian currency and shrinking demand for
cement, his largest asset. He still retains the title of Africa’s richest man.
The country that was lost the most ground by far was Russia, which now has 88
billionaires down from 111, less than not just the U.S. and China but now also
Germany and India.
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