Carlos Slim world's richest man
Friday, 12 March 2010
Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecommunications billionaire with a net worth of $53.5bn, has been crowned the world's richest person by Forbes magazine - the first time in 16 years the post has been held by a non-American, reports agencies.
The annual Richest People list reflects the growing power of emerging economies, with Asia supplying most of the 97 billionaires making their debut on the list in 2010, minting 62 new contenders. Forbes said Asia trailed the number of European billionaires by only 14. The world's billionaires have gained $1.2 trillion in collective net worth since 2009, and now 56 countries have at least one billionaire among their citizens.
Riding surging prices of his various telecom holdings, including giant mobile outfit America Movil , Mexican tycoon Carlo 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. For the third time in three years, the world has a new richest man.
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 per cent in a year.
That massive hoard of scratch puts him ahead of Microsoft 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 per cent 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. He ranks third.
One factor in Slim's move to the top spot is that Gates and Buffett have given away chunks of their fortunes in charitable donations.
Slim has donated to several causes, but not on nearly the same level. In January, he announced a $65 million donation for genetic research on cancer, type 2 diabetes and kidney disease in Mexican and Latin American populations.
Speaking to reporters in 2005, Slim described his philosophy: "Wealth must be seen as a responsibility, not as a privilege. The responsibility is to create more wealth. It's like having an orchard; you have to give away the fruit, but not the trees."
Other billionaires include Mukesh Ambani, Lakshmi Mittal,Lawrence Ellison, Bernard Arnault, Eike Batista, Amancio Ortega and Karl Albrecht.
This year's top 10 richest also include two billionaires from India and one from Brazil.
This year the World's Billionaires have an average net worth of $3.5 billion, up $500 million in 12 months.
Forbes counted 1,011 billionaires from 55 countries, up from 793 last year, though still below the pre-crisis 1,125 listed in 2008.
Of those billionaires on last year's list, only 12 per cent saw their fortunes decline.
US billionaires still dominate the ranks--but their grip is slipping. Americans account for 40 per cent of the world's billionaires, down from 45 per cent a year ago.
The US commands 38 per cent of the collective $3.6 trillion net worth of the world's richest, down from 44 per cent a year ago.
Of the 97 new members of the list, only 16 per cent are from the US 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.
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.
The full list showed Taiwan tripling its number of billionaires to 18, Turkey more than doubling to 28, and Brazil increasing by 50 percent to 18. Russia also rebounded, almost doubling its number of billionaires to 62 after stock markets there recovered from severe setbacks.
Eleven countries have at least double the number of billionaires they had a year ago, including China, India, Turkey and South Korea.
Slim studied civil engineering and later built up the telephone monopoly Telmex after acquiring it from the government in 1990.
A widower with six children, Slim has handed over the daily operations of his companies to his three sons and business partners but remains a well-known public figure in Mexico.
He has recently made investments in telecommunications across the Americas, and have diversified his holding in areas of water and electric utilities.
That the single richest man on the list should come from Mexico has drawn frequent criticism given the country's ongoing battles against poverty.
"This is shameful," said Ernesto Villanueva, 45, of Mexico City. "This is part of what is wrong with the Mexican political system and the corruption in the circles of power, that allow there to be a few rich people and millions of poor."
While Mexico belongs to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, whose 30 members constitute the world's most important market economies, it is also a developing nation. More than 50 million of Mexico's 107 million people live in poverty, defined as not having enough money to meet housing, transport, education and other normal expenses. Extreme poverty - defined as not having money to buy enough food - afflicted 19.5 million of them.
But some Mexicans give Slim credit for knowing how to take advantage of the situation and make money.
"He was intelligent enough to get to where he is, while we, as a people, have never known how to unite ourselves," said 17-year-old student Manuel Santibanez.
Arturo Elias Ayub, the billionaire's son-in-law who is an executive at Telmex, welcomed Slim's arrival at the top.
"The reaction is one of satisfaction, that this confidence in Mexico exists, and this confidence in our group's companies," said Elias Ayub, who frequently acts as Slim's spokesman. But he said Slim was not breaking out the champagne.
"This is a number brought out by a magazine that doesn't concern us, or worry us," Elias Ayub said, echoing Slim's 2007 comment about the top spot that had eluded him for years: a Spanish phrase - "me es impermeable" - that roughly translates as "I'm impervious to that."
Slim is known for wearing inexpensive suits and rarely using the computers his companies sell, preferring old-style paper notebooks. A baseball fan, his indulgences are largely limited to cigars and diet soft drinks.
While he owns - either personally or through his foundations and museums - an impressive collection of art, including works by French sculptor Auguste Rodin, he works out of a set of somewhat dowdy, 1970s-style offices.
"In periods of crisis, he has always invested, and now we are beginning to see the fruits of that," Elias Ayub said.
The annual Richest People list reflects the growing power of emerging economies, with Asia supplying most of the 97 billionaires making their debut on the list in 2010, minting 62 new contenders. Forbes said Asia trailed the number of European billionaires by only 14. The world's billionaires have gained $1.2 trillion in collective net worth since 2009, and now 56 countries have at least one billionaire among their citizens.
Riding surging prices of his various telecom holdings, including giant mobile outfit America Movil , Mexican tycoon Carlo 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. For the third time in three years, the world has a new richest man.
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 per cent in a year.
That massive hoard of scratch puts him ahead of Microsoft 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 per cent 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. He ranks third.
One factor in Slim's move to the top spot is that Gates and Buffett have given away chunks of their fortunes in charitable donations.
Slim has donated to several causes, but not on nearly the same level. In January, he announced a $65 million donation for genetic research on cancer, type 2 diabetes and kidney disease in Mexican and Latin American populations.
Speaking to reporters in 2005, Slim described his philosophy: "Wealth must be seen as a responsibility, not as a privilege. The responsibility is to create more wealth. It's like having an orchard; you have to give away the fruit, but not the trees."
Other billionaires include Mukesh Ambani, Lakshmi Mittal,Lawrence Ellison, Bernard Arnault, Eike Batista, Amancio Ortega and Karl Albrecht.
This year's top 10 richest also include two billionaires from India and one from Brazil.
This year the World's Billionaires have an average net worth of $3.5 billion, up $500 million in 12 months.
Forbes counted 1,011 billionaires from 55 countries, up from 793 last year, though still below the pre-crisis 1,125 listed in 2008.
Of those billionaires on last year's list, only 12 per cent saw their fortunes decline.
US billionaires still dominate the ranks--but their grip is slipping. Americans account for 40 per cent of the world's billionaires, down from 45 per cent a year ago.
The US commands 38 per cent of the collective $3.6 trillion net worth of the world's richest, down from 44 per cent a year ago.
Of the 97 new members of the list, only 16 per cent are from the US 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.
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.
The full list showed Taiwan tripling its number of billionaires to 18, Turkey more than doubling to 28, and Brazil increasing by 50 percent to 18. Russia also rebounded, almost doubling its number of billionaires to 62 after stock markets there recovered from severe setbacks.
Eleven countries have at least double the number of billionaires they had a year ago, including China, India, Turkey and South Korea.
Slim studied civil engineering and later built up the telephone monopoly Telmex after acquiring it from the government in 1990.
A widower with six children, Slim has handed over the daily operations of his companies to his three sons and business partners but remains a well-known public figure in Mexico.
He has recently made investments in telecommunications across the Americas, and have diversified his holding in areas of water and electric utilities.
That the single richest man on the list should come from Mexico has drawn frequent criticism given the country's ongoing battles against poverty.
"This is shameful," said Ernesto Villanueva, 45, of Mexico City. "This is part of what is wrong with the Mexican political system and the corruption in the circles of power, that allow there to be a few rich people and millions of poor."
While Mexico belongs to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, whose 30 members constitute the world's most important market economies, it is also a developing nation. More than 50 million of Mexico's 107 million people live in poverty, defined as not having enough money to meet housing, transport, education and other normal expenses. Extreme poverty - defined as not having money to buy enough food - afflicted 19.5 million of them.
But some Mexicans give Slim credit for knowing how to take advantage of the situation and make money.
"He was intelligent enough to get to where he is, while we, as a people, have never known how to unite ourselves," said 17-year-old student Manuel Santibanez.
Arturo Elias Ayub, the billionaire's son-in-law who is an executive at Telmex, welcomed Slim's arrival at the top.
"The reaction is one of satisfaction, that this confidence in Mexico exists, and this confidence in our group's companies," said Elias Ayub, who frequently acts as Slim's spokesman. But he said Slim was not breaking out the champagne.
"This is a number brought out by a magazine that doesn't concern us, or worry us," Elias Ayub said, echoing Slim's 2007 comment about the top spot that had eluded him for years: a Spanish phrase - "me es impermeable" - that roughly translates as "I'm impervious to that."
Slim is known for wearing inexpensive suits and rarely using the computers his companies sell, preferring old-style paper notebooks. A baseball fan, his indulgences are largely limited to cigars and diet soft drinks.
While he owns - either personally or through his foundations and museums - an impressive collection of art, including works by French sculptor Auguste Rodin, he works out of a set of somewhat dowdy, 1970s-style offices.
"In periods of crisis, he has always invested, and now we are beginning to see the fruits of that," Elias Ayub said.