The poll on the richest men and women on the planet was concluded and the results announced in the Forbes’ “Billionaire” issue. As expected there were surprised gasps and “we-told-you-so” nods.
Bill Gates continued to hold his position as the richest man in the world, for the 11th consecutive year. His personal fortune stood at $46.5 billion. However, the top ten did see some movement. Investment guru Warren Buffet came in a close second with a net worth of $44 billion.
At no. 3 was Lakshmi Mittal, the Indian steel magnate with a personal wealth stood at $25 billion. He has climbed 59 points higher from last year’s ranking.
At fourth position was telecom magnate Carlos Helu who was at no.17 last year. Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud ranked No. 5; and Swedish furniture king Ikea’s founder Ingvar Kamprad ranked at No. 6 up from No. 13 last year.
The other names among the top 10 were Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, Karl Albrecht owner of Germany chain of supermarkets, Larry Ellison - Oracle founder and S. Robson Walton of the popular Wal-Mart Stores. Several Wal-Mart heirs slid some notches below their last year’s rankings. The poll also revealed that the rich got richer – the total net worth of all the billionaires rose by $300 billion to $2.2 trillion. The number of billionaires also grew fro 587 last year to 691.
There were some surprises. Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, although not among the top ten, had jumped nearly 500 points from last year’s ranking. Their net worth of $1 billion each last year has now multiplied to $7.2 billion each this year following the Google initial public offering in August.
Luisa Kroll, editor of Forbes said the poll has marked significant changes from the last few years. “For instance, in 2000 there was rise in Internet service providing companies. So many names from that industry appeared on the list. Currently, we are noticing great buoyancy in the global economy and seeing stock markets from a range of countries performing strongly. This year’s list features billionaires from as many as 20 different industries.” she said.
There were more new countries on the list this year. 2005’s billionaires hail from 47 different nations. These included first-timers from countries like Kazakhstan, Poland, Ukraine and Iceland. Russia has nine new members; this includes the first rich Russian woman Elena Baturina. There were also some new-comers from the U.S. like the American domestic goddess Martha Stewart, who despite a recent jail sentence, now makes her debut on the list with a $1 billion fortune.
The list also features chewing gum heir William Wrigley Jr., with $4.3 billion; real estate moguls Sam Zell, with $2.2 billion, and Neil Bluhm, with $1 billion, and CDW Corp. founder Michael Krasny, with $1.6 billion. Oprah Winfrey also rose from last year’s no 514 to 503 this year with an estimated personal wealth of $1.3 billion.
