The World's Billionaires 2012

The World's Billionaires 2012 edition was 26th annual ranking of The World's Billionaires by Forbes magazine. The list estimated the net worth of the world's richest people, excluding royalty and dictators, as of February 14, 2012. It was released online on March 7, 2012.

Annual list

Telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim topped the 2012 list, marking this third consecutive year at the top. Microsoft founder Bill Gates placed second, but narrowed the gap from 2011 as Slim's fortune fell $5 billion while Gates' rose $5 billion. Investor Warren Buffett remained in third place. Bernard Arnault of France was the top-ranking European on the list, placing fourth.[1] Amancio Ortega moved up a spot to number five, despite stepping down from Zara's top post during the year.[2] Ricardo Salinas Pliego was the greatest gainer in terms of dollars, adding $9.2 billion to his fortune and moving up to number 37 overall. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg was also among the top gainers, adding $4 billion to his fortune. Dustin Moskovitz, also of Facebook, was the youngest self-made billionaire on the list at age 27.[1] Making her debut on the list at age 41, Spanx founder Sara Blakely became the youngest self-made female billionaire ever.[3] Colombia's Alejandro Santo Domingo was the highest ranked newcomer, inheriting a $9.5 billion stake in Santo Domingo Group from his father. Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Steve Jobs, was just behind Domingo, inheriting a fortune of $9 billion.[1]

India's Lakshmi Mittal was the largest loser as his fortune dropped from $31.1 billion to $20.7 billion as the price of steel maker ArcelorMittal fell sharply.[1] As a result, he failed to make the top 10 for the first time since 2004 and lost his title of richest Asian. Hong Kong's Li Ka-shing reclaimed that title, despite a slight drop in his own wealth.[2] Harry Potter author JK Rowling and former Research In Motion CEO Jim Balsillie were among whose who fell off the list.[1]

A record total of 1,226 people made the 2012 list, representing 58 different countries. Of those, 126 were newcomers to the list and 104 were women. The United States had the greatest number of billionaires with 425. Russia had 96 people on the list, while China had 95. Three new billionaires from Morocco represented their nation, which did not have any billionaire in 2011.[1] Georgia and Peru also were newly represented.[2] Moscow was the home to the most billionaire with 78, followed by New York City with 58, and London with 39.[1] Falling stock prices in Asia contributed to 117 former billionaires falling from the list worldwide. Twelve others listed in 2011 died.[2]

Combined net worth of the billionaire list rose to a record $4.6 trillion. However, net gainers (460) barely outnumbered net losers (441, including 7 of the top 20). The list average was a net worth of $3.7 billion.[2]

To coincide with the release of the 2012 list, Forbes announced a new "Billionaire Real-Time Ticker" updating the wealth of the world's top fifty billionaires in real time.[1]

Top 10
No. Name Net worth (USD) Age Citizenship Source(s) of wealth
1 Carlos Slim & family$69.0 billion 72MexicoTelmex, América Móvil, Grupo Carso
2 Bill Gates$61.0 billion 56United StatesMicrosoft
3 Warren Buffett$44.0 billion 81United StatesBerkshire Hathaway
4 Bernard Arnault$41.0 billion 63FranceLVMH Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton
5 Amancio Ortega$37.5 billion 75SpainInditex Group
6 Larry Ellison$36.0 billion 67United StatesOracle Corporation
7 Eike Batista$30.0 billion 55BrazilEBX Group
8 Stefan Persson$26.0 billion 64SwedenH&M
9 Li Ka-shing$25.5 billion 83Hong Kong/CanadaCheung Kong Holdings
10 Karl Albrecht$25.4 billion 92GermanyAldi
Legend
Icon Description
Has not changed from the previous year's list
Has increased from the previous year's list
Has decreased from the previous year's list

Top 100[4]
No. Name Net Worth USD billion Age Nationality Source(s) of wealth
1 Carlos Slim Helu & family 69,0 72 Mexico telecom
2 Bill Gates 61,0 56 United States Microsoft
3 Warren Buffett 44,0 81 United States Berkshire Hathaway
4 Bernard Arnault 41,0 63 France LVMH
3 Amancio Ortega 37.5 75 Spain Zara
6 Larry Ellison 36,0 67 United States Oracle
7 Eike Batista 30,0 55 Brazil mining, oil
8 Stefan Persson 26,0 64 Sweden H&M
9 Li Ka-shing 25.5 83 Hong Kong diversified
10 Karl Albrecht 25.4 92 Germany Aldi
11 Christy Walton & family 25.3 57 United States Wal-Mart
12 Charles Koch 25,0 76 United States diversified
12 David Koch 25,0 71 United States diversified
14 Sheldon Adelson 24.9 78 United States casinos
15 Liliane Bettencourt 24,0 89 France L'Oreal
16 Jim Walton 23.7 64 United States Wal-Mart
17 Alice Walton 23.3 62 United States Wal-Mart
18 S. Robson Walton 23.1 68 United States Wal-Mart
19 Mukesh Ambani 22.3 54 India petrochemicals, oil & gas
20 Michael Bloomberg 22,0 70 United States Bloomberg LP
21 Lakshmi Mittal 20.7 61 India steel
22 George Soros 20,0 81 United States hedge funds
23 Michele Ferrero & family 19,0 85 Italy chocolates
24 Sergey Brin 18.7 38 United States Google
24 Larry Page 18.7 39 United States Google
26 Jeff Bezos 18.4 48 United States Amazon.com
27 Thomas & Raymond Kwok & family 18.3 N/A Hong Kong real estate
28 Alisher Usmanov 18.1 58 Russia steel, telecom, investments
29 Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud 18,0 57 Saudi Arabia investments
29 Lee Shau Kee 18,0 84 Hong Kong diversified
29 Georgina Rinehart 18,0 58 Australia Mining
32 Berthold & Theo Jr. Albrecht 17.8 N/A Germany Aldi, Trader Joe's
32 Iris Fontbona & family 17.8 69 Chile mining
34 Michael Otto & family 17.6 68 Germany retail, real estate
35 David Thomson & family 17.5 54 Canada media
35 Mark Zuckerberg 17.5 27 United States Facebook
37 Ricardo Salinas Pliego & family 17.4 56 Mexico retail, media
38 Alberto Bailleres Gonzalez & family 16.5 80 Mexico mining
39 Rinat Akhmetov 16,0 45 Ukraine steel, coal
39 Cheng Yu-tung 16,0 86 Hong Kong diversified
41 Michael Dell 15.9 47 United States Dell
41 Vladimir Lisin 15.9 55 Russia steel, transport
41 Azim Premji 15.9 66 India software
44 Steve Ballmer 15.7 56 United States Microsoft
45 Alexei Mordashov 15.3 46 Russia steel, investments
46 Vladimir Potanin 14.5 51 Russia metals
47 Phil Knight 14.4 74 United States Nike
48 Paul Allen 14.2 59 United States Microsoft, investments
48 German Larrea Mota Velasco & family 14.2 58 Mexico mining
50 Carl Icahn 14,0 76 United States leveraged buyouts
50 Birgit Rausing & family 14,0 88 Sweden packaging
52 Forrest Mars Jr 13.8 80 United States candy
52 Jacqueline Mars 13.8 72 United States candy
52 John Mars 13.8 75 United States candy
52 Joseph Safra 13.8 73 Brazil banking
56 Vagit Alekperov 13.5 61 Russia Lukoil
57 Mikhail Fridman 13.4 47 Russia oil, banking, telecom
58 Mikhail Prokhorov 13.2 46 Russia investments
59 Susanne Klatten 13,0 49 Germany BMW, pharmaceuticals
59 Francois Pinault & family 13,0 75 France retail
61 Mohammed Al Amoudi 12.5 67 Saudi Arabia oil, diversified
61 Anne Cox Chambers 12.5 92 United States media
61 John Paulson 12.5 56 United States hedge funds
64 Robert Kuok 12.4 88 Malaysia diversified
64 Luis Carlos Sarmiento 12.4 79 Colombia banking
64 Viktor Vekselberg 12.4 54 Russia oil, metals
67 Antonio Ermirio de Moraes & family 12.2 83 Brazil diversified
68 Roman Abramovich 12.1 45 Russia steel, investments
69 Donald Bren 12,0 79 United States real estate
69 Jorge Paulo Lemann 12,0 72 Brazil beer
69 Ronald Perelman 12,0 69 United States leveraged buyouts
72 Len Blavatnik 11.9 54 United States diversified
72 Leonid Mikhelson 11.9 56 Russia gas, chemicals
74 Leonardo Del Vecchio 11.5 76 Italy eyewear
75 John Fredriksen 11.3 67 Cyprus shipping
76 Aliko Dangote 11.2 54 Nigeria sugar, flour, cement
76 Stefan Quandt 11.2 45 Germany BMW
78 Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor & family 11,0 60 United Kingdom real estate
78 Harold Hamm 11,0 66 United States oil & gas
80 Savitri Jindal & family 10.9 62 India steel
81 Andrey Melnichenko 10.8 40 Russia coal, fertilizers
82 James Simons 10.7 73 United States hedge funds
83 Ernesto Bertarelli & family 10.6 46 Switzerland biotech, investments
84 Jack Taylor & family 10.4 89 United States Enterprise Rent-A-Car
85 Abigail Johnson 10.3 50 United States Fidelity
86 Robin Li 10.2 43 China Technology
86 Eliodoro, Bernardo & Patricia Matte 10.2 N/A Chile paper
88 Ray Dalio 10,0 62 United States hedge funds
88 George Kaiser 10,0 69 United States oil & gas, banking
88 Johanna Quandt 10,0 85 Germany BMW
88 Hans Rausing 10,0 86 Sweden packaging
88 Tadashi Yanai & family 10,0 63 Japan retail
93 Serge Dassault & family 9.9 86 France aviation
93 Ananda Krishnan 9.9 73 Malaysia telecoms
95 Klaus-Michael Kuhne 9.8 74 Germany shipping
96 Pallonji Mistry 9.7 82 Ireland construction
97 Alejandro Santo Domingo Davila 9.5 35 Colombia beer
98 Horst Paulmann & family 9.3 77 Chile retail
99 Gennady Timchenko 9.1 59 Russia oil & gas
100 Laurene Powell Jobs & family 9,0 48 United States Apple, Disney
100 David & Simon Reuben 9,0 69 United Kingdom investments, real estate
100 Dmitry Rybolovlev 9,0 45 Russia fertilizer
100 Harold Simmons 9,0 80 United States investments

See also

References
  1. "Forbes rich list 2012: Carlos Slim tops rich list for third year". The Telegraph. March 8, 2012. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  2. Luisa Kroll (March 7, 2012). "Forbes World's Billionaires 2012". Forbes. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  3. "Spanx creator Sara Blakely becomes youngest woman on Forbes Billionaires List". Fox News. March 8, 2012. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  4. Forbes Magazine, March 7, 2012
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