Carlos Slim Named World's Richest

Mexico's telecom mogul Carlos Slim is the new world's richest person, becoming the first from a developing nation to top the list, as the billionaires' club is traditionally dominated by the wealthiest from the U.S. and Europe.

The new list from Forbes on Wednesday had Slim leaping past Microsoft Inc. (NASDAQ: MSFT) Founder Bill Gates and Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) Warren Buffett in 2010. Slim's net worth was pushed to $53.5 billion as his cell phone holding rebounded last year.

The reaction to Slim topping the list from citizens in Mexico have varied from pride to anger, as the country is poverty stricken and the ascension of the tycoon is a what many see to be wrong with the nation’s economy.

Slim's conglomerate of telecom, retail, manufacturing and construction companies has the wealthiest person on the planet with a hand in countless aspects of his nation’s economy. But as Slim prospers, more than 50 million of the 107 million people in Mexico live in poverty, with 19.5 million suffering extreme poverty.

Top billionaires from emerging markets are a growing trend, as along with slim there are two billionaires from India and one from Brazil among the 10 richest people in the world.

Among the countries with growing numbers of billionaires are Taiwan tripling its total to 18, Turkey up more than double to 28 and Brazil growing by half to 18. Russia now has 62 billionaires as the nation’s wealthiest benefitted from improvements in the stock markets.

The U.S. is still dominant with 40 additional billionaires in 2010, now totaling 403, which is six times the pace of the closest nation, China with 64.

You May Also Be Interested In