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Slim Heads Billionaire League Today. Gates Running Second

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March 18th, 2012

Brazil’s Eike Batista, currently 10th, vows to be No. 1 position by 2015

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index takes measure of the world’s wealthiest people based on market and economic changes and is updated every business day at 5:30 p.m. in New York. Get onto this list and you get great publicity.

No. 1 – Carlos Slim

Today’s leader is Carlos Slim, the telecommunications tycoon who controls Mexico’s America Movil SAB (AMXL), is the richest person on Earth. The 72-year-old’s net worth fell $478.4 million in a day to $68.5 billion as of the close of markets on March 2. According to the index, Slim’s fortune has increased 11 percent this year.

No. 2 – Bill Gates

Gates, 56, co-founder of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) in Redmond, Washington, is worth $62.4 billion, down $102.1 million on March 2 and up 11 percent year to date.

No. 3 – Warren Buffett

The fortune of Buffett, 81, chairman of Omaha, Nebraska- based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/B), declined $336.9 million to $43.8 billion on March 2 and is up 2.4 percent in 2012. Almost all of Buffett’s wealth is held in Berkshire Hathaway, the publicly traded holding company he has run since 1965.

No. 4 – Ingvar Kamprad

Sweden’s Ingvar Kamprad is the richest European, according to the index, ranking fourth globally with a $42.5 billion net worth. Kamprad, 85, controls Ikea Group, the world’s largest furniture retailer, through a series of trusts and foundations he asserts he doesn’t own.

No. 5 – Bernard Arnault

The chairman of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (MC), places fifth. The majority of Arnault’s $42.3 billion comes from his stake in Paris-based LVMH, the world’s largest maker of luxury goods. Arnault, 63, controls about 46 percent of LVMH’s outstanding stock through his family group, according to the company’s latest annual report.

No. 6 – Amancio Ortega

Amancio Ortega, whose publicly traded Inditex SA (ITX) owns the Zara clothing chain, is Spain’s wealthiest individual and sixth in the world with a $38.8 billion fortune. Ortega, 75, has invested dividends from Arteixo-based Inditex into a real estate portfolio that owns office and retail properties in the U.S. and Europe.

No. 7 – Larry Ellison

Number seven is Larry Ellison, 67, chief executive officer of Redwood City, California-based Oracle Corp. (ORCL), the world’s third-largest software maker after Microsoft and SAP AG. (SAP) His

No. 8 & 9 – Koch Brothers

$38 billion fortune puts him $4 billion ahead of brothers Charles and David Koch, who each own 42 percent of Koch Industries Inc., one of the biggest closely held companies in the world by revenue. Charles, 76, and David, 71, control the Wichita, Kansas, refiner and chemical maker.

No. 10 – Eike Batista

Batista, 55, whose investments range from iron ore to coal, is worth $29.8 billion, up $133.9 million on March 2. His fortune has grown 32 percent this year, the most on the list. "I’m competitive," Batista, who trails Slim by almost $39 billion, said in a March 2 telephone interview from Rio de Janeiro. "It’s Brazil’s time to be No. 1. Brazilians have always admired the American dream. What’s happening in Brazil is the Brazilian dream and I happen to be the example."

Tags: Bill Gates, Bloomberg list, Carlos Slim, warren buffett, World’s Richest
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