BackForbes rich list | Mukesh Ambani, LN Mittal among top 10
Forbes rich list | Mukesh Ambani, LN Mittal among top 10
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Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is the richest person in the world for the second year in a row, Forbes said on Wednesday.
Here is the Forbes 2011 ranking of the top 10:
1. Carlos Slim (Mexico) - $74 billion, telecommunications
His enormous wealth contrasts starkly with his frugal lifestyle. He has lived in the same house for about 40 years and drives an aging Mercedes Benz, although it is armored and trailed by bodyguards.
He has become involved in combating poverty, illiteracy and poor healthcare in Latin America and promotes sports projects for the poor, but has never voiced plans to give away large chunks of his wealth to charity.
Also See Richest People (PDF)
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2. Bill Gates (USA) - $56 billion, Microsoft
In 2008 he stepped down from from what is now the world’s largest software firm to work at The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He has given $28 billion to it.
Together with his wife Melinda and Warren Buffett, he has also convinced 57 U.S. billionaires to sign up to the Giving Pledge and publicly vow to give away at least 50 percent of their fortune during their lifetime or upon their death.
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3. Warren Buffett (USA) - $50 billion, Berkshire Hathaway
In 2006 he pledged to give away 99 percent of his wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and family charities. So far he has given $8 billion to the Gates Foundation.
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4. Bernard Arnault (France) - $41 billion, LVMH
It is now the world’s biggest luxury goods group. His image as a predator stuck to him afterward when he fought in vain to acquire Gucci in 1999 and 2000. Then this week he snapped up Roman jeweler Bulgari for $5.18 billion.
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5. Larry Ellison (USA) - $39.5 billion, Oracle Corp
Ellison, who won yachting’s America’s Cup last year, is considered one of the "old guard" of Silicon Valley.
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6. Lakshmi Mittal (India) - $31.1 billion, steel
Mittal’s firm is largely funding a $29 million spiraling red tower, designed by Turner prize-winning artist Anish Kapoor and taller than New York’s Statue of Liberty, that will soar over London’s Olympic Park for the 2012 games.
In 2005 he spent $10 million to promote sporting talent and encourage potential Olympians in his homeland after he was disappointed by India’s lone medal at the Athens Games.
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7. Amancio Ortega (Spain) - $31 billion, retail
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8. Eike Batista (Brazil) - $30 billion, mining, oil
A top-class speedboat racer who was married to a famous Rio de Janeiro Carnival queen, Batista dined with U.S. pop star Madonna in Rio last year and, according to local reports, handed her a check over dinner for $7 million as a donation for her social projects.
He has a burning ambition to transform Rio into a modern, thriving city. Just before Rio was awarded the 2016 Olympic Games, he bought up a nearby marina that will be a hub of the games -- an example of his eye for a well timed deal.
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9. Mukesh Ambani (India) - $27 billion, petrochemicals, oil and gas
Mukesh, who said in 2009 he would take a two-thirds pay cut after the Indian prime minister’s comments on "vulgar salaries," gave his wife a private jet on her birthday. He also splashed out $1 billion on a 27-story home. He has a volatile relationship with his younger brother Anil, and they have fought over interests from oil and gas, retail, telecoms, entertainment, financial services to infrastructure.
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10. Christy Walton & family (USA) - $26.5 billion, Wal-Mart
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