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Who are the richest people in the world? Undeniably, many people are always enthralled by the lives of wealthy personalities and are always interested about knowing how they have actually succeed. For over twenty six years now, Forbes, a famous business magazine, has been following the lives of these world renowned wealthy personalities. In 2012, Carlos Slim Helu was again hailed as the richest man in the world after losing out Bill Gates in 2010, the cofounder of Microsoft, by a difference of $500 million. After Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, the owner of Berkshire Hathaway gets into the list. Their wealth is actually based on their company’s profit, and its net worth and shares in the market.
Below is the top twenty list of the world’s richest people as of 2012:
No. 1 Carlos Slim Helú
Net Worth:$69 billion - As of March 2012
Source: Telecom , Age: 72 , Citizenship: Mexico
No. 2 Bill Gates
Net Worth:$66 billion - As of September 2012
Source: Microsoft, self-made , Age: 56 , Citizenship: U.S.
No. 3 Warren Buffett
Net Worth:$46 billion - As of September 2012
Source: Berkshire Hathaway, self-made , Age: 82 , Citizenship: U.S.
No. 4 Larry Ellison
Net Worth:$41 billion - As of September 2012
Source: Oracle, self-made , Age: 68 , Citizenship: U.S.
No. 4 Bernard Arnault
Net Worth:$41 billion - As of March 2012
Source: LVMH, inherited and growing , Age: 63 , Citizenship: France
No. 6 Amancio Ortega
Net Worth:$37.5 billion - As of March 2012
Source: Zara, self-made , Age: 75 , Citizenship: Spain
No. 7 Charles Koch (tie)
Net Worth:$31 billion - As of September 2012
Source: Diversified, inherited and growing , Age: 76, Citizenship: United States
No. 7 David Koch (tie)
Net Worth:$31 billion - As of September 2012
Source: Diversified, inherited and growing , Age: 71 , Citizenship: United States
No. 9 Eike Batista
Net Worth:$30 billion - As of March 2012
Source: Mining, oil, self-made , Age: 55 , Citizenship: Brazil
No. 10 Christy Walton & family
Net Worth:$27.9 billion - As of September 2012
Source: Walmart, inherited , Age: 57 , Citizenship: U.S.
No. 11 Jim Walton
Net Worth:$26.8 billion – As of September 2012
Source of Wealth: Walmart, inherited , Age: 64 , Citizenship: United States
No. 12 Alice Walton
Net Worth:$26.3 billion – As of March 2012
Source of Wealth: Walmart, inherited , Age: 62 , Citizenship: United States
No. 13 R. Robson Walton
Net Worth: $26.1 billion – As of September 2012
Source of Wealth: Walmart, inherited , Age: 68 , Citizenship: United States
No. 14 Stefan Persson
Net Worth:$26 billion - As of March 2012
Source: Hennes & Mauritz , Age: 64 , Citizenship: Sweden
No. 15 Li Ka-shing
Net Worth:$25.5 billion - As of March 2012
Source: Diversified, self-made , Age: 83 , Citizenship: Hong Kong
No. 16 Karl Albrecht
Net Worth:$25.4 billion - As of March 2012
Source: Aldi, self-made , Age: 92 , Citizenship: Germany
No. 17 Michael Bloomberg
Net Worth:$25 billion - As of September 2012
Source: Bloomberg PL, self-made , Age: 70 , Citizenship: USA
No. 18 Liliane Bettencourt
Net Worth: $24 billion - As of March 2012
Source: L'Oreal, inherited , Age: 89, Citizenship: France
No. 19 Jeff Bezos
Net Worth:$23.2 billion – As of September 2012
Source of Wealth: Amazon.com, self-made , Age: 48, Citizenship: United States
No. 20 Mukesh Ambani
Net Worth:$22.3 billion - As of March 2012
Source: petrochemicals, oil & gas, inherited and growing, Age: 54 , Citizenship: India
[See full list on Forbes.com]
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