If Only I Was So Rich ...

The richest people in the world have gotten poorer, this year the world's billionaires have an average net worth of $3 billion, down 23% in 12 months. Americans account for 44% of the money, up seven percentage points from last year. Bill Gates lost $18 billion but regained his title as the world's richest man. The listed net worth figures represent the estimated value of assets less debt as of February 13, 2009.
(Sources: Forbes, Wikipedia)

Lakshmi Mittal ($19.3 bil)

Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/PR

Lakshmi Mittal is an Indian industrialist based in the United Kingdom, the chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, non-executive director of EADS, Goldman Sachs, and ICICI Bank.
Facts:

• "Mittal Affair" ("Cash for Influence" or "Garbagegate")exposed the link between UK prime minister Tony Blair and Mittal
• After multiple fatalities in his mines, the employees have accused him of "slave labour" conditions.
• After a takeover of a US-based steelmaker, ISG, he paid himself a bonus of GB£1.1bn.
• Company payed heavy fines after an antitrust investigation it guilty of price-fixing in European steel markets.

Mukesh Ambani ($19.5 bil)

(Photo: World Economic Forum)

Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani (age 51) is the chairman, managing director and the largest shareholder of Reliance Industries, India's largest private sector enterprise and a Fortune 500 company.

Facts:

• After their father died, Mukesh and his brother feuded over control. Mother eventually brokered split of assets.
• Had the two brothers not split, their net worth would have been $45 billion
• He has yet to move into his 27-story home that he's building at a reported cost of $1 billion.
• Ardent fan of Bollywood films.

Ingvar Kamprad ($22.0 bil)


Ingvar Feodor Kamprad (age 83) is a Swedish entrepreneur, the founder of the home furnishing retail chain IKEA. As of 2009 he is richest person in Europe.

Facts:

• In 1994 it was revealed that Kamprad had joined Engdahl's pro-Nazi group in 1942.
• Early in his career, while working with furniture manufacturers in Poland, Kamprad became an alcoholic.
• Stichting INGKA Foundation, named after Kamprad, is the world's wealthiest charity ($36 bil). Its primary purpose is believed to be corporate tax-avoidance and anti-takeover protection for IKEA.
• Ingvar drives a 15 year old Volvo, frequents cheap restaurants, flies economy class, and furnishes his home mostly with Ikea products.

Lawrence Ellison ($22.5 bil)

(Photo: Eddie Awad)

Lawrence Joseph "Larry" Ellison (age 64) is an American entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation, a major enterprise software company.

Facts:

• Ellison has been married four times, his first three marriages ended in a divorce.
• He owns many exotic cars including an Audi R8 and a McLaren F1 among others. His favorite is the Acura NSX, which he was known to give as gifts each year.
• Ellison is a certified pilot and has owned several unusual aircraft, including fighter jets.
• In order to settle an insider trading lawsuit, he was allowed to donate $100 million to his own charitable foundation without admitting wrongdoing.

Carlos Slim Helu ($35.0 bil)

(Photo: José Cruz/ABr)

Carlos Slim Helu (age 69) is a Mexican businessman and philanthropist largely focused on the telecommunications industry. Due to investments in Medium Term Notes and Standby Letters of Credit, he is currently the third wealthiest person in the world.

Facts:

• Slim gained notoriety when he led a group of investors in buying Telmex and Telnor from the Mexican government in 1990 in a public tender during the presidency of Carlos Salinas.
• In 1997, just before the company introduced its iMac line, Slim bought three percent of Apple Computer's stock, which has skyrocketed over the years.
• On August 8, 2007, Fortune reported that Slim had overtaken Gates as the world's richest man.
• On March 11, 2009, Forbes ranked Slim as the world's third-richest person, since last year Slim lost US$25 billion.

Warren Buffett ($37.0 bil)

(Photo: Mark Hirschey)

Warren Edward Buffett (age 79) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is one of the world's most successful investors and the largest shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

Facts:

• Citation: "I’ll tell you why I like the cigarette business. It costs a penny to make. Sell it for a dollar. It’s addictive. And there’s fantastic brand loyalty."
• Last year Warren was the world's richest man. This year he has to settle for second place after losing $25 billion in 12 months. Buffett admits he made some "dumb" investment mistakes in 2008.
• In 2008, he earned a total compensation of just $175,000, which included a base salary of $100,000.
• Buffett has formally endorsed and made campaign contributions to Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

Bill Gates ($40.0 bil)

(Photo: Severin Nowacki/World Economic Forum)

William Henry "Bill" Gates III (age 54) is an American business magnate, author, philanthropist, and chairman of Microsoft. He is ranked consistently one of the world's wealthiest people and the wealthiest overall as of 2009.

Facts:

• Although he is admired by many, a number of industry insiders criticize his business tactics, which they consider anti-competitive, an opinion which has in some cases been upheld by the courts.
• In the 1998 United States v. Microsoft case, Gates gave deposition testimony that several journalists characterized as evasive. Early rounds of his deposition show him saying "I don't recall", so many times that even the presiding judge had to chuckle. Many of the technology chief's denials and pleas of ignorance were directly refuted by prosecutors with snippets of e-mail Gates both sent and received.
• As an executive, he is verbally combative, often interrupting presentations of Microsoft's managers with such comments as "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!", and "Why don't you just give up your options and join the Peace Corps?"
• Despite losing $18 billion in the past 12 months, software visionary regains title as the world's richest man.
• Bill Gates stepped down from day-to-day duties at Microsoft last summer to devote his riches to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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