Carlos Slim Tops Forbes Richest List

NEW YORK (TheStreet) - Forbes' annual list of the world's richest individuals was released this week, show how the ultra-wealthy fared over the past year.

For the second year in a row, Mexico's telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim topped the list. The head of America Movil (AMX) saw his wealth grow to $74 billion, a boost of $20.5 billion from the year previous.

As pointed out in the past, although Slim continues to rely heavily on his telecom empire to build his wealth, he has increasingly been taking steps outside of this industry. Particularly, precious metals and the energy sectors have caught his attention. In February, it was announced that the world's wealthiest individual had acquired a 70% stake in Colombia's Tabasco Oil.

Microsoft's (MSFT) Bill Gates and famed investor and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) chair Warren Buffett rounded out the top three positions, boasting $56 billion and $45 billion respectively.

Interestingly, although he remains the world's third richest person, Buffett's wealth saw a decline of $2 billion from the year previous.

Reliance Industries's (RELI) Mukesh Ambani was another individual in the top 10 who saw a decline in wealth the past year. Unlike Buffett, however, Ambani's losses caused him to slip in rank to No. 9, a decline of five spaces.

Just below Slim, Gates, and Buffett was Bernard Arnault, the head of LVMH, who moved up three ticks from the year previous to No. 4. This was the biggest rank increase among the top 10 richest people.

The overall top-ten list saw a small amount of jockeying over the past year. However, only one name dropped off the list. Although his wealth jumped $2 billion over the past year, Aldi founder Karl Albrecht slipped to 12th from 10th the previous year. Wal-Mart's (WMT) Christy Walton, whose wealth expanded by $4 billion to $26.5 billion, took his place cementing her spot as the world's richest woman.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg was a big winner this year. With $13.5 billion, he sits at spot 52. Although he still remains shy of the top 50, this is a dramatic increase from last year when, with a fortune totaling $4 billion, he sat at spot 212.

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