The Forbes billionaires list have reached an all-time high in 2013. The list has an aggregate net worth of $5.4 trillion and has added 210 new names. The entire list is now 1,426 names long but we decided to just list the top 10 here.
10. Bernard Arnault & Family
Net Worth: $29 Billion
Bernard Arnault is the Chairman and CEO of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton and known as the world’s most influential taste-maker. This year Bernard dropped from number 4 on the Billionaires List to number 10 despite the LVMH shares being up 6%. The billionaire is unlikely miffed, since the announcement that he will be knighted for his services in the U.K. and also being busy opening his new museum, the Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation.
9. Liliane Bettencourt & Family
Net Worth: $30 Billion
The daughter of the founder of French cosmetics powerhouse L’Oreal, Liliane and her family own more than 30% of the company, but Liliane had her fortune placed under guardianship of her daughter Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers in 2011 likely due to very public family court battles and her battle with dementia.
8. Li Ka-Shing
Net Worth: $31 Billion
Chairman of Hutchison Whampoa, Li Ka-Shing added to his net worth by $5.5 billion this year as his shares in Whampoa and Husky Energy jumped by 10% or more. Li’s aggressive acquisitions of energy companies in the last 24 months has made him the energy supplier for a quarter of all Britain.
7/6. David Koch
Net Worth: $34 Billion
David Koch is Executive Vice President of Koch Industries, Inc. and is tied with his older brother Charles for spot seven and six on the World’s Billionaires list. David runs the chemical equipment side of Koch Industries from his home in New York.
7/6. Charles Koch
Net Worth: $34 Billion
Seeing double? Charles Koch is tied for the seventh and sixth spot with his brother David Koch. Charles works beside his brother as CEO of Koch Industries, Inc. and together they have built their fortunes around refining and chemicals. Koch Industries jumped more than $20 billion in value largely due to increased refining profits and improved operations at the company’s large Georgia-Pacific unit.
5. Larry Ellison
Net Worth: $43 Billion
Larry Ellison is a self-made billionaire with the majority of his wealth coming from his shares in the software and programming company, Oracle. In the last year he has gone on a real estate buying spree buying mansions in LA, homes in Malibu, and 98% of the Hawaiian island of Lanai.
4. Warren Buffet
Net Worth: $53.5 Billion
The 82-year-old CEO of Berkshire Hathaway has been a busy man this year and kept the company busy as well. Acquiring H.J. Heinz Co., Oriental Trading Co., and $1.2 billion of its own stock back from a longtime shareholder’s estate has been nothing compared to Buffet’s battle with prostate cancer. Buffet notified Berkshire Hathaway shareholders of his condition 5 months before his last radiation treatment last summer. Buffet assured shareholders that his condition was “not remotely life-threatening,” despite his work to prepare the company and family for the worst.
3. Amancio Ortega
Net Worth: $57 Billion
Ortega stepped down as chairman of Inditex, known for its Zara brand, in 2011, but has still been this year’s biggest wealth jump – placing Ortega in the top 3 world’s richest list for the first time ever. This might be largely due to the fact that Ortega still retains nearly 60% of Inditex shares, which have grown 50% year-over-year on record profits.
2. Bill Gates
Net Worth: $67 Billion
It’s not surprising to see the Microsoft co-founder on this list. Gates also acts as Co-Chaire of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a foundation that has earned him the status as “the world’s most generous person.” He is also actively working to persuade other billionaires to share the wealth with his Giving Pledge.
1. Carlos Slim Helu & Family
Net Worth: $73 Billion
Given the status as the world’s richest man for the fourth year in a row, Carlos Slim Helu is a self-made billionaire, with his most valuable asset continuing to be the Pan-Latin American mobile telecom outfit America Movil.
The Forbes list of billionaires seems to be growing every day, we may be looking forward to a list of the world’s top 10 trillionaires before too long!
by Mary Mckee
Read more: gizmocrazed
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