Mogul Carlos Slim has been named the world’s richest person for the third consecutive year in 2012. The telecommunications mogul’s net worth was estimated at $69 billion, down from $74 billion in 2011.
Slim’s fortune was earned primarily through his telecommunications companies, which include Telmex, América Móvil, and Telcel. His companies are the largest in Mexico and Latin America, and he has been credited with bringing affordable telephone service to the region.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates placed second on the list, with a net worth of $61 billion. This is an increase from 2011, when Gates was worth $56 billion.
Gates’ fortune was earned primarily through his Microsoft empire, which he founded in 1975. Microsoft has since become the world’s largest software company, and Gates is the world’s largest individual shareholder.
Rounding out the top five were investor Warren Buffett, industrialist Lakshmi Mittal, and Amancio Ortega, the founder of the Spanish fashion chain Zara. Buffett’s net worth was estimated at $44 billion, Mittal’s at $31 billion, and Ortega’s at $30 billion.
The 2012 list of the world’s richest people shows that wealth is still concentrated in the hands of a few. The combined wealth of the top 10 richest people in the world is estimated at $325 billion, which is more than the combined GDP of the world’s poorest 48 countries.
Despite this concentration of wealth, the 2012 list also shows that fortunes can rise and fall quickly. Carlos Slim’s fortune fell by $5 billion from 2011, while Bill Gates’ rose by $5 billion. This shows that the world’s richest people are not immune to the effects of the global economy.
