Carlos Slim Helú from Mexico is the world's new richest man, who displaced perennials Bill Gates (No. 2) and Warren Buffett (No. 3).
For those ythe world's new richest man, who displaced perennials Bill Gates (No. 2) and Warren Buffett (No. 3). earning to be the richest man in the world (or even just a top billionaire), here's a tip:
Have an entrepreneurial parent. Studying engineering wouldn't be a bad idea either.
Those are conclusions one can draw from the 2010 Forbes list of the world's billionaires, released Wednesday evening.
Take Carlos Slim Helú, the world's new richest man, who displaced perennials Bill Gates (No. 2) and Warren Buffett (No. 3). He’s got both things going for him. His Lebanese father, Julián Slim Haddad, moved to Mexico in 1902 at 14 and started his first company, a dry goods store, in 1911 with his older brother. They put in a combined initial investment of little over $2,000, but 10 years later, they had merchandise worth over $100,000. By 1922, Don Julián’s net worth was reported to be $1,012,258 pesos between investments in real estate, businesses, and stocks.
Julián taught his son about investing and savings early in life. Carlos bought shares of Banco Nacional de México when he was only 12 years old.Carlos also studied civil engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
All but one of the men on Forbes's Top 10 list had an entrepreneurial parent, even if, like the adoptive father of Larry Ellison (No. 6), he lost his real estate fortune in the Great Depression. The exception is Amancio Ortega (No. 9), whose father was a railroad worker and mother a maid.
Another characteristic shared by many of the Top 10: engineering training. Four of the 10 have formal engineering degrees. Besides Mr. Slim, Bernard Arnault (No. 7) went to the Ecole Polytechnique, an elite French business and engineering college. Eike Batista (No. 8) has a bachelor’s degree in metallurgic engineering. Mukesh Ambani (No. 4) is a chemical engineer.
Another two – Bill Gates (No. 2) and Mr. Ellison – have computer engineering backgrounds, though both dropped out of college.
The rest of the list made their billions without any engineering connection. Lakshmi Mittal (No. 5) followed his father into the steel business. Warren Buffett (No. 3) studied economics and founded Berkshire Hathaway, a highly successful holding company. Karl Albrecht (No. 10) transformed his mother's corner grocery store into a multinational supermarket chain.
Mr. Ortega, who is famously reclusive and has never given an interview, made his billions mostly in retail. He began making garments out of his home with his wife (they are now divorced) and now owns several popular clothing chains, including Zara, Massimo Dutti, and Stradivarius. He has also invested in real estate.
India billionaires double in 2009
The number of billionaires in India doubled in 2009, Pakistan also in the list.
It lists 49 Indian billionaires, up from 24 the previous year. India, which has many of the world's poorest people, also has 10 of Asia's top 25 richest. The wealthiest Indian is Mukesh Ambani, worth an estimated $29bn. His Reliance Industries is India's largest firm. Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal is second with $28.7bn. Both are in Forbes' list of the 10 richest men in the world - Mr Ambani at four, Mr Mittal at five.
Forbes listed 1,011 billionaires, up from 793 last year but still below the 1,125 listed in 2008.
The improving health of the global economy meant that 55 countries were represented - with Pakistan (clothing exporter Mian Muhammad Mansha, number 937) and Finland (Antti Herlin, number 773) adding their first billionaires.
Strengthening stock markets and several large public offerings during the past year helped Asia close the gap with Europe. A total of 234 Asian billionaires were featured in the 2010 list compared with 248 from Europe.
The country with most billionaires is the US, with 403. But China comes second with 64 living in the mainland.
It seems we're boasting more billionaires here in Canada we have four more than the 20 we had last year.Topping our list is information giant David Thomson and family, ringing up a net worth of $19-billion
