A combination photo of Carlos Slim, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is the world's richest person, Forbes magazine said on Wednesday.
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Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is the world's richest person, knocking Microsoft founder Bill Gates into second spot, as the wealth of the world's billionaires grew by 50 percent over the last year, Forbes magazine said on Wednesday. It is only the second time since 1995 that Gates has lost the crown, the magazine said, estimating Slim's net worth at $53.5 billion, compared to Gates's $53 billion fortune, while investor Warren Buffett came in at No. 3 with $47 billion. The trio regained $41.5 billion of the $68 billion they had lost the previous year, Forbes said. The number of billionaires around the world has nearly recovered in 2010 after dropping by a third last year during the global financial crisis. There are now 1,011 billionaires, compared with 793 last year and 1,125 in 2008. The net wealth of those billionaires grew to $3.6 trillion from $2.4 trillion last year, but is still down from 2008's $4.4 trillion, according to the 24th annual Forbes list, which took a snapshot of wealth on February 12 to compile its ranking. The average billionaire is now worth $3.5 billion, up $500 million from last year. And the number of women on the list rose to 89 from 72 last year. "The global economy is recovering and it's reflected in what you see in the list this year," Steve Forbes, chief executive of Forbes, told a news conference. "Financial markets have also made an even more impressive comeback from the lows of just about a year ago, particularly in emerging markets." "Asia is leading the comeback," Forbes said. The number of billionaires in the Asia-Pacific region grew by 80 percent to 234 and their net worth almost doubled to $729 billion, which the Forbes ranking attributed to the area's "swelling stock markets and several large public offerings during the past year." Two Indians round out the top five richest people in the world -- Mukesh Ambani, with a petrochemicals, oil and gas fortune of $29 billion, and steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, who is valued at $28.7 billion. Of the 97 billionaires making their debut on the Forbes list, 62 are from Asia, while for the first time China is now home to the most billionaires outside of the United States. "The United States still dominates, but the United States is lagging," Forbes said. "It is not doing as well as the rest of the world in coming back." The Forbes ranking of the world's billionaires can be seen at www.forbes.com/billionaires. (Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a multimedia journalist at the China Daily Web site.) (Agencies) |
《福布斯》雜志本周三發(fā)布年度富豪榜,墨西哥大亨卡洛斯?斯利姆取代微軟公司創(chuàng)始人比爾?蓋茨,成為世界首富,蓋茨屈居第二。據(jù)統(tǒng)計(jì),全球億萬(wàn)富翁的資產(chǎn)總額在過(guò)去一年中增加了50%。 該雜志稱,這是蓋茨自1995年以來(lái)第二次失去全球首富桂冠。據(jù)《福布斯》估計(jì),斯利姆的凈資產(chǎn)總額達(dá)到535億美元,蓋茨為530億美元,“股神”沃倫?巴菲特以470億美元的身價(jià)位列第三。 《福布斯》稱,這三位富豪在前一年中共損失了680億美元的財(cái)富,但去年又賺得415億美元,收復(fù)了大部分失地。 受金融危機(jī)影響,去年全球億萬(wàn)富翁的數(shù)量減少了三分之一,由2008年的1125人減少到793人。而今年的富豪數(shù)量達(dá)到1011人,幾乎恢復(fù)到之前的水準(zhǔn)。 上榜億萬(wàn)富翁的凈資產(chǎn)總額也從去年的2.4萬(wàn)億美元增至3.6萬(wàn)億美元,但仍低于2008年的4.4萬(wàn)億美元。這是《福布斯》雜志第24次發(fā)布年度富豪榜,計(jì)算依據(jù)是截至今年2月12日的個(gè)人資產(chǎn)總額。 此次上榜富豪的平均資產(chǎn)達(dá)到35億美元,比去年增加了5億美元。女富豪數(shù)量也從去年的72人增加到89人。 《福布斯》雜志首席執(zhí)行官斯蒂夫?福布斯在新聞發(fā)布會(huì)上說(shuō):“從今年的富豪榜可以看出,全球經(jīng)濟(jì)正在復(fù)蘇。金融市場(chǎng)也從一年前的谷底中走了出來(lái),且回升勢(shì)頭更為強(qiáng)勁,尤其是在新興市場(chǎng)。” 《福布斯》稱,“亞洲在全球經(jīng)濟(jì)復(fù)蘇中處于領(lǐng)先地位。” 今年,亞太地區(qū)的富豪數(shù)量達(dá)到234人,比去年增加了80%,凈資產(chǎn)總額幾乎翻番,達(dá)到7290億美元。《福布斯》認(rèn)為這是因?yàn)槿ツ暝摰貐^(qū)“股票市場(chǎng)大幅走高,以及幾次大規(guī)模的公開募股。” 今年還有兩位印度富豪躋身富豪榜前五位,分別是石化油氣行業(yè)巨頭穆凱什?阿姆巴尼(290億美元)和鋼鐵大王拉克希米?米塔爾(287億美元)。 在今年首次登榜的97位富豪中,有62位來(lái)自亞洲。中國(guó)富豪數(shù)量首次位居第二,僅次于美國(guó)。 《福布斯》稱:“美國(guó)仍是富豪最多的國(guó)家,但正在被趕超。美國(guó)的經(jīng)濟(jì)復(fù)蘇不如其他國(guó)家。” 完整榜單可登陸www.forbes.com/billionaires網(wǎng)站查看。 相關(guān)閱讀 《福布斯》:伍茲將成為首位億萬(wàn)富翁運(yùn)動(dòng)員 《福布斯》中國(guó)內(nèi)地富豪榜揭曉 楊惠妍成首富 (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 Julie 編輯蔡姍姍) |
Vocabulary: trio:any group of three persons or things(三人,三重唱) public offering:a sale of a new issue of securities to the general public through a managing underwriter(公開銷售證券,公開募股) magnate:a person of great influence, importance, or standing in a particular enterprise, field of business, etc.(大資本家,巨頭) |