Yahoo Finance World’s richest made wealthier by stock surge
THE WORLD’S richest men and women have had, on average, a very profitable 2013.
The total wealth of billionaires is now $6.4 trillion, according to Forbes magazine – a rise of a cool $1 trillion in the space of a year, with many fortunes buoyed by the rising equity markets.
There are now a record-breaking 1,645 dollar billionaires in the world according to Forbes, an increase of 268 on last year. The newcomers alone are worth $509bn.
In the past year 42 women have become billionaires – another record in the Forbes list’s 28-year history – taking the total to 172.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, earned the biggest sum in the world last year, an estimated $10bn as his social network’s stock surged, and is now worth $28.5bn.
An influx of new billionaires from Silicon Valley included Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg; Whatsapp founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton; and Dropbox boss Drew Houston.
Forbes said there are 47 British-based billionaires, topped by property scion Gerald Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster.
$76bn
Bill Gates
Microsoft founder reclaims his title of the world’s richest person
$72bn
Carlos Slim
Telecoms tycoon slips into second place as his firms’ shares fall
$58bn
Warren Buffett
Investing sage and the world’s fourth-richest man
$13bn
Gerald Grosvenor
Grosnevor’s family wealth, made in property, makes him the richest Brit
$1.6bn
Denise Coates
Founder of Bet365 is among Britain’s newest billionaires
$1.05bn
Sheryl Sandberg
Facebook COO has joined the ranks of the tech billionaires
