MEXICAN telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim Helu remained the world’s richest person, but Asia is where today’s big money is flowing, Forbes magazine said in its 2011 list of the world’s billionaires.
The billionaire surge saw an increase in China from 69 to 115, Hong Kong from 25 to 36, India from 49 to 55 and across Asia-Pacific as a whole from 234 to 332.
Slim, who is almost unknown to the general public outside Mexico, weighed in at a staggering $74bn of net wealth thanks to his telecoms empire. Already the top dog last year, he increased his fortune by $20.5bn.
In a now familiar second place was Microsoft founder Bill Gates with $56bn. The relatively lowly ranking reflected his enormous philanthropic give-aways over the year, Forbes said.
Next up was US investment guru Warren Buffett and Bernard Arnault from the luxury goods group LVMH with $50bn and $41bn respectively.
But outside this cozy billionaires’ club, a tidal wave of money is flowing across Asia, which helped lift the total world population of billionaires to a record 1,210 from 1,011 last year.
The US still leads with just over 33 per cent of the world’s mega-rich, but that is down from about half a decade ago. Surging forward is the Asia-Pacific region, which overtook Europe for the first time.
Fifty-five Indians are on the Forbes list, and with the top seven representatives boasting a combined net worth of $123bn, equivalent to a tenth of the GDP in a country where nearly half a billion people live on under $1.25 a day.
Mukesh Ambani, worth $27bn, is number nine on the list.
“The global economy is recovering, but it’s not spread all across the board,” said Steve Forbes, editor in chief of the business magazine. “The list reflects the extraordinary changes taking place in the global economy.”
“China really set the tone this year,” said Forbes senior editor Luisa Kroll. “Asia for the first time has more billionaires than Europe.”
Kroll said the dynamics behind Asian success were booming stock markets and business-friendly governments.
