| RANK | NAME | CITIZENSHIP | AGE | NET WORTH ($BIL) | RESIDENCE |
| 1 | William Gates III | United States | 53 | 40.0 | United States |
| 2 | Warren Buffett | United States | 78 | 37.0 | United States |
| 3 | Carlos Slim Helu & family | Mexico | 69 | 35.0 | Mexico |
| 4 | Lawrence Ellison | United States | 64 | 22.5 | United States |
| 5 | Ingvar Kamprad & family | Sweden | 83 | 22.0 | Switzerland |
| 6 | Karl Albrecht | Germany | 89 | 21.5 | Germany |
| 7 | Mukesh Ambani | India | 51 | 19.5 | India |
| 8 | Lakshmi Mittal | India | 58 | 19.3 | United Kingdom |
| 9 | Theo Albrecht | Germany | 87 | 18.8 | Germany |
| 10 | Amancio Ortega | Spain | 73 | 18.3 | Spain |
1. William Gates III
$40.0 bil
self made
Microsoft
53
United States
Medina, Washington
Software
Harvard University, Drop Out,
married, 3 children
Software visionary regains title as the world’s richest man despite losing $18 billion in the past 12 months. Stepped down from day-to-day duties at Microsoft last summer to devote his talents and riches to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Organization’s assets were $30 billion in January; annual letter lauds endowment manager Michael Larson for limiting last year’s losses to 20%. Gates decided to increase donations in 2009 to $3.8 billion, up 15% from 2008. Dedicated to fighting hunger in developing countries, improving education in America’s high schools and developing vaccines against malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. Appointed Microsoft Office veteran Jeffrey Raikes chief exec of Gates Foundation in September. Gates remains Microsoft chairman. Sells shares each quarter, redeploys proceeds via investment vehicle Cascade; more than half of fortune invested outside Microsoft. Stock down 45% in past 12 months. “Creative capitalist” wants companies to match profitmaking with doing good.
2. Warren Buffett
$37.0 bil
self made
Berkshire Hathaway
78
United States
Omaha, Nebraska
Investments
University of Nebraska Lincoln, Bachelor of Arts / Science, Columbia University, Master of Science
widowed, remarried, 3 children
Last year America’s most beloved investor was the world’s richest man. This year he has to settle for second place after losing $25 billion in 12 months. Shares of Berkshire Hathaway down 45% since last March. Injected billions of dollars into Goldman Sachs, GE in exchange for preferred stock last fall; propped up insurance firm Swiss Re in February with $2.6 billion infusion. Admits he made some “dumb” investment mistakes in 2008. Upbeat about America’s future: “Our economic system has worked extraordinarily well over time. It has unleashed human potential as no other system has, and it will continue to do so.” Scoffs at Wall Street’s over-reliance on “history-based” models: “If merely looking up past financial data would tell you what the future holds, the Forbes 400 would consist of librarians.” Son of Nebraska politician delivered newspapers as a boy. Filed first tax return at age 13, claiming $35 deduction for bicycle. Studied under value investing guru Benjamin Graham at Columbia. Took over textile firm Berkshire Hathaway 1965. Today holding company invested in insurance (Geico, General Re), jewelry (Borsheim’s), utilities (MidAmerican Energy), food (Dairy Queen, See’s Candies). Also has noncontrolling stakes in Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo.
