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The world’s richest people 2015

By Kerry A. Dolan and Luisa Kroll | Forbes – 16 hours ago

Despite plunging oil prices and a weakened euro, the ranks of the world’s richest defied global economic turmoil andexpanded yet again. Forbes found a record 1,826 billionaires with an aggregate net worth of $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4trillion a year ago. The total includes 290 new billionaires and a record 197 women, up from 172 last year.

Bill Gates is once again the richest person on the planet, a title he's held for 16 of the past 21 years. His fortune grew $3.2billion since last year to $79.2 billion, in spite a gift of $1.5 billion in Microsoft shares to The Bill & Melinda GatesFoundation in November 2014. Carlos Slim Helú of Mexico comes in again at No. 2 while revered American investorWarren Buffett took back the No. 3 spot from Spain’s Amancio Ortega (now No. 4); Buffett was the list’s biggest gainer, up$14.5 billion to $72.7 billion, thanks to Berkshire Hathaway’s rising share price. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg moves up 5spots to number 16, his first time ranked among the world’s 20 richest.

Related: The World’s Youngest Billionaires

At age 30 Zuckerberg is also the leader in a youth revolution that has minted a growing number of billionaires under theage of 40. The youngest billionaire in the world is Evan Spiegel, 24, co­founder of photo­messaging app Snapchat. SiliconValley tech companies have spawned other young new billionaires including cofounders of car­hailing service Uber, TravisKalanick and Garrett Camp, and their first employee Ryan Graves. Elizabeth Holmes, who runs blood­ testing firmTheranos, debuts on the global list as the youngest self­made woman at age 31.

Gainers outnumbered losers: 819 billionaires are richer than a year ago while 519 are poorer. The year’s biggest loser indollar terms is Aliko Dangote of Nigeria, whose fortune dropped to $14.7 billion from $25 billion last year, propelleddownward by a weaker Nigerian currency and shrinking demand for cement, his largest asset. He still retains the title ofAfrica’s richest man. America’s biggest loser was casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, who fell out of the Top Ten to No. 18amid a drop in the price of Las Vegas Sands shares.

One hundred thirty eight people from the 2014 list dropped out of the ranks, including fashion designer Michael Kors,Zulily’s Mark Vadon and many Russians. The number of ten­figure fortunes in Russia plunged to 88 from 111 last year dueto the weak ruble and lower oil prices. Guatemala has a billionaire for the first time, and Iceland returns to the club after aseven­year absence, the result of a comeback by Thor Bjorgolfsson, who’s still the only billionaire in the country’s history.

Related: New Billionaires For 2015

There’s no doubt that entrepreneurship is thriving globally. Fully 1,187 members of the list are self­made billionaires,while just 230 inherited their wealth. Another 403 inherited at least a portion but are still working to increase theirfortunes.

Our estimates show a snapshot of wealth on Feb. 13, when we locked in stock prices and exchange rates from around theworld. If a stock market wasn’t open on that day, we used the stock price from the previous trading day.

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3/3/2015 The world’s richest people 2015 ­ Yahoo Finance UK

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Bill GatesRank: #1Net Worth: $79.2 billion (+ $3.2 billion vs 2014)Citizenship: Untied States

REUTERS/Edgar Su

Bill Gates is once again the richest person on the planet, a title he's held for 16 out of the last 21 years. He recaptured thetop spot in March 2014 after a four­year run by Mexico's Carlos Slim Helu as No. 1. Early on, the stellar performance ofMicrosoft, which he cofounded in 1975, boosted his net worth, but he's been steadily selling his shares in the softwarecompany for at least 15 years. He unloaded one third of his remaining stake over the 12 months through February 2015.That included a gift of shares worth $1.5 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in November 2014, which broughthis lifetime giving up to $30.7 billion. Gates, who spends most of his time focused on philanthropy, laid out some decisivegoals for the foundation in his annual January letter. While continuing to work on improving U.S. education and globalhealth, the foundation is also committed to getting Africa to feed itself and wants to help spread mobile banking, which itbelieves can help transform the lives of the poor.

Carlos Slim Helu & familyRank: 2Net worth: $77.1 billion (+$5.1 b vs. 2014)Citizenship: Mexico

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AP Photo/Jeremy Piper

Carlos Slim Helu remains the world's number two richest person despite changes in the Mexican telecom landscape,where he has prospered greatly over the past two decades. A new anti­monopoly law is driving some of the shifts In June2014, he spent $5.6 billion to buy out AT&T's 8.3% stake in pan­Latin American wireless carrier America Movil ­­ by farSlim's most valuable asset. He and his children own a majority of the company. AT&T then became an America Movilcompetitor in Mexico, when it purchased wireless carrier Grupo Iusacell from Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliegoin January 2015. Outside of telecom, Slim took private his listed real estate company, Innmeubles Carso, paying minorityshareholders $450 million in December 2014. A month later, he became the largest shareholder of The New York Times,with a nearly 17% stake, by exercising warrants to buy more shares. Slim also holds a controlling interest in industrialconglomerate Grupo Carso, financial venture Grupo Financiero Inbursa and infrastructure development and operatingcompany Ideal.

Warren BuffettRank: 3Net worth: $72.7 billion ( +$14.5 billion vs. 2014)Citizenship: United States

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REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Warren Buffett is wealthier than ever thanks to the stellar performance of his diversified holding company, BerkshireHathaway. Its coveted Class A stock, which is the most expensive of any public U.S. company's, eclipsed $200,000 pershare for the first time in August 2014. Buffett moved to No. 3 on FORBES' 2015 list of the world's richest, up from thefourth position in 2014. With dozens of subsidiaries, including in railroads, insurance and energy, Berkshire Hathawayposted $182 billion in 2013 revenue and $19.5 billion in net income. Still inking big deals, Berkshire Hathaway boughtbattery maker Duracell from Procter & Gamble in November 2014 for $4.7 billion. A generous philanthropist, Buffettbested his own giving record in July 2014, giving away Berkshire shares worth $2.8 billion, primarily to the Bill & MelindaGates Foundation but also to his children's foundations, bringing his lifetime giving to nearly $23 billion. Buffett says hisbest investment ever was buying Benjamin Graham's book The Intelligent Investor in 1949. He later studied underGraham before moving home to Nebraska and acquiring a struggling textiles company in 1962, Berkshire Hathaway. Inearly February 2015, it was the fourth most valuable public company in the U.S., with a market capitalization of $355billion.

Amancio OrtegaRank: 4Net worth: $64.5 billion (+$500 million vs. 2014)Citizenship: Spain

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Getty Images/Didier Baverel

Spaniard Amancio Ortega grew up the son of a railway worker and is now the world's richest retailer. He cofounded Zarain 1975 with lingerie and bathrobes he and his former wife Rosalia Mera made in their living room. By the mid­1980s, hehad taken Zara all over Spain and was ready to expand overseas. As his empire grew, Ortega caught the retailestablishment by surprise, limiting advertising, expanding aggressively and controlling much of his own supply chain.Louis Vuitton fashion director Daniel Piette once called Inditex "possibly the most innovative and devastating retailer inthe world." Ortega powered through the Spanish financial crisis, personally gaining $45 billion from 2009 to 2014 as hisshares of Inditex defied the rest of the Spanish stock market. In the last decade he has taken billions in Inditex dividendsand reinvested the money into real estate in marquee cities, including Madrid, Barcelona, London, Chicago, Miami andNew York.

Larry EllisonRank: 5Net worth: $54.3 billion (+$6.3 billion vs. 2014)Citizenship: United States

Kimberly White/Getty Images

Larry Ellison is arguably the first Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur to live large and fast. He never met his biological father

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and was raised in a middle­class Chicago home by his great aunt. After building databases for the CIA, Ellison foundeddatabase software firm Oracle in 1977 and has overseen its tremendous growth­­revenues in fiscal 2014 grew to $38.3billion. In September 2014, Ellison shocked the business world by announcing plans to step down as CEO; he is staying onas Oracle's chairman and chief technology officer. A sailing fanatic, he's the main backer of America's Cup winner OracleTeam USA. Ellison has continued to gobble up properties on the Hawaiian island of Lanai, which he bought for a reported$300 million in 2012, and is said to own every hotel room on the island. His daughter Megan Ellison has found success asa film producer; her Annapurna Pictures produced hits like Zero Dark Thirty and American Hustle.

Charles KochRank: 6Net worth: $42.9 billion (+$2.9 billion vs 2014)Citizenship: Unites States

AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Bo Rader

Charles and David Koch's spheres of influence span business, philanthropy and politics. The lightning­rod capitalistbrothers continue to add to their empire, plunking down more than $5 billion on acquisitions in 2014. Charles has beenchair of Koch Industries since 1967, overseeing massive growth of what is now the second­biggest private company inAmerica, behind commodities giant Cargill. Their reach extends from oil pipelines, refineries and manufacturers ofbuilding materials to paper towels and even Dixie Cups. They were relative pikers in the 2014 midterm elections, spendingabout $2.5 million each on Republican races, but the Washington Post reported that they have exhorted their conservativecompatriots to raise almost $1 billion for the 2016 presidential election. The Kochs are also active philanthropists. In mid­2014, a $25 million gift from Koch Industries and the Charles Koch Foundation to the United Negro College Fund sparkeddiscussion across the political spectrum.

David KochRank: 6Net worth: $42.9 billion (+$2.9 billion vs 2014)Citizenship: United States

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AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Travis Heying

New York City's richest resident David Koch shares control of $115 billion (sales) Koch Industries with his older brotherCharles. America's second largest private company, Koch Industries has interests in oil pipelines, refineries, buildingmaterials, paper towels and Dixie cups, and made more than $5 billion in acquisitions in 2014 including inkmaker FlintGroup for a reported $3 billion and PetroLogistics for $2.1 billion. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New Yorkdedicated the David H. Koch Plaza in September 2014, part of a $65 million renovation he funded. Koch Industriespoured more than $3 million into the 2014 midterm elections. Audio recordings leaked from not­so­secret Koch­organized meetings in June 2014 revealed Republicans including Sen. Mitch McConnell (R­Ky.) laying out their strategyfor thwarting Obama's legislative agenda if the Republicans gained control of the Senate in 2014, which did indeedhappen. The Kochs are also active philanthropists. In mid­2014, a $25 million gift from Koch Industries and the CharlesKoch Foundation to the United Negro College Fund sparked discussion on the left and right.

Christy Walton & familyRank: 8Net worth: $41.7 billion (+$5 billion vs. 2014)Citizenship: United States

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Christy Walton is the wealthiest woman the world, a title she has held for five out of the past six years. She married intowhat became the richest family in the world­­the Waltons­­and inherited her wealth when her husband John Walton, aformer Green Beret and Vietnam war medic, died in an airplane crash in 2005. She is the wealthiest of the Waltons thanksto an investment John made in solar­panel maker First Solar. The bulk of her holdings are in Wal­Mart, the huge retailerfounded by her father­in­law Sam Walton and his brother James in 1962. Christy received $470 million in Wal­Martdividends after taxes in 2014. She leads a very private life in Jackson, Wyoming, but in 2013 had a rare bit of publicitywhen she was given an award by the Imagen Foundation for producing the film Bless Me, Ultima, based on the book byRudolfo Anaya, who is considered the father of Chicano literature. Her son successfully battled cancer when he was just 3years old and she herself fought a case of pneumonia that nearly killed her, according to the Imagen Foundation.

Jim WaltonRank: 9Net worth: $40.6 billion (+$5.9 billion vs. 2014)Citizenship: United States

Jim Walton and Alice Walton (AP Photo/April L. Brown)

Jim Walton, a board member of Wal­Mart, is the youngest child of the superstore's legendary founder Sam Walton. Thecompany generated $473 billion in 2014 revenues from with more than 11,000 stores in 27 countries. In February 2015,Wal­Mart announced it would raise its wages in the U.S. to at least $9 an hour in 2015 and at least $10 an hour in 2016.Labor advocates had called for a jump to $15 an hour. Outside of Wal­Mart, Jim Walton is chairman and CEO of thefamily­founded Arvest Bank, which has branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. The bank has assets ofnearly $15 billion and had net profits of nearly $130 million in 2013.

Liliane Bettencourt & familyRank: 10Net worth: $40.1 billion (+$5.6 billion vs 2014)Citizenship: France

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REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

L'Oreal grand dame Liliane Bettencourt grew even richer in 2014 thanks to a deal in which she purchased an additional8% stake in the cosmetics empire from Nestlé, raising her and her family's chunk of L'Oreal stock to 33%. Her father,Eugene Schueller, founded L'Oreal in 1907. Bettencourt has not been involved in running the company for several years; alegal battle with her daughter Françoise Bettencourt Meyers ended in 2011 with Liliane declared unfit to manage heraffairs. The elderly widow, who suffers from dementia, was replaced on the company's board by her 25­year­old grandsonJean­Victor Meyers in 2012. A trial of ten people who allegedly stole hundreds of millions of euros from Bettencourtbegan in January 2015. She remains the richest woman in Europe.

See the full list: The World’s Billionaires 2015

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