Forbes’ List of the World’s Billionaires

[Valerie S. Johnson]

By Valerie S. Johnson

Many people fantasize about becoming millionaires. But a $1 million net worth isn’t what it used to be. Forbes just published its annual list of the nearly 1,000 people who each have a net worth of 1,000 times $1 million – in other words, the billionaires.

It’s no surprise that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett top the list again, with a net worth of $56 billion and $52 billion respectively. You probably haven’t even heard of numbers 3, 4, and 5 on the big list: Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico, Ingvar Kamprad and family (Swedish citizens residing in Switzerland), and Lakshmi Mittal of India who lives in the U.K.

The list represents a virtual United Nations, with extraordinarily wealthy people from Germany, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, to name just a few of the countries represented. Argentina, Czech Republic and Greece each produced only one billionaire this year, and five hailed from Kazakhstan.

Three members of this exclusive club are under 30 years old, although each is worth no more than a paltry $2 billion.

See Forbes' List of the World's Billionaires for more fun facts about the Forbes bunch.