Forbes rich list 2010

or the third time in three years, the world has a new richest man.

Riding surging prices of his various telecom holdings, including giant mobile outfit America Movil ( AMX – news – people ), Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu has beaten out Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to become the wealthiest person on earth and nab the top spot on the 2010 Forbes list of the World’s Billionaires.

Slim’s fortune has swelled to an estimated $53.5 billion, up $18.5 billion in 12 months. Shares of America Movil, of which Slim owns a $23 billion stake, were up 35% in a year.

That massive hoard of scratch puts him ahead of Microsoft ( MSFT – news – people ) cofounder Bill Gates, who had held the title of world’s richest 14 of the past 15 years.

Gates, now worth $53 billion, is ranked second in the world. He is up $13 billion from a year ago as shares of Microsoft rose 50% in 12 months. Gates’ holdings in his personal investment vehicle Cascade ( CAE – news – people ) also soared with the rest of the markets.

Moscow leads the list with the most billionaires but the American’s, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, remain list leaders. Although the Microsoft man and American investor didn’t make it to number one, one of America’s neighbors did.



Back at the top is Mexican, Carlos Slim Helu. Currently, he holds a net worth of over $74 billion dollars. This will be Slim’s second year in a row as the richest person in the world. Slim is 71-years-old and chairman of Telmex.

He was always appearing on the Forbes rich list but his earnings shot up even more recently due to the rise in the Mexican stock market. Forbes stated that Slim also merged his telecom company with Latin America’s largest wireless carriers making even bigger earnings. Slim has other successful holdings including shares in Saks and New York Times among others.

The Mexican billionaire won’t have all the wealth to himself. Although he’s a widow, he has six children to share it with.

Behind him is Bill Gates of Microsoft with $56 billion. In third, Warren Buffet with $50 billion. In Fourth, Bernard Arnault with $41 billion. In Fifth, Larry Ellison with $39.5 billion.