NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 27: Mexican businessman Carlos Slim Helu, one of the world's richest men, smiles during a panel discussion about Latin America at the Clinton Global Initiative September 27, 2007 in New York. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images) (2007 Getty Images)
While many of the world’s billionaires are seeing their net worth plummet, Mexico’s Carlos Slim keeps getting richer.
The telecommunication mogul was declared by Forbes the world’s richest man for the fourth year in a row – easily edging out Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, who topped the list for years.
Another Latino high in the list is Spanish clothier Amancio Ortega, who jumped two spots from 2012 with a net worth of $57 billion. Of the world’s richest, Ortega was the largest gainer – he added $19.5 billion to his net worth.
Slim is worth $73 billion – about $4 billion more than he was last year, thanks to rising stock prices at his Grupo Financiero Inbursa and Grup Carso, according to Forbes. His philanthropic activity also rose, the magazine said, with the Mexican donating millions to education nonprofits and to fight world hunger. His most valuable company, America Movil, is worth $36.3 billion.
Another billionaire, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Buffett, dropped out of the top three for the first time since 2000. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg saw his ranking drop 31 spots as his net worth declined by $4.2 billion. Gates of Microsoft Corp. held on to second place with a net worth of $67 billion.
A record 1,426 people around the world made Forbes magazine's latest annual tally of billionaires, up 16 percent from last year. Their average net worth was $3.8 billion, rising 3 percent from 2012. The total net worth for the list's billionaires was $5.4 trillion compared with $4.6 trillion a year ago.
The U.S. continued to house the most billionaires in the world, with 442 of them. It was followed by the Asia-Pacific region, with Europe rounding out the top three.
There were 210 new faces on the list, with Forbes saying many were helped by rebounding equity markets and strong consumer brands.
Buffett slipped to the fourth spot with a $53.5 billion net worth.
While Buffett dropped in the rankings, he added $9.5 billion to his net worth — making him the second-biggest gainer of the year.
There were 138 women on the list, up from 2012's 104. Liliane Bettencourt — whose family owns a stake in L'Oreal — is the world's richest woman with a net worth of $30 billion.
Brazil's Eike Batista had the biggest drop in his net worth, declining $19.4 billion from the previous year. Facebook's Zuckerberg saw his net worth fall to $13.3 billion from $17.5 billion. His ranking fell to No. 66 from No. 35 in 2012.
There were 60 people that dropped off the list entirely, including Zynga's Mark Pincus and former Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon.
Based on reporting by The Associated Press.
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