The 2014 Forbes Billionaires’ List, which was released recently, ranked
the President/Chief Executive, the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote,
23rd in a list of 1,645 richest people in the world, with a personal
fortune of $25billion. This is an improvement on his 43rd position in 2013
(with networth of $16billion), and places him among the league of the Top
25 for the first time.
According to Forbes, Microsoft’s Founder, Bill Gates, is back on top,
reclaiming the title of world’s richest person from telecom mogul, Carlos
Slim Helu of Mexico, who ranked No. 1 for the past four years. Gates,
whose fortune rose by $9billion in the past year, has held the top spot
for 15 of the past 20 years.
Spanish clothing retailer Amancio Ortega and owner of the Zara fashion
chain retains the No. 3 spot for the second year in a row, extending his
lead over Warren Buffett, who is again No. 4. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg,
whose fortune jumped $15.2billion, to $28.5billion, as shares of his
social network soared, is the year’s biggest dollar gainer. WhatsApp
founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton, who also made the list for the first
time, are four of 26 newcomers whose fortunes come from technology.
The United States maintains its lead in the world with 492 billionaires,
followed by China with 152 and Russia with 111. However, new billionaires
emerged for the first time in Algeria, Lithuania, Tanzania and Uganda.
According to Forbes, the 1,645 billionaires had an aggregate net worth of
$6.4trillion, up from $5.4trillion a year ago, while there are 172 women
on the list, up from 138 last year. It added that about two-thirds of the
billionaires built their own fortunes, 13 percent inherited them, while 21
percent have been adding on to fortunes they received.