Image: José Cruz/ABr

The 2010 Forbes billionaire list awarded Carlos Slim Helu its richest man in the world honor. The Mexican tycoon is worth $53.5 billion, beating out Bill Gates ($53 billion) and Warren Buffett ($47 billion). Here are the top 10 richest men in the world, summed up from Forbes’ excellent list:

1. Carlos Slim Helú
Mexican billionaire who owns the biggest mobile phone company in Latin America, American Movil. He also owns a construction conglomerate, as well as stakes in Saks, the New York Times Co., Bronco Drilling, Inbursa, and Independent News & Media.

2. William Gates III
American billionaire who now runs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Besides stakes in Microsoft, he also has large stakes in Televisa, Auto Nation, and the Four Seasons hotel chain.

3. Warren Buffett
Through Berkshire Hathaway, this famous American controls Geico, Dairy Queen, BYD (an electric carmaker), MidAmerican Energy, and now Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

4. Mukesh Ambani
This Indian petrochemical tycoon runs Reliance Industries, India’s leading oil, gas and chemical giant. He owns the Mumbai Indians cricket team, to boot.

5. Lakshmi Mittal
Mittal, who is from India, runs the worlds biggest steelmaking company, ArcelorMittal. He also owns part of a British soccer team and sits on the boards of Goldman Sachs and EADS.

6. Larry Ellison
The Oracle founder, from the US, isn’t doing too badly after recently buying Sun Microsystems. According to Forbes, he also “won America’s Cup in February, besting longtime rival billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli.” Those billionaires sure can race, can’t they?

7. Bernard Arnault
This Frenchman builds his fortune off defining the luxury lifestyle. He owns Louis Vuitton parent company LVMH, which is also developing high-end commercial property in Shanghai, runs a French tour operator, builds yachts, and built a French ski resort. He’s probably the kind of billionaire you want to hang out with.

8. Eike Batista
This Brazillian oil and mining tycoon also runs a shipbuilding business (OSX) that may raise $5.6 billion–the biggest IPO in the world this year (so far). He also lives it up, according to Forbes, which says he is a “onetime champion offshore powerboat racer; formerly married to Playboy cover girl.”

9. Amancio Ortega
Women around the world thank this Spanish fashion mogul for stores like Zara and Stradivarius. Like a proper tycoon, he also dabbles in real estate, soccer, horse-jumping, banks, tourism, and gas. Oddly, he is betting on real estate in Coral Gables, Fla.–does he know something we don’t?

10. Karl Albrecht
This German grocery entrepreneur founded Aldi. He also cultivates orchids. That’s about as much as anyone knows about him, writes Forbes.

Read the rest of the list here.

Overall, there are fewer Americans on the list, but more Chinese, Turkish, Taiwanese, Russian, Brazilian, and Indian billionaires. For a good analysis of the global members of the list, read this Christian Science Monitor article.


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