Microsoft
co-founder Bill Gates has regained the title of the world's richest
man in the Forbes magazine's annual billionaire list that includes 56 India
based billionaires led by RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani.
Gates is back at the top spot after a
four-year hiatus, reclaiming the title of world's richest person from Mexican
telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu, who had ranked number 1 for the
previous four years.
Gates,
whose fortune rose by USD 9 billion in the past year to USD 76 billion, has
held the top spot for 15 of the past 20 years. "After years focused on his
philanthropy, Gates plans to spend more of his time working with product
managers at Microsoft as rivals like Google and Apple continue to outshine the
company in the market," Forbes said.
With
a networth of USD 18.6 billion, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chief Mukesh
Ambani leads the pack of 56 billionaires based in India featured on the list.
His younger brother Anil Ambani is ranked 281st on the list with a net worth of
USD 5 billion.
The
other Indian billionaires in the list are ArcelorMittal Chairman and CEO
Lakshmi Mittal who is ranked 52nd with a networth of USD 16.7 billion, Wipro
Chairman Azim Premji ranked 61st with USD 15.3 billion, founder of Sun Pharma
Dilip Shanghvi ranked 82nd with USD 12.8 billion, HCL co-founder Shiv Nadar is
ranked 102nd and has a net worth of USD 11.1 billion. Hinduja brothers came in
at the 122nd with USD 10 billion. Birla group chief Kumar Birla is ranked 191st
and has a networth of USD 7 billion, Forbes said the ranks of the world's
billionaires continued to scale new heights and stretched to new corners of the
world.
The
list has 1,645 billionaires with an aggregate net worth of USD 6.4 trillion, up
from USD 5.4 trillion a year ago.
The
list features a record 268 new ten-figure fortunes, including 42 new women
billionaires.
In
total, there are 172 women on the list, more than ever before and up from 138
last year.
The
year's biggest dollar gainer was Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, whose fortune
jumped USD 15.2 billion, to USD 28.5 billion, as shares of his social network
soared.
The
other Indian billionaires on the list are Indian telecom tycoon Sunil Mittal,
who is ranked 244th and has a networth of USD 5.7 billion. Forbes said Mittal
saw his wealth decline by USD 1.1 billion despite big moves to cement his
Bharti Airtel's position as India's biggest mobile operator which has 200
million domestic customers.
Savitri
Jindal and family, is on the 295th spot tied with vaccine billionaire Cyrus
Poonawala and Essar group's Shashi and Ravi Ruia, India's richest banker Uday
Kotak is ranked 396th followed by Godrej group chief Adi Godrej (446), real
estate mogul Kush Pal Singh (551), Hero group founder Brijmohan Lall Munjal
(731), brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, who control hospital chain
Fortis Healthcare (828). Sun TV Network's Kalanithi Maran (796), Indian two
wheeler tycoon Rahul Bajaj (973), Infosys executive chairman N.R. Narayana
Murthy (1046) and former chief executive of Infosys Nandan Nilekani (1210) are
also in the list.
In
the top-ten are Oracle founder Larry Ellison at the 5th spot with USD 48
billion, Koch Industries CEO Charles Koch at 6th with USD 40 billion, and
Chairman and CEO, Arvest Bank Group Jim Walton on the 10th rank with USD 34.7
billion.
For
the 28th annual billionaire list Forbes, compiled networth by valuing
individuals' assets including stakes in public and private companies, real
estate, yachts, art and cashand take into account estimates of debt.
Spanish
clothing retailer Amancio Ortega (best known for the Zara fashion chain)
retains 3rd rank for the second year in a row, extending his lead over Warren Buffett, who is again on 4th spot.