10 Richest People of 2013

1. Carlos Slim Helú

Net Worth: $73 billion

This is the fourth year; Carlos Slim Helú has been entitled with the ‘Richest Man’ title.

Carlos is a Mexican business tycoon. Born in January 28, 1940, Carlos was taught business basics by his father. At the age of 17, he started working for his father’s company and was earning 200 pesos a week.

Today, Carlos is the telecom giant of Mexico and also owns a remarkable number of companies. Some of his conglomerate companies are Grupo Carso, SA de CV, etc. His América Móvil was the largest mobile-phone carrier in 2010. He is the Chairman and CEO of Telmex and América Móvil.

 2. Bill Gates

Net Worth: $67 billion

Bill Gates is the most active name in the ‘Richest People’ list. Even after giving away a considerable amount to ‘Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’, he is standing tall in the second rank of this list.

His name needs no introduction. He topped this list constantly from 1995 to 2009. It was only in 2008 that he was ranked as third.

He is the current Chairman of Microsoft and he donates a major portion of his wealth to his charitable trust, ‘Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’.

 

3. Amancio Ortega

Net Worth: $ 57 billion

In 2012, Ortega’s net worth was $37.5 billion and this year, he made it to $57 billion and is ranked as the third richest person in the world.

He founded Zara in 1975 and wanted to name it as ‘Zorba’. Zara stores have brands like Zara, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Zara Home, Kiddy's Class, Tempe, Stradivarius, Pull and Bear, Bershka.

He is the most low profile billionaire in this list. He prefers hi company’s canteen for coffee and lunch. Most of the times, he is found without a tie and in the simplest dress code.

4. Warren Buffet

Net Worth: $53 billion

Warren Buffet is better known as the king of the stock market and the most remarkable investor of the twentieth century. He is the Chairman and the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. With a net worth of $53 billion, Buffet comes fourth in this list.

Buffet started his business carrier by selling chewing gums, Coca-Cola and newspapers. He entered into stock market at the age of 11 and when he was 15, he and one of his friends owned several pinball machines in different barber shops.

5. Larry Ellison

Net Worth: $43 billion

The founder of Oracle, Larry Ellison has been placed in the fifth position in this list. His net worth is $43 billion.

Ellison is also making his mark into real estates. He had recently bought a major portion of Hawaiian island. From October 2012 to January, he invested $55 million in real estates.

He is the current CEO of Oracle and holds more than 20 percent shares of Oracle.

6. Charles Koch

Net Worth: $34 billion

Charles Koch, the co-owner and the CEO of Koch Industries is the sixth richest man in the world. Forbes estimated his wealth to be $34 billion in this year.  In 2011, his net worth was $25 billion.

He and his brother got the business from their father. During those days, Koch Industries was mainly into oil refining. Later, they extended their business to fields like  commodity trading and services, consumer products, Lycra fiber, Dixie paper products, process and pollution control equipments and technologies, etc.

7. David Koch

Net Worth: $ 34 billion

Just after his elder brother, David Koch holds the seventh position of the rich list with a net worth of $34 billion. In 2012, David Koch was the fourth richest person in America.

He is the co-owner and the Executive Vice President of the Koch Industries. He is a political activist, chemical engineer and also a great supporter of arts. He made a donation of $100 million for the renovation of the ‘New York State Theater’ at Lincoln Center.

8. Li Ka-Shing

Net Worth: $31 billion

Li Ka-Shing is the richest man in Asia and the proud Chairman of the Hutchison Whampoa  (HWL) and Cheung Kong Holdings. He is the most powerful man in Asia and is also known as the ‘Superman’ in Honk Kong.

Born in China (13 June 1928), Li left school at the age of 15 and started working for a plastic trading company. He started his own company in 1950 which got listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1972.

9. Liliane Bettencourt

Net Worth: $30 billion

Liliane Bettencourt is the only woman in the list of ten richest people in the world. With a net worth of $30 billion, she has become the richest women in the world.

L'Oreal, founded by her father is the reason behind their family wealth. She and her other family members holds more than 30 percent of the company’s shares.

She is now 90 and is placed in the ninth rank of Forbes’ list of rich people, 2013.

10. Bernard Arnault

Net Worth: $29 billion

Bernard was the fourth richest person in this list in 2012. This year, his ownership issue and several other issues have forced him down to the tenth place. His net worth is estimated to be $29 billion.

After completing his graduation, Bernard joined his family’s construction business. In 1976, the family converted its construction business and started focusing in real estates. He became the CEO of the company in 1977.

LMVH was formed in 1987 and finding opportunities, Bernard became the holder of more than 25 percent of its shares.