Forbes hails 'the richest year in human history'

The number of people entitled to call themselves billionaires has skyrocketed over the past year, concentrating a staggering $3.5 trillion (£1.8trillion) of wealth into the hands of 946 men and (occasionally) women.

According to Forbes magazine, for years the official arbiter of the fortunes of the super-rich, a heady cocktail of global economic growth and soaring asset prices has created 178 new billionaires in just 12 months.

"This is the richest year in human history," declared the magazine's founder, Steve Forbes. "The best way to create wealth is to have free markets and free people, and more and more of the world is realising it."

Entrepreneurs from China and other emerging markets have poured onto the annual list. India has overtaken Japan in terms of the number of billionaires, while Romania and Serbia have their first entrants this year.

China's Yan Cheung makes history as that country's richest person, with a fortune of $2.4bn from her paper manufacturing firm, and joins the very exclusive club of self-made women on the list. In all there are just 83 female billionaires around the world, worth a total of $310bn.

There is no change at the top of the list, although Carlos Slim Helú, the Mexican telecoms magnate, is closing in on Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his friend Warren Buffett. Slim's business empire has grown in value by $19bn in the past year, a feat unmatched by anyone in the past decade.

Buffett, whose investment firm Berkshire Hathaway has the most expensive shares in the world, may slip down the rankings in future years. He has agreed to give his fortune away - 5 per cent at a time - to Gates's charitable foundation, which tackles disease and poverty in the developing world.

In the main, the super-rich are getting richer at a faster and faster pace. Philip Green, who owns Topshop and Bhs, has lost his crown as the UK's leading billionaire, simply by dint of not increasing his wealth from $7bn in the past year.

He has been overtaken by the Duke of Westminster, whose central London properties have soared in value, boosting his worth from $6bn to $10bn.

But both men are eclipsed by two billionaires from overseas who have made the UK their home. The fortune of Indian-born steel magnate and Labour party donor Lakshmi Mittal - $32bn - puts him at number five in the world. Roman Abramovich, the Russian owner of Chelsea football club, slips from 11th to 16th in the rankings, despite increasing his oil industry fortune from $18.2bn to $18.7bn.

New British billionaires this year include two men who have floated their businesses on the London stock exchange: Mike Ashley, owner of the Sports World retail chain, and City fund manager Mark Coombs, who are worth $2bn apiece.

JK Rowling, the Harry Potter author, scrapes on to the list, making her the UK's sole female billionaire.

In the 20 years since it began compiling the list, Forbes said, "old world powers like Japan and Germany - and the billionaires who dominate their businesses - have given way to the latest global hotspots such as booming China, India and Russia. Yoshiaki Tsutsumi was the world's richest person in our inaugural year, but the Japanese land baron fell off the list this year."

The 'Forbes' top ten

1 Bill Gates, $56bn

United States

Age: 51

His stake in Microsoft, the company he founded in 1975, has kept him at the top of the Forbes list for 13 years.

2 Warren Buffett, $52bn

United States

Age: 76

The legendary investor, nicknamed the Oracle of Omaha, has started handing his wealth over to Bill Gates's charitable foundation.

3 Carlos Slim Helu, $49bn

Mexico

Age: 67

Latin America's most prominent businessman has a fortune based on the telecoms company Telmex, which he bought in 1990.

4 Ingvar Kamprad, $33bn

Sweden

Age 80

Founder of Ikea began by peddling pens and Christmas cards by bicycle.

5 Lakshmi Mittal, $32bn

India

Age: 56

Rajasthan-born but London-based steel magnate now controls 10 per cent of world steel production after winning a takeover battle for Arcelor last year

6 Sheldon Adelson, $26.5bn

United States

Age: 73

More than $10bn has been added to his fortune in the past year thanks to global expansion of a hotels and casinos empire based on the Las Vegas Sands.

7 Bernard Arnault, $26bn

France

Age: 58

Controls a luxury goods empire that includes the Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Christian Dior and Moet brands.

8 Amancio Ortega, $24bn

Spain

Age: 71

Creator of Zara, the cheap and cheerful fashion chain which now has 3,100 stores.

9 Li Ka-shing, $23bn

Hong Kong

Age: 78

There is barely an industry where he does not invest. He owns mobile phone companies, retailers, electricity suppliers and shipping firms.

10 David Thomson, $22bn

Canada

Age: 49

Inherited the family media empire that once included The Times. Focuses on specialist publications and information.