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- The richest man in the world is Bill Gates, with a fortune of $72.9 billion - up 16.2% in a year. His fortune is all the more impressive when you add in the fact that he has given away $28 billion - most of it to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Microsoft is now just a fifth of his fortune.
- The Mexican telecoms magnate is still sitting on an incredible fortune of $65.5 billion - but this is actually $9.7 billion less than last December. He held the top spot for three years until it was regained by Gates, and now has interests ranging from mining to real estate - and even a stake in the New York Times.
- The Spanish retail guru behind Zara is worth $61.9 billion - made from his 60% stake in the business. His company now also owns Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Pull and Bear.
- The Investment genius known as the Sage of Omaha is now worth $58.2 billion. He still has no plans to retire at the age of 83. Last year he made $12.5 billion, and bought Heinz.
- The man behind the Ikea brand is worth $50.3 billion. This finding differs dramatically from the net worth estimated by Forbes - who say that he demonstrated in 2011 that the majority of his economic stake had been transferred beyond his control decades ago and put his worth at $3.3 billion.
- Their fortune (of $45.2 billion each) comes from the family business, Koch Industries (the second biggest company in the US), where Charles is CEO and David Executive Vice President. Both brothers invest 90% of everything they make into the business.
The technology firm Oracle has made its founder $41 billion. He is enjoying his money, investing in properties and his America's Cup team. He has also started donating enormous sums of money to his own medical foundation - which is working on reversing the effects of ageing.
- The family behind the Wal-Mart brand has profited enormously, with Christy (daughter-in-law of founder Sam) worth $36.5 billion and Jim (son of the founder and pictured) worth $35.1 billion. Christy became the richest woman in the world after the death of her husband in a plane crash in 2005.