Who are the Richest People in the World in 2012?

In its 25th Anniversary of tracking and compiling the list of billionaires on our planet since 1987, Forbes has once again published this year’s authoritative list of the richest people in the world. This year’s list was an all time high with 1,226 billionaires counted in for a total net worth of $4.6 trillion.

Although Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu’s net worth has dropped to $69 billion from $74 billion last year, he still tops the list and claims the title as the richest person on Earth. Microsoft founder Bill Gates, although his net worth has increased from $56 billion last year to $61 billion this year, is still in the second place. Next is Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffet, whose net worth has decreased from $50 billion in 2011 to $44 billion this year.

In the fourth place is Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) chairman and still Europe’s wealthiest man Bernard Arnault of France with a net worth of $41 billion. Spanish Amancio Ortega came in the fifth place with a net worth of $37.5 billion as of March 2012. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is in the sixth rank with $36 billion net worth, while Eike Batista of Brazil follows him in the 7th position with a net worth of $30 billion.

Among the top 10 is Li Ka-shing of Hongkong (ranked #9) who is now considered Asia’s richest person with a net worth of $25.5 billion.

Christy Walton, the richest woman in the world for the seventh year in a row now, is the 11th richest person in the world with a net worth of $25.3 billion as of March 2012.

Last year, India’s billionaires Lakshmi Mittal and Mukesh Ambani were in the top 10 of the world’s richest, Mittal in #6 ($31.1B net worth in 2011) and Ambani in #9 ($27B net worth in 2011). But Lakshmi Mittal lost $10.4 billion in the past year, causing him to be dropped out of the top 10 rankings for the first time since 2004. Shares of his ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, tanked due to surging costs and tepid demand in Europe. Mitall has fallen from #6 to #21 ranking with a net worth of $20.7 billion. This makes Mukesh Ambani the world’s richest Indian now, although he fails from #9 to #19 in the world ranking with a decreased net worth of $22.3 billion this year.

Google’s co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page (CEO) are still both in the 24th rank with an equal net worth of $18.7 billion each, a drop of $1.1 billion from last year’s $19.8 billion each.

Facebook Co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is now the 35th wealthiest in the world with a net worth of $17.5 billion. Last year, Zuckerberg was in the 52nd position with a net worth of $13.5 billion. The filing of paper work for Facebook IPO on February which predicted a $100 billion valuation may have been considered, but still in a more conservative approach until the shares are finally offered to the public.

The youngest billionaire in the world, who also got his wealth from Facebook, is 27-year-old Dustin Moskovitz, with a net worth of $3.5 and is now the 314th richest person in the world. He is Facebook’s co-founder and third employee. He left in 2008 to start Asana, a collaboration and messaging software company that is aiming at tracking “the collective memory of organizations.” Moskovitz was a roommate of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who happens to be only 8 days older.

To view the list of the richest people in the world as of March 2012, you may visit and read Forbes list of the world’s billionaires published on March 7, 2012.