People become billionaires by working in many different industries. They work in the oil/gas industry, fashion, and media conglomerates, and many other businesses that people work extremely hard at, and then strike when the iron is hot. some lucky few billionaires inherit these riches fromtheir relatives becoming new wealthy people, but most have worked hard, and worked smart.
Complied from the annual Forbes list of billionaires for 2010, these are the ten richest people in the world.
Here are the TEN richest people in the world:
1. Carlos Slim Helu lives in Mexico. and has amassed a fortune estimated at $53.5 billion. Helu has acquired various Telecom holdings, including America Movil. Helu’s fortune grew by 18.5 billion in one year by being an astute businessman. Helu has now passed Bill Gates as the world’s richest man. Gates held the number one position for several years.
2. Bill Gates has dropped to the number two slot for richest people in the world; an enviable position any person, except Carlos Helu would like to obtain. Bill Gates was one of the original founders of Microsoft that started the company with his friends while still in college.
3. Warren Buffet has amassed a fortune of $47 billion by buying shares in many business including Dairy Queen and by utilizing his shares in his main business of Berkshire Hathaway. Buffet’s billionaire status grew exponentially this year by ten billion dollars, giving him the number three slot.
4. Mukesh Ambani hails from Mumbai, India, and currently owns the most valuable company in India. Mukesh has built up a fortune of 29 billion with Reliance Industries. His father built up the family business which he inherited and has taken the reigns, building it into the successful venture it is today.
5. Lakshmi Mittal is also from India, but currently resides in London England. Mittal entered 2010 bearing a fortune worth $28.7 billion. He has built up his fortune by overseeing Arcelor Mittal, the world’s largest steelmaker. He is the man behind the funding and the building of a forty foot structure for the 2012 Olympics that will be held in London.
6. Laurence Ellison is worth an estimated 28 billion. Ellison made his money the really old fashioned way; he earned it, by working from the ground up to build up Oracle. Ellison lives in California, and is a college dropout. His company, Oracle, bought 57 companies in the last five years.
7.Bernard Arnault is worth $27.5 billion. Arnault is a high fashion maven who has amassed his fortune by inheriting his money from his father who made a small fortune in the construction business, a nd by working for it. Currently living in France, Arnault is in charge of expensive luxury goods such as Louis Vuitton, Moet and Chandon.
8. Eike Batista is worth 27 billion dollars. Batista is a self made billionaire who gained his fortune from oil, and mining. Currently residing in Rio de Janerio, Batista has the largest monetary gain this year, by an astounding 19.5 billion, from his oil and gas exploration company, OGX.
9. Amancio Ortega hails from Spain, and is worth 25 billion dollars. Ortega presides over Inditex, a fashion icon, he owns fashion lines, Zara, Massimo, and Dutti. He is a railway workers son, who got his start as a gofer in a shirt store. He started his business by making lingerie and gowns with his billionaire wife, in his own living room.
10. Karl Albecht has amassed a 23.5 billion fortune by the age of 90. Living in Germany, he started the very popular discount grocery store, Aldi. With his younger brother, the pair transformed their Mom’s corner grocery store into Aldi just after World War II. Currently there are over one thousand Aldi stores in the United States.
Luck, hard work, and knowing when to buy and when to sell are these billionaire’s secrets. Nearly everyone wishes they had enough money to secure a future for their children’s children. These men are the world’s richest. and possibly next year, there will be new billionaires added to the world’s richest people.