946 billionaires listed in Forbes’ 2007 tally

NEW YORK (AP) — A Chinese dumpling maker and a Mexican telecom mogul are among a record number of wealthy people who held the title of billionaire during the past year.

The tally of billionaires around the globe reached a high of 946, their combined wealth growing 35 percent to $3.5 trillion, according to Forbes magazine’s 2007 rankings of the world’s richest people.

The rich cashed in on strong equity markets, real estate and commodity prices worldwide, according to Forbes billionaires co-editor Luisa Kroll.

“It’s just been kind of an extraordinary year for markets worldwide,” she said.

Leading the list are two men who manage to keep getting richer as they give more money away. Microsoft’s Bill Gates ranked No. 1 for the 13th straight year, beating out friend and fellow philanthropist Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway.

Mr. Gates’ fortune rose $6 billion to $56 billion last year, while Mr. Buffett garnered an additional $10 billion to boost his net worth to $52 billion.

Five Americans ranked in the top 20, though they account for 44 percent of the overall list.

Breathing down Mr. Buffett’s neck was Mexican telecom giant Carlos Slim Helu, who added $19 billion to his existing fortune, the largest one-year gain over the past decade. With $49 billion to his name, Mr. Helu was just $3 billion shy of the No. 2 spot.

Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner joined the ranks of the world’s richest for the first time, behind new faces Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, Canadian co-chiefs of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion.

Self-made mogul Li Wei, founder of Synear Food Holding, made the list for the first time with a dozen other Chinese newcomers. Her company, one of the country’s largest producers of frozen food, including sweet and meat dumplings, is an official supplier to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

All bets were off for online gambling moguls Ruth Parasol, Russell DeLeon and Calvin Ayre, who dropped from the list after recent crackdowns limiting offshore gambling Web sites.

Bumped from the top 20 were the Wal-Mart heirs, who saw their stock languish

Losing billionaire status entirely was Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, the once-powerful Japanese industrialist who first topped the tally in 1987.

Japan surrendered its title as Asia’s leading billionaire locale to India, which boasts 36 megarich on the list. Russia contributed 53 billionaires and now challenges Germany as home to the most billionaires outside the United States.

Among three Indians in the wealthiest top 20 are Mukesh and Anil Ambani, feuding brothers who became even richer after dividing their fortunes in 2005. Mukesh Ambani ranked 14th with a $20.1 billion fortune, while brother Anil came in four places lower at No. 18 with his $18.2 billion.

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