The World's Billionaires 2012 edition was 26th annual ranking of
The World's Billionaires
''The World's Billionaires'' is an annual ranking by documented net worth of the wealthiest billionaires in the world, compiled and published in March annually by the American business magazine ''Forbes''. The list was first published in March ...
by ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' magazine. The list estimated the net worth of the world's richest people, excluding royalty and dictators, as of February 14, 2012. It was released online on March 7, 2012.
Annual list
Telecommunications mogul
Carlos Slim
Carlos Slim Helú (; born 28 January 1940) is a Mexican business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. From 2010 to 2013, Slim was ranked as the richest person in the world by the ''Forbes'' business magazine. He derived his fortune from hi ...
topped the 2012 list, marking this third consecutive year at the top.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
founder
Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
placed second, but narrowed the gap from 2011 as Slim's fortune fell $5 billion while Gates' rose $5 billion. Investor
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...
remained in third place.
Bernard Arnault
Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault (; born 5 March 1949) is a French business magnate, investor, and art collector. He is the co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, the world's largest luxury ...
of France was the top-ranking European on the list, placing fourth.
Amancio Ortega
Amancio Ortega Gaona (; born 28 March 1936) is a Spanish billionaire businessman. He is the founder and former chairman of Inditex fashion group, best known for its chain of Zara and Bershka clothing and accessories shops. As of November 202 ...
moved up a spot to number five, despite stepping down from
Zara's top post during the year.
Ricardo Salinas Pliego
Ricardo Benjamín Salinas Pliego (born 19 October 1955) is a Mexican businessman, founder and chairman of Grupo Salinas, a corporate conglomerate with interests in telecommunications, media, financial services, and retail.
He is the third rich ...
was the greatest gainer in terms of dollars, adding $9.2 billion to his fortune and moving up to number 37 overall.
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
's
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American business magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), o ...
was also among the top gainers, adding $4 billion to his fortune.
Dustin Moskovitz
Dustin Aaron Moskovitz (; born May 22, 1984) is an American Internet entrepreneur who co-founded Facebook, Inc. (now known as Meta) with Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum and Chris Hughes. In 2008, he left Facebook to co-found A ...
, also of Facebook, was the youngest self-made billionaire on the list at age 27.
Making her debut on the list at age 41,
Spanx
Spanx, Inc. is an American underwear maker focusing on shaping briefs and leggings, founded in Atlanta, Georgia. The company manufactures mainly pantyhose and other underwear for women and, since 2010, produces male underwear as well. Spanx spe ...
founder
Sara Blakely
Sara Treleaven Blakely (born February 27, 1971) is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the founder of Spanx, an American intimate Clothing, apparel company with pants and leggings, founded in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2012, Blakely wa ...
became the youngest self-made female billionaire ever. Colombia's
Alejandro Santo Domingo
Alejandro Santo Domingo (born 13 February 1977) is a Colombian Americans, Colombian-American billionaire financier and philanthropist. As of March 2022, his estimated net worth was US$2.5 billion.
Early life
He is the son of Colombian billionair ...
was the highest ranked newcomer, inheriting a $9.5 billion stake in
Santo Domingo Group
Julio Mario Santo Domingo Pumarejo (October 16, 1923 – October 7, 2011) was a Colombian-American billionaire businessman, diplomat and patriarch of the Santo Domingo family who lived in New York City. He controlled more than 100 companies in ...
from his father.
Laurene Powell Jobs
Laurene Powell Jobs ( Powell; born November 6, 1963)United States birth records is an American billionaire businesswoman and executive. She is the founder and chair of Emerson Collective and XQ Institute. Powell Jobs resides in Palo Alto, Califo ...
, widow of
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
, was just behind Domingo, inheriting a fortune of $9 billion.
India's
Lakshmi Mittal
Lakshmi Niwas Mittal (; born 15 June 1950) is an Indian steel magnate, based in the United Kingdom. He is the Executive Chairman of ArcelorMittal, the world's second largest steelmaking company, as well as Chairman of stainless steel manufactur ...
was the largest loser as his fortune dropped from $31.1 billion to $20.7 billion as the price of steel maker
ArcelorMittal
ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourgian multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second larg ...
fell sharply.
As a result, he failed to make the top 10 for the first time since 2004 and lost his title of richest Asian. Hong Kong's
Li Ka-shing
Sir Ka-shing Li (; born 13 June 1928) is a Hong Kong billionaire business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. As of June 2019, Li is the 31st richest person in the world, with an estimated net wealth of US$33.4 billion. He is the senior ad ...
reclaimed that title, despite a slight drop in his own wealth.
''
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' author
JK Rowling
Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...
and former
Research In Motion
BlackBerry Limited is a Canadian software company specializing in cybersecurity. Founded in 1984, it was originally known as Research In Motion (RIM). As RIM, it developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartphones, and tablets ...
CEO
Jim Balsillie
James Laurence Balsillie (born February 3, 1961) is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He is the former Chair and co-CEO of the Canadian technology company Research In Motion (Blackberry), which at its prime made over $20B in sales annua ...
were among whose who fell off the list.
A record total of 1,226 people made the 2012 list, representing 58 different countries. Of those, 126 were newcomers to the list and 104 were women. The United States had the greatest number of billionaires with 425. Russia had 96 people on the list, while China had 95. Three new billionaires from Morocco represented their nation, which did not have any billionaire in 2011.
Georgia and Peru also were newly represented.
Moscow was the home to the most billionaire with 78, followed by New York City with 58, and London with 39.
Falling stock prices in Asia contributed to 117 former billionaires falling from the list worldwide. Twelve others listed in 2011 died.
Combined net worth of the billionaire list rose to a record $4.6 trillion. However, net gainers (460) barely outnumbered net losers (441, including 7 of the top 20). The list average was a net worth of $3.7 billion.
To coincide with the release of the 2012 list, Forbes announced a new "Billionaire Real-Time Ticker" updating the wealth of the world's top fifty billionaires in real time.
Top 10
Top 100[Forbes Magazine, March 7, 2012]
See also
*
List of wealthiest families
Various lists of the richest families in the world (excluding royal families or autocratic ruling dynasties) are published internationally, by ''Forbes'' as well as other business magazines.
There is a distinction between wealth held by identifia ...
References
External links
''Forbes'' World's Billionaires 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:World's Billionaires 2012
Lists of people by wealth
Forbes lists
Lists of people by magazine appearance
2012 in economics