西哥大亨取代盖茨 成世界首富

Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is the world's richest person, knocking Microsoft founder Bill Gates into second spot, as the wealth of the world's billionaires grew by 50 percent over the last year, Forbes magazine said on Wednesday.

It is only the second time since 1995 that Gates has lost the crown, the magazine said, estimating Slim's net worth at $53.5 billion, compared to Gates's $53 billion fortune, while investor Warren Buffett came in at No. 3 with $47 billion.

The trio regained $41.5 billion of the $68 billion they had lost the previous year, Forbes said.

The number of billionaires around the world has nearly recovered in 2010 after dropping by a third last year during the global financial crisis. There are now 1,011 billionaires, compared with 793 last year and 1,125 in 2008.

The net wealth of those billionaires grew to $3.6 trillion from $2.4 trillion last year, but is still down from 2008's $4.4 trillion, according to the 24th annual Forbes list, which took a snapshot of wealth on February 12 to compile its ranking.

The average billionaire is now worth $3.5 billion, up $500 million from last year. And the number of women on the list rose to 89 from 72 last year.

"The global economy is recovering and it's reflected in what you see in the list this year," Steve Forbes, chief executive of Forbes, told a news conference. "Financial markets have also made an even more impressive comeback from the lows of just about a year ago, particularly in emerging markets."

"Asia is leading the comeback," Forbes said.

The number of billionaires in the Asia-Pacific region grew by 80 percent to 234 and their net worth almost doubled to $729 billion, which the Forbes ranking attributed to the area's "swelling stock markets and several large public offerings during the past year."

Two Indians round out the top five richest people in the world -- Mukesh Ambani, with a petrochemicals, oil and gas fortune of $29 billion, and steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, who is valued at $28.7 billion.

Of the 97 billionaires making their debut on the Forbes list, 62 are from Asia, while for the first time China is now home to the most billionaires outside of the United States.

"The United States still dominates, but the United States is lagging," Forbes said. "It is not doing as well as the rest of the world in coming back."

The Forbes ranking of the world's billionaires can be seen at www.forbes.com/billionaires.

《福布斯》杂志本周三发布年度富豪榜，墨西哥大亨卡洛斯．斯利姆取代微软公司创始人比尔．盖茨，成为世界首富，盖茨屈居第二。据统计，全球亿万富翁的资产总额在过去一年中增加了50%。

该杂志称，这是盖茨自1995年以来第二次失去全球首富桂冠。据《福布斯》估计，斯利姆的净资产总额达到535亿美元，盖茨为530亿美元，“股神”沃伦．巴菲特以470亿美元的身价位列第三。

《福布斯》称，这三位富豪在前一年中共损失了680亿美元的财富，但去年又赚得415亿美元，收复了大部分失地。

受金融危机影响，去年全球亿万富翁的数量减少了三分之一，由2008年的1125人减少到793人。而今年的富豪数量达到1011人，几乎恢复到之前的水准。

上榜亿万富翁的净资产总额也从去年的2.4万亿美元增至3.6万亿美元，但仍低于2008年的4.4万亿美元。这是《福布斯》杂志第24次发布年度富豪榜，计算依据是截至今年2月12日的个人资产总额。

此次上榜富豪的平均资产达到35亿美元，比去年增加了5亿美元。女富豪数量也从去年的72人增加到89人。

《福布斯》杂志首席执行官斯蒂夫．福布斯在新闻发布会上说：“从今年的富豪榜可以看出，全球经济正在复苏。金融市场也从一年前的谷底中走了出来，且回升势头更为强劲，尤其是在新兴市场。”

《福布斯》称，“亚洲在全球经济复苏中处于领先地位。”

今年，亚太地区的富豪数量达到234人，比去年增加了80%，净资产总额几乎翻番，达到7290亿美元。《福布斯》认为这是因为去年该地区“股票市场大幅走高，以及几次大规模的公开募股。”

今年还有两位印度富豪跻身富豪榜前五位，分别是石化油气行业巨头穆凯什．阿姆巴尼（290亿美元）和钢铁大王拉克希米．米塔尔（287亿美元）。

在今年首次登榜的97位富豪中，有62位来自亚洲。中国富豪数量首次位居第二，仅次于美国。

《福布斯》称：“美国仍是富豪最多的国家，但正在被赶超。美国的经济复苏不如其他国家。”

完整榜单可登陆www.forbes.com/billionaires网站查看。

Vocabulary:

trio：any group of three persons or things（三人，三重唱）

public offering：a sale of a new issue of securities to the general public through a managing underwriter（公开销售证券，公开募股）

magnate：a person of great influence, importance, or standing in a particular enterprise, field of business, etc.（大资本家，巨头）