Carlos Slim Helu and family is the world's richest man

Carlos Slim Helu

If you were asked who is the world's richest man, the safest answer that you can give is Bill Gates (William Gates III). True, that he is rich but not as rich as that man in the photo. Bill Gates though, I think, have been the richest man in the world for the longest time in Forbes' The World Billionaires list. Anyway let me talk a bit more of Carlos Slim Helu and who he is and why he has become the world's richest person.

William Gates III

Carlos Helu's current net worth is at $53.5 Billion, $500,000,000 more than Bill's. The 70 year old man is a Mexican telecommunications tycoon. In the 1990s Carlos took over the country's national telephone company privatizing it and making a fortune out of it. He became the world's richest man for the first time in 2010 after being in 3rd last year when Bill Gates reigned supreme. 

You might be wondering how can a telecom company make this guy the world's richest? Well, like most rich persons, their fortune does not only come from one source. Just like Bill Gates, Carlos have other investments aside from American Movil (Latin America's largest mobile phone company), he also have his construction conglomerate, Impulsora del Desarrollo y el Empleo, he also own stakes in a financial group called Inburso, Bronco Drilling, Independent News and Media, Saks, and New York Times Co.

Anyone who carries a resume like Carlos' will definitely make it to the top spot of Forbes' richest persons. The people who are at the top 10 are a mixed of nationalities, which is basically good, but if you try to look at the whole list, you'll find out that the world's richest are concentrated in the United States.

Top 10 Forbes' World's Billionaires List:

1 Carlos Slim Helu     $53.5   (Net Worth in billions)

2 William Gates III     $53      

3 Warren Buffet         $47      

4 Mukesh Ambani      $29      

5 Lakshmi Mittal        $28.7  

6 Lawrence Ellison     $28

7 Bernard Arnault      $27.5

8 Eike Batista            $27

9 Amancio Ortega     $25

10 Karl Albrecht       $23.5

Most of them are aiming to be the world's richest sometime, and with Eike Batista, which is the biggest gainer for 2010, set to be the world's richest. The Indian business tycoon owning Reliance Industries is not going to just sit around and do nothing to challenge for the top spot. Mukesh Amabani, India's richest and owns the world's most expensive house, is also aiming to be at the top spot. Bill Gates on the other hand, is sitting pretty on second place just half a billion shy of Carlos' and may even take number 1 by next year. Currently, Bill and his wife Miranda, is focused with their foundation, the world's largest and the most funded/stable, the Bill and Miranda Gates Foundation. I guess, being the richest for a long time is a boring life after all, but everyone wants to taste that good life.

We'll have to see when Forbes posts their 2011 list, I hope soon.

Source: Forbes