Bill Gates still the world's richest as crisis erodes rankings of others

12 March 2009

Forbes magazine on Wednesday released its list of the world's richest people, most of whom have been hard hit by the ongoing financial crisis.

Bill Gates regain the top spot, despite his wealth declining $18 billion to $40 billion.

In 2008, Warren Buffet had managed to end Bill Gates' 13-year reign at the top. This year, Buffet's fortune declined by $25 billion to $37 billion.

The financial crisis has taken its toll on the richest, wiping 332 names off the magazine's list. Last year there were 1,125 billionaires, which came down to 793 in the current list. There are 72 women in the list compared with 99 in 2008.

The other elites in the top 10 are Carlos Slim (Mexico, $35 billion), Larry Ellison (US, $22.5 billion), Ingvar Kamrad (Sweden, $22 billion), Karl Albrecht (Germany, $21.5 billion), Mukesh Ambani (India, $19.5 billion), Lakshmi Mittal (India, $9.3 billion), Theo Albrecht (Germany, $19.3 billion), and Amencia Ortega (Spain, $18.3 billion).

India's Anil Ambani experienced the biggest reversal of fortunes, slipping to number 34 on the list from number 6 last year, as his net worth sank by $31.9 billion to $10.1 billion over the past 12 months.