Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos 2005
Born	Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen (1964-01-12) January 12, 1964 (age 48) Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
Alma mater	Princeton University
Occupation	Chairman and CEO of Amazon.com
Net worth	US$ 18.4 billion (2012)[1]
Awards	Time Person of the Year 1999

Jeffrey Preston "Jeff" Bezos (/beɪzəs/, born January 12, 1964) is an American entrepreneur who played a key role in the growth of e-commerce as the founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com, Inc., an online merchant of books and later of a wide variety of products. Under his guidance, Amazon.com became the largest retailer on the World Wide Web and the model for Internet sales.

Early life and career[link]

Bezos was born Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Jacklyn Gise Jorgensen and Ted Jorgensen.^[2] His maternal ancestors were settlers who lived in Texas, and over the generations acquired a 25,000 acre (101 km² or 39 miles²) ranch in Cotulla. Bezos' maternal grandfather was a regional director of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in Albuquerque. He retired early to the ranch, where Bezos spent many summers as a youth, working with him.^[3] At an early age, Bezos displayed a striking mechanical aptitude – as a toddler, he tried dismantling his crib with a screwdriver.^[4]

Bezos was born to a teenage mother in Albuquerque. Her marriage to his father lasted little more than a year. When Jeff was five, she remarried, this time to Miguel Bezos. Miguel was born in Cuba, immigrated to the United States alone when he was fifteen years old, worked his way through the University of Albuquerque, married, and legally adopted Jeff. After the marriage, the family moved to Houston, Texas, and Miguel became an engineer for Exxon. The young Bezos attended River Oaks Elementary School in Houston from fourth to sixth grade. As a child, he spent summers at his grandfather's ranch in southern Texas, "laying pipe, vaccinating cattle and fixing windmills."^[5]

Bezos often showed intense scientific interests. He rigged an electric alarm to keep his younger siblings out of his room. He converted his parents' garage into a laboratory for science projects.^{[citation needed]} The family moved to Miami, Florida, where Bezos attended Miami Palmetto Senior High School. While in high school, he attended the Student Science Training Program at the University of Florida, receiving a Silver Knight Award in 1982.^[6] He was high school valedictorian.^[7] He attended Princeton University, planning to study physics, but soon returned to his love of computers and graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and computer science.

According to Nick Hanauer (an early investor in Amazon) and "others who know [him]"^[5], Bezos is a libertarian; such beliefs are said to have help motivate Amazon.com's aggressive "efforts to avoid collecting sales taxes on purchases made on its website" and the company's unwillingness to engage in "sponsorships, matching grants or employee volunteer programs".^[5]

Business career[link]

After graduating from Princeton University in 1986, Bezos worked on Wall Street in the computer science field.^[8] Then he worked on building a network for international trade for a company known as Fitel. He next worked at Bankers Trust, where he became vice-president. Later on he also worked in computer science for D. E. Shaw & Co.

Amazon.com[link]

Bezos founded Amazon.com in 1994 after making a cross-country drive from New York to Seattle, writing up the Amazon business plan on the way. He initially set up the company in his garage.^[9] He had left his "well-paying job" at a New York City hedge fund when he "learned about the rapid growth in Internet use", which coincided with a "then-new U.S. Supreme Court ruling [that] online retailers don't have to collect sales taxes in states where they lack a physical presence"; he had headed to Washington because its relatively small population meant fewer of his future customers would have to pay sales tax.^[5]

Amazon eventually made him one of the most prominent dot-com entrepreneurs and a billionaire. Bezos' salary as CEO was $81,840 in 2010, in addition to the $1.6 million cost of his personal security detail.^[10] He owns 20% of Amazon's stock and forgoes stock options.

According to Forbes, Amazon's shares have "defied gravity" in 2011, jumping 55% and adding $6.5 billion to his net worth.^[11]

Bezos is known for his attention to business details. As described by Portfolio.com, he "is at once a happy-go-lucky mogul and a notorious micromanager. ... an executive who wants to know about everything from contract minutiae to how he is quoted in all Amazon press releases."^[9]

Blue Origin[link]

In 2000, Bezos founded Blue Origin, a human spaceflight startup company,^[12] partially as a result of his fascination with space travel,^[13] including an early interest in developing "space hotels, amusement parks and colonies for 2 million or 3 million people orbiting the Earth."^[7] The company was kept under wraps for a half dozen years and initially became publicly known only in 2006 when purchasing a sizable aggregation of land in west Texas for a launch and test facility.^[14]

In a 2011 interview, Bezos indicated that he founded the space company to help enable "anybody to go into space" and stated that the company is committed to decreasing the cost and increasing the safety of spaceflight.^[15] Blue Origin is "one of several start-ups aiming to open up space travel to paying customers. Like Amazon, the company is secretive, but [in September 2011] revealed that it had lost an unmanned prototype vehicle during a short-hop test flight. Although this was a setback, the announcement of the loss revealed for the first time just how far Blue Origin’s team had advanced."^[13] Bezos said that the crash was 'not the outcome that any of us wanted, but we’re signed up for this to be hard.'" ^[13]

Recognition[link]

He was named Time magazine's Person of the Year in 1999.^[16] In 2008, he was selected by U.S. News & World Report as one of America's best leaders.^[17] Bezos was awarded an honorary doctorate in Science and Technology from Carnegie Mellon University in 2008. In 2011, The Economist gave Bezos and Gregg Zehr an Innovation Award for the Amazon Kindle. ^[18]

He is also a member of the Bilderberg Group and attended the Swiss 2011 Bilderberg conference in St. Moritz, Switzerland.^[19]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jeff Bezos at TED Conferences
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Jeff Bezos on Charlie Rose
• Jeff Bezos at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Jeff Bezos in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Jeff Bezos collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Jeff Bezos at the Notable Names Database
• Condé Nast Portfolio Executive Profile - Portfolio.com (August 2007)
• Inside the Mind of Jeff Bezos - Fastcompany.com (August 2004)

Charlie Rose
Rose in May 2010
Born	Charles Peete Rose, Jr. (1942-01-05) January 5, 1942 (age 70) Henderson, North Carolina, U.S.
Education	Duke University B.A. (1964) Duke University J.D. (1968)
Occupation	Talk show host Journalist
Years active	1972–present
Notable credit(s)	Charlie Rose, 60 Minutes II, 60 Minutes, CBS News Nightwatch, CBS This Morning
Website
http://www.charlierose.com/

Charles Peete "Charlie" Rose, Jr. (born January 5, 1942)^[1] is an American television talk show host and journalist. Since 1991 he has hosted Charlie Rose, an interview show distributed nationally by PBS since 1993. He has also co-anchored CBS This Morning since January 2012. Rose, along with Lara Logan, has hosted the revived CBS classic Person to Person, a news program during which celebrities are interviewed in their homes, originally hosted from 1953 to 1961 by Edward R. Murrow.^[2]

Early life[link]

Rose was born in Henderson, North Carolina, the only child^[3] of Margaret Frazier and Charles Peete Rose, Sr., tobacco farmers who owned a country store.^[4][5] As a child, Rose lived above his parents' store in Henderson and helped out with the family business from age seven.^[6] Rose admitted in a Fresh Dialogues interview that as a child his insatiable curiosity was constantly getting him in trouble.^[7] A high school basketball star, Rose entered Duke University intending to pursue a degree with a pre-med track, but an internship in the office of Democratic North Carolina Senator B. Everett Jordan got him interested in politics.^[8] Rose graduated in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in history. At Duke, he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity. He earned a Juris Doctor from the Duke University School of Law in 1968.^[6] He met his wife, Mary (née King), while attending Duke.^[3][4]

Career[link]

After his wife was hired by the BBC (in New York), Rose handled some assignments for the BBC on a freelance basis. In 1972, while continuing to work at Bankers Trust, he landed a job as a weekend reporter for WPIX-TV. His break came in 1974, after Bill Moyers hired Rose as managing editor for the PBS series Bill Moyers' International Report. In 1975, Moyers named Rose executive producer of Bill Moyers Journal. Rose soon began appearing on camera. "A Conversation with Jimmy Carter," one installment of Moyers's series U.S.A.: People and Politics, won a 1976 Peabody Award. Rose worked at several networks honing his interview skills until KXAS-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth hired him as program manager and gave him the late-night time slot that would become the Charlie Rose show.

Rose worked for CBS News (1984–1990) as the anchor of CBS News Nightwatch, the network's first late-night news broadcast. The Nightwatch broadcast of Rose's interview with Charles Manson won an Emmy Award in 1987.^[4] In 1990, Rose left CBS to serve as anchor of Personalities, a syndicated program produced by Fox Broadcasting Company, but he got out of his contract after six weeks because of the tabloid-style content of the show. Charlie Rose premiered on PBS station Thirteen/WNET on September 30, 1991, and has been nationally syndicated since January 1993. In 1994, Rose moved the show to a studio owned by Bloomberg Television, which allowed for improved satellite interviewing.^[9]

Rose was a correspondent for 60 Minutes II^[10] from its inception in January 1999 until its cancellation in September 2005, and was later named a correspondent on 60 Minutes.^[11]

Rose was a member of the board of directors of Citadel Broadcasting Corporation from 2003 to 2009.^[3] In May 2010, Charlie Rose delivered the commencement address at North Carolina State University.

On November 15, 2011, it was announced that Rose would return to CBS to help anchor CBS This Morning, replacing The Early Show, commencing January 9, 2012, along with co-anchors Erica Hill and Gayle King.

Cameo appearances[link]

Rose has appeared as himself in the 1998 film Primary Colors,^[12] in a 2000 episode of The Simpsons^[13] and in the 2008 movie Elegy.^[14] He and his show were also used in the Wes Anderson film The Royal Tenenbaums. He also appears as himself in the 2011 George Clooney directed film, The Ides of March.

[edit] Accusations of conflict of interest

While hosting the 2002 Coca-Cola Company shareholders' meeting, Rose said "few companies are able to connect as completely with consumers in the way that Coca-Cola is. It is a privilege to be associated with [The Coca-Cola family] ... This is the business of Coca-Cola: being part of a family, being worldwide, doing well and doing good at the same time."^[15] Afterward, Coca-Cola agreed to become what Rose called "a leading underwriter" of The Charlie Rose Show, paying "six or possibly seven figures."^[16] Even the Charlie Rose mugs used on his PBS show feature a Coca-Cola logo on one side.^[17][18] Although CBS News policy bars correspondents from doing commercials and product endorsements, the Washington Post reported CBS was "comfortable" with Rose's actions. Rose insists he "would never do a story on 60 Minutes II about anybody who underwrites my PBS show."^[16]

[edit] Quiet influence

The New York Times reported that Rose encouraged a discussion between the leaders of NBC and Fox, that led eventually to a mutual reduction in ad hominem attacks between Keith Olbermann and Bill O'Reilly on their respective news programs.^[19]

Rose has attended several Bilderberg Group conference meetings, including meetings held in the United States in 2008;^[20] Spain in 2010;^[21] and Switzerland in 2011.^[22] These unofficial conferences hold guests from North America and Western Europe, most of whom are political leaders and businessmen. Details of meetings are closed off to the public and strictly invitation-only, and critics^[who?] speculate the controversial nature of these meetings of highly influential people. Accusations from conspiracy theorists against The Charlie Rose show claim that it has become the US media outlet for Bilderberg.^{[23][unreliable source?]}

Personal life[link]

Rose's twelve-year marriage to Mary Rose (née King) ended in divorce in 1980. Mary is the sister-in-law of Morgan Stanley Chairman John J. Mack. Since 1993, his companion has been socialite and chairman of the New York City Planning Commission and director of the city department of planning Amanda Burden, a stepdaughter of CBS founder William S. Paley.^[24]

On March 29, 2006, after experiencing shortness of breath in Syria, Rose was flown to Paris and underwent surgery for mitral valve repair in the Georges-Pompidou European Hospital. His surgery was performed under the supervision of Alain F. Carpentier, a pioneer of the procedure.^[25] Rose returned to the air on June 12, 2006, with Bill Moyers and Yvette Vega (the show's executive producer), to discuss his surgery and recuperation.

In a 2009 Fresh Dialogues interview, Rose described his life as "great and glorious."^[7] He added, '"I get up every morning with a new adventure. The adventure is fueled by interesting people. I get a chance to control my own destiny. I do something that is immediately either appreciated or not. I get feedback."

Rose owns a 575-acre (2.33 km²) farm in Oxford, North Carolina, an apartment overlooking Central Park in New York City, a beach house in Bellport, New York, an apartment in Washington D.C.^[3] and an apartment in Paris, France.

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (March 2012)

• Charlie Rose Official website of his eponymous show
• Charlie Rose official channel on YouTube
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Charlie Rose at the Internet Movie Database
• Charlie Rose collected news and commentary at the Los Angeles Times
• Charlie Rose collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Charlie Rose at the Notable Names Database
• Charlie Rose shows on Hulu
• celebritynetworth.com, Celebrity Net Worth, Charlie Rose
• Why Business Loves Charlie Rose David A. Kaplan, Fortune, September 28, 2009

The World's Billionaires list is a yearly ranking of the world’s richest people. Forbes evaluates billionaires stakes in public and private companies, their real estate, yachts, planes, car collections, art, jewelry and other assets. Forbes also factors in debt.

Statistics[link]

This section requires expansion.

The internet bubble created the most paper wealth for some billionaires. However, once the dotcom bubble burst the new rich saw their fortunes disappear.^[1] Billionaires' fortunes have been hit even harder by the global financial crisis. 2009 was the first time in five years that the world had a net loss in the number of billionaires.^[2] The strong performance of the financial markets and global economic recovery have erased financial assets losses. Most of the richest people on the planet have seen their fortunes soar in the past few years.^[3][4]

Source: Forbes Magazine.^[5]

2012 Top 10[link]

No.	Name	Net worth (USD)	Age	Citizenship	Source(s) of wealth
&100000000000000010000001	Slim, CarlosCarlos Slim	$69.0 billion	72	Mexico	Telmex, América Móvil, Grupo Carso
&100000000000000020000002	Gates, BillBill Gates	$61.0 billion	56	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000030000003	Buffett, WarrenWarren Buffett	$44.0 billion	81	United States	Berkshire Hathaway
&100000000000000040000004	Arnault, BernardBernard Arnault	$41.0 billion	63	France	LVMH Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton
&100000000000000050000005	Ortega, AmancioAmancio Ortega	$37.5 billion	75	Spain	Inditex Group
&100000000000000060000006	Ellison, LawrenceLawrence Ellison	$36.0 billion	67	United States	Oracle Corporation
&100000000000000070000007	Batista, EikeEike Batista	$30.0 billion	55	Brazil	EBX Group
&100000000000000080000008	Stefan Persson	$26.0 billion	64	Sweden	H&M
&100000000000000090000009	Ka-shing, LiLi Ka-shing	$25.5 billion	83	Hong Kong	Cheung Kong Holdings
&1000000000000001000000010	Albrecht, KarlKarl Albrecht	$25.4 billion	92	Germany	Aldi

2011 Top 10[link]

No.	Name	Net worth (USD)	Age	Citizenship	Source(s) of wealth
&100000000000000010000001	Slim, CarlosCarlos Slim	$74.0 billion	72	Mexico	Telmex, América Móvil, Grupo Carso
&100000000000000020000002	Gates, BillBill Gates	$56.0 billion	56	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000030000003	Buffett, WarrenWarren Buffett	$50.0 billion	81	United States	Berkshire Hathaway
&100000000000000040000004	Arnault, BernardBernard Arnault	$41.0 billion	62	France	LVMH Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton
&100000000000000050000005	Ellison, LawrenceLawrence Ellison	$39.5 billion	66	United States	Oracle Corporation
&100000000000000060000006	Mittal, LakshmiLakshmi Mittal	$31.1 billion	60	India	Arcelor Mittal
&100000000000000070000007	Ortega, AmancioAmancio Ortega	$31.0 billion	74	Spain	Inditex Group
&100000000000000080000008	Batista, EikeEike Batista	$30.0 billion	53	Brazil	EBX Group
&100000000000000090000009	Ambani, MukeshMukesh Ambani	$27.0 billion	53	India	Reliance Industries
&1000000000000001000000010	Walton, ChristyChristy Walton	$26.5 billion	55	United States	Walmart

2010 Top 10[link]

No.	Name	Net worth (USD)	Age	Citizenship	Source(s) of wealth
&100000000000000010000001	Slim, CarlosCarlos Slim	$53.5 billion	70	Mexico	Telmex, América Móvil, Grupo Carso
&100000000000000020000002	Gates, BillBill Gates	$53.0 billion	54	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000030000003	Buffett, WarrenWarren Buffett	$47.0 billion	80	United States	Berkshire Hathaway
&100000000000000040000004	Ambani, MukeshMukesh Ambani	$29.0 billion	53	India	Reliance Industries
&100000000000000050000005	Mittal, LakshmiLakshmi Mittal	$28.7 billion	60	India	Arcelor Mittal
&100000000000000060000006	Ellison, LawrenceLawrence Ellison	$28.0 billion	66	United States	Oracle Corporation
&100000000000000070000007	Arnault, BernardBernard Arnault	$27.5 billion	61	France	LVMH Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton
&100000000000000080000008	Batista, EikeEike Batista	$27.0 billion	53	Brazil	EBX Group
&100000000000000090000009	Ortega, AmancioAmancio Ortega	$25.0 billion	74	Spain	Inditex Group
&1000000000000001000000010	Albrecht, KarlKarl Albrecht	$23.5 billion	90	Germany	Aldi Süd

2009 Top 10[link]

No.	Name	Net worth (USD)	Age	Citizenship	Source(s) of wealth
&100000000000000010000001	Gates, BillBill Gates	$40.0 billion	53	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000020000002	Buffett, WarrenWarren Buffett	$37.0 billion	78	United States	Berkshire Hathaway
&100000000000000030000003	Helú, Carlos SlimCarlos Slim Helú	$35.0 billion	69	Mexico	Telmex, América Móvil
&100000000000000040000004	Ellison, LawrenceLawrence Ellison	$22.5 billion	64	United States	Oracle Corporation
&100000000000000050000005	Kamprad, IngvarIngvar Kamprad	$22.0 billion	83	Sweden	IKEA
&100000000000000060000006	Albrecht, KarlKarl Albrecht	$21.5 billion	89	Germany	Aldi Süd
&100000000000000070000007	Ambani, MukeshMukesh Ambani	$19.5 billion	51	India	Reliance Industries
&100000000000000080000008	Mittal, LakshmiLakshmi Mittal	$19.3 billion	58	India	Arcelor Mittal
&100000000000000090000009	Albrecht, TheoTheo Albrecht	$18.8 billion	87	Germany	Aldi Nord, Trader Joe's
&1000000000000001000000010	Ortega, AmancioAmancio Ortega	$18.3 billion	73	Spain	Inditex Group

2008 Top 10[link]

No.	Name	Net worth (USD)	Age	Citizenship	Source(s) of wealth
&100000000000000010000001	Buffett, WarrenWarren Buffett	$62.0 billion	78	United States	Berkshire Hathaway
&100000000000000020000002	Helú, Carlos SlimCarlos Slim Helú	$60.0 billion	68	Mexico	Telmex, América Móvil
&100000000000000030000003	Gates, BillBill Gates	$58.0 billion	52	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000040000004	Mittal, LakshmiLakshmi Mittal	$45.0 billion	57	India	Arcelor Mittal
&100000000000000050000005	Ambani, MukeshMukesh Ambani	$43.0 billion	50	India	Reliance Industries
&100000000000000060000006	Ambani, AnilAnil Ambani	$42.0 billion	48	India	Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group
&100000000000000070000007	Akhmetov, Rinat Rinat Akhmetov	$31.1 billion	41	Ukraine	SCM Holdings
&100000000000000080000008	Kamprad, IngvarIngvar Kamprad	$31.0 billion	81	Sweden	IKEA
&100000000000000090000009	Pal Singh, KushalKushal Pal Singh	$30.0 billion	76	India	DLF Group
&1000000000000001000000010	Deripaska, OlegOleg Deripaska	$28.0 billion	40	Russia	Rusal

2007 Top 10[link]

No.	Name	Net worth (USD)	Age	Citizenship	Source(s) of wealth
&100000000000000010000001	Gates, BillBill Gates	$56.0 billion	51	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000020000002	Buffett, WarrenWarren Buffett	$52.0 billion	76	United States	Berkshire Hathaway
&100000000000000030000003	Slim Helú, CarlosCarlos Slim Helú	$49.0 billion	67	Mexico	Telmex, América Móvil, Grupo Carso
&100000000000000040000004	Ingvar Kamprad	$33.0 billion	80	Sweden	IKEA
&100000000000000050000005	Mittal, LakshmiLakshmi Mittal	$32.0 billion	56	India	Arcelor Mittal
&100000000000000060000006	Adelson, SheldonSheldon Adelson	$26.5 billion	73	United States	Las Vegas Sands
&100000000000000070000007	Arnault, BernardBernard Arnault	$26.0 billion	58	France	LVMH
&100000000000000080000008	Ortega, AmancioAmancio Ortega	$24.0 billion	71	Spain	Inditex Group
&100000000000000090000009	Ka-shing, LiLi Ka-shing	$23.0 billion	78	Hong Kong	Cheung Kong Holdings, Hutchison Whampoa
&1000000000000001000000010	David Thomson	$22.0 billion	49	Canada	Thomson Corporation

2006 Top 10[link]

No.	Name	Net worth (USD)	Age	Citizenship	Source(s) of wealth
&100000000000000010000001	Gates, BillBill Gates	$52.0 billion	50	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000020000002	Buffett, WarrenWarren Buffett	$42.0 billion	75	United States	Berkshire Hathaway
&100000000000000030000003	Helú, Carlos SlimCarlos Slim Helú	$30.0 billion	66	Mexico	Telmex
&100000000000000040000004	Kamprad, IngvarIngvar Kamprad	$28.0 billion	79	Sweden	IKEA
&100000000000000050000005	Mittal, LakshmiLakshmi Mittal	$23.5 billion	55	India	Mittal Steel Company
&100000000000000060000006	Allen, PaulPaul Allen	$22.0 billion	53	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000070000007	Arnault, BernardBernard Arnault	$21.5 billion	57	France	LVMH Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton
&100000000000000080000008	Al-Waleed, PrincePrince Al-Waleed	$20.0 billion	49	Saudi Arabia	Kingdom Holding Company
&100000000000000090000009	Thomson, KennethKenneth Thomson	$19.6 billion	82	Canada	The Thomson Corporation
&1000000000000001000000010	Shing, Li KaLi Ka Shing	$18.8 billion	77	Hong Kong	Cheung Kong Group, Hutchison Whampoa

2005 Top 10[link]

No.	Name	Net worth (USD)	Age	Citizenship	Source(s) of wealth
&100000000000000010000001	Gates, BillBill Gates	$46.5 billion	49	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000020000002	Buffett, WarrenWarren Buffett	$44.0 billion	74	United States	Berkshire Hathaway
&100000000000000030000003	Mittal, LakshmiLakshmi Mittal	$25.0 billion	54	India	Mittal Steel Company
&100000000000000040000004	Helú, Carlos SlimCarlos Slim Helú	$23.8 billion	65	Mexico	Telmex
&100000000000000050000005	Al-Waleed, PrincePrince Al-Waleed	$23.7 billion	49	Saudi Arabia	Kingdom Holding Company
&100000000000000060000006	Kamprad, IngvarIngvar Kamprad	$23.0 billion	79	Sweden	IKEA
&100000000000000070000007	Allen, PaulPaul Allen	$21.0 billion	52	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000080000008	Albrecht, KarlKarl Albrecht	$18.5 billion	85	Germany	Aldi Süd
&100000000000000090000009	Ellison, LawrenceLawrence Ellison	$18.4 billion	60	United States	Oracle Corporation
&1000000000000001000000010	Walton, S. RobsonS. Robson Walton	$18.3 billion	61	United States	Walmart

2004 Top 10[link]

No.	Name	Net worth (USD)	Age	Citizenship	Source(s) of wealth
&100000000000000010000001	Gates, BillBill Gates	$46.6 billion	48	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000020000002	Buffett, WarrenWarren Buffett	$42.9 billion	73	United States	Berkshire Hathaway
&100000000000000030000003	Albrecht, KarlKarl Albrecht	$23.0 billion	84	Germany	Aldi Süd
&100000000000000040000004	Al-Waleed, PrincePrince Al-Waleed	$21.5 billion	47	Saudi Arabia	Kingdom Holding Company
&100000000000000050000005	Allen, PaulPaul Allen	$21.0 billion	51	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000060000006	Walton, AliceAlice Walton*	$20.0 billion	55	United States	Wal-Mart
&100000000000000070000007	Walton, HelenHelen Walton*	$20.0 billion	84	United States	Wal-Mart
&100000000000000080000008	Walton, JimJim Walton*	$20.0 billion	56	United States	Wal-Mart
&100000000000000090000009	Walton, JohnJohn Walton*	$20.0 billion	58	United States	Wal-Mart
&1000000000000001000000010	Walton, S. RobsonS. Robson Walton*	$20.0 billion	60	United States	Wal-Mart

• Each hold an essentially equal share in Wal-Mart. If alive as of 2004, Sam Walton would have been the world's wealthiest person.

2003 Top 10[link]

No.	Name	Net worth (USD)	Age	Citizenship	Source(s) of wealth
&100000000000000010000001	Gates, BillBill Gates	$40.7 billion	47	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000020000002	Buffett, WarrenWarren Buffett	$30.5 billion	72	United States	Berkshire Hathaway
&100000000000000030000003	Albrecht, KarlKarl Albrecht	$25.6 billion	83	Germany	Aldi Süd
&100000000000000040000004	Allen, PaulPaul Allen	$20.1 billion	50	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000050000005	Al-Waleed, PrincePrince Al-Waleed	$17.7 billion	46	Saudi Arabia	Kingdom Holding Company
&100000000000000060000006	Ellison, LawrenceLawrence Ellison	$16.6 billion	58	United States	Oracle Corporation
&100000000000000070000007	Walton, AliceAlice Walton*	$16.5 billion	54	United States	Wal-Mart
&100000000000000080000008	Walton, HelenHelen Walton*	$16.5 billion	83	United States	Wal-Mart
&100000000000000090000009	Walton, JimJim Walton*	$16.5 billion	55	United States	Wal-Mart
&1000000000000001000000010	Walton, JohnJohn Walton*	$16.5 billion	57	United States	Wal-Mart
&1000000000000001000000010	Walton, S. RobsonS. Robson Walton*	$16.5 billion	59	United States	Wal-Mart

• Each hold an essentially equal share in Wal-Mart. If alive as of 2004, Sam Walton would have been the world's wealthiest person.

2002 Top 10[link]

No.	Name	Net worth (USD)	Age	Citizenship	Source(s) of wealth
&100000000000000010000001	Gates, BillBill Gates	$52.8 billion	46	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000020000002	Buffett, WarrenWarren Buffett	$35.0 billion	71	United States	Berkshire Hathaway
&100000000000000030000003	Albrecht, KarlKarl Albrecht	$26.8 billion	82	Germany	Aldi Süd
&100000000000000040000004	Allen, PaulPaul Allen	$25.2 billion	49	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000050000005	Ellison, LawrenceLawrence Ellison	$23.5 billion	57	United States	Oracle Corporation
&100000000000000060000006	Walton, JimJim Walton*	$20.8 billion	54	United States	Wal-Mart
&100000000000000070000007	Walton, JohnJohn Walton*	$20.7 billion	56	United States	Wal-Mart
&100000000000000080000008	Walton, AliceAlice Walton*	$20.5 billion	53	United States	Wal-Mart
&100000000000000090000009	Walton, S. RobsonS. Robson Walton*	$20.5 billion	58	United States	Wal-Mart
&1000000000000001000000010	Walton, HelenHelen Walton*	$20.4 billion	82	United States	Wal-Mart

• Each hold an essentially equal share in Wal-Mart. If alive as of 2004, Sam Walton would have been the world's wealthiest person.

2001 Top 10[link]

No.	Name	Net worth (USD)	Age	Citizenship	Source(s) of wealth
&100000000000000010000001	Gates, BillBill Gates	$58.7 billion	45	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000020000002	Buffett, WarrenWarren Buffett	$32.3 billion	70	United States	Berkshire Hathaway
&100000000000000030000003	Allen, PaulPaul Allen	$30.4 billion	48	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000040000004	Ellison, LawrenceLawrence Ellison	$26.0 billion	56	United States	Oracle Corporation
&100000000000000050000005	Albrecht, KarlKarl Albrecht	$25.0 billion	81	Germany	Aldi Süd
&100000000000000060000006	Al-Waleed, PrincePrince Al-Waleed	$20.0 billion	44	Saudi Arabia	Kingdom Holding Company
&100000000000000070000007	Walton, JimJim Walton*	$18.8 billion	53	United States	Wal-Mart
&100000000000000080000008	Walton, JohnJohn Walton*	$18.7 billion	55	United States	Wal-Mart
&100000000000000090000009	Walton, S. RobsonS. Robson Walton*	$18.6 billion	57	United States	Wal-Mart
&1000000000000001000000010	Walton, AliceAlice Walton*	$18.5 billion	52	United States	Wal-Mart
&1000000000000001000000010	Walton, HelenHelen Walton*	$18.5 billion	81	United States	Wal-Mart

• Each hold an essentially equal share in Wal-Mart. If alive as of 2004, Sam Walton would have been the world's wealthiest person.

2000 Top 10[link]

No.	Name	Net worth (USD)	Age	Citizenship	Source(s) of wealth
&100000000000000010000001	Gates, BillBill Gates	$60.0 billion	44	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000020000002	Ellison, LawrenceLawrence Ellison	$47.0 billion	55	United States	Oracle Corporation
&100000000000000030000003	Allen, PaulPaul Allen	$28.0 billion	47	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000040000004	Buffett, WarrenWarren Buffett	$25.6 billion	69	United States	Berkshire Hathaway
&100000000000000050000005	Albrecht, KarlKarl Albrecht	$20.0 billion	80	Germany	Aldi Süd
&100000000000000060000006	Al-Waleed, PrincePrince Al-Waleed	$20.0 billion	43	Saudi Arabia	Kingdom Holding Company
&100000000000000070000007	Walton, S. RobsonS. Robson Walton	$20.0 billion	57	United States	Wal-Mart
&100000000000000080000008	Son, MasayoshiMasayoshi Son	$19.4 billion	43	Japan	Softbank Capital, SoftBank Mobile
&100000000000000090000009	Dell, MichaelMichael Dell	$19.1 billion	46	United States	Dell
&1000000000000001000000010	Thomson, KennethKenneth Thomson	$16.1 billion	77	Canada	The Thomson Corporation

Legend[link]

Icon	Description
	Has not changed from the previous ranking.
	Has increased from the previous ranking.
	Has decreased from the previous ranking.
Source: Forbes Magazine.[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Forbes: Billionaires List.

Forbes list of billionaires is based on an annual assessment of wealth and assets compiled and published by Forbes magazine on March 10, 2011.^[1]

Forbes list of billionaires (2011)[link]

The following list is Forbes ranking of an assessment of the wealth and assets of the world's billionaires as of March 10, 2011, and does not reflect changes since then. There are 1,210 names in this year’s list.^[2]

This section requires expansion.

Legend
Icon	Description
	Has not changed from the list for 2010
	Has increased from the list for 2010
	Has decreased from the list for 2010

No.	Name	Net worth (USD)	Age	Born	Citizenship	Residence	Source(s) of wealth
&100000000000000010000001	Slim, CarlosCarlos Slim and family	$74.0 billion	72	Mexico	Mexico	Mexico	Telmex, América Móvil, Grupo Carso
&100000000000000020000002	Gates, BillBill Gates	$56.0 billion	56	United States	United States	United States	Microsoft
&100000000000000030000003	Buffett, WarrenWarren Buffett	$50.0 billion	81	United States	United States	United States	Berkshire Hathaway
&100000000000000040000004	Arnault, BernardBernard Arnault	$41.0 billion	62	France	France	France	LVMH Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton
&100000000000000050000005	Ellison, LawrenceLawrence Ellison	$39.5 billion	66	United States	United States	United States	Oracle Corporation
&100000000000000060000006	Mittal, LakshmiLakshmi Mittal	$31.1 billion	60	India	India	United Kingdom	Arcelor Mittal
&100000000000000070000007	Ortega, AmancioAmancio Ortega	$31.0 billion	74	Spain	Spain	Spain	Inditex Group
&100000000000000080000008	Batista, EikeEike Batista	$30.0 billion	53	Brazil	Brazil	Brazil	EBX Group
&100000000000000090000009	Ambani, MukeshMukesh Ambani	$27.0 billion	53	Yemen	India	India	Reliance Industries
&1000000000000001000000010	Walton, ChristyChristy Walton	$26.5 billion	55	United States	United States	United States	Walmart