World's 10 Richest Men

1. Carlos Slim Helu (& family) - Mexico Education: BA/BS, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.  Fortune: $ 74 billion (up $20.5 billion) Recent Headlines: Merged his fixed-line telecom company into America Movil, Latin America's largest wireless carrier; Opened a new museum which houses his vast art collection, named after his wife Soumaya. 2. William (Bill Gates) – United States Education: Dropout from Harvard University. Fortune: $ 56 billion (up $3 billion) Recent Headlines: Donated $30 billion of his wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which is working tirelessly towards eradication of tuberculosis and polio and poverty/hunger; Campaigning for "a higher sense of urgency" in AIDS vaccine development and also pushing for improved technology tools to rate teacher performance. 3. Warren Buffett – United States Education: MS, Columbia University; BA/BS, University of Nebraska Lincoln.  Fortune: $50 billion (up $3 billion) Recent Headlines: Investment in Chinese electric car startup BYD Co.; proposed investments in India; Partnered with Bill Gates to convince America's richest to pledge half their fortunes to charity. 4. Bernard Arnault – France Education: BA/BS, Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne.  Fortune: $41 billion (up $13.5 billion) Recent Headlines: Spectacular performance of his luxury goods group LVMH; Acquisition by the Luis Vuitton group of stake in Hermes and Bulgari; Firing of Christian Dior designer John Galliano over his anti-Semitic remarks. 5. Larry Ellison – United States Education: Dropout, University of Chicago and University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Fortune: $39.5 billion (up 11.5 billion) Recent Headlines: Win in the copyright infringement court battle against German software rival SAP worth $1.3 billion; Role in San Francisco's successful bid to host the America's Cup regatta in 2013 (where Ellison is currently the defending champion); Intends to donate 95% of his wealth to charity. 6. Lakshmi Mittal - India Education: BA/BS, St Xavier's College Calcutta, India. Fortune: $31.1 billion (up $2.4 billion) Recent Headlines: Spectacular rise in net profits at his steel conglomeration Arcelor Mittal; Spin off of its stainless steel unit; acquisition of Canadian miner Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation; Funding of a 377-foot sculpture called ArcelorMittal Orbit in London's Olympic Park for the 2012 Olympics; Plans to build a 30 million pound eco-mansion on the outskirts of London which designers claim will have zero carbon footprint. 7. Amancio Ortega - Spain Education: Not Known; son of a railway worker, he is said to have started his career as a gofer in a shirt store. Fortune: $31 billion (up $6 billion) Recent Headlines: Announced his retirement as chairman of Inditex, the $15.8 billion (sales) fashion firm in January; Controversy over Inditex copying bloggers' fashion designs from the Internet. 8. Eike Batista - Brazil Education: Dropout, RWTH Aachen University.  Fortune: $30 billion (up $3 billion) Recent Headlines: Opened office in New York and expressed plans of listing some of his companies in the London Stock exchange; Acquisition of Canadian gold outfit Ventana; Rare setback through the not-so-great reception to the IPO of his ship-building venture. 9. Mukesh Ambani - India Education: Dropout, Stanford University; BA/BS, University of Bombay.  Fortune: $27 billion (down $2 billion) Recent Headlines: Recent partnership with BP worth $7.2 billion, which is being touted as the biggest foreign investment in India and will see a marketing joint venture; $3.3-billion investment in three American energy firms; much-hyped inauguration of a 27-story personal mansion in the heart of Mumbai. 10. Christy Walton (& family) – United States Education: Not Known; widow of the son of Walmart founder Sam Walton, most of her wealth is from inherited stakes in the retail giant. Fortune: $26.5 billion (up $4 billion) Recent Headlines: Engagement with various charities and donations, placing her among the world's biggest woman philanthropists