Mexico City:
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 per cent over the last year.
It is only the second time since 1995 that Gates has lost the crown, 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.
According to Forbes, most of the richest people on the planet have seen their fortunes soar in the past year, despite the last year's economic downturn.
Slim's worth surged in the past year as his cell phone holdings rebounded in value. He is the first non-American to top the list since 1994.
Arturo Elias Ayub, an executive at Slim's Telmex telephone company and the billionaire's son-in-law, expressed satisfaction that a Mexican businessman is now at the top of the list.
"The reaction is one of satisfaction, that this confidence in Mexico exists, and this confidence in our group's companies," said Elias Ayub, who frequently acts as Slim's spokesman.
Forbes said the 2010 top-10 list -- which includes Slim, two billionaires from India and one from Brazil -- reflects the increasing presence of developing nations, adding that Slim is the first person from one to top the list.
"They're kind of spread. It's a nice spread," she said of the list, long dominated by Americans and Europeans.
Gates' and Buffett's donations also played a role in their decline to the number 2 and 3 spots.
"A big reason for that is they are both very philanthropic," Forbes said. "They've given away so many billions of dollars."
Slim has donated to several causes, but not on nearly the same level. In January, he announced a $65 million donation for genetic research on cancer, type 2 diabetes and kidney disease in Mexican and Latin American populations.
Slim's conglomerate of retail, telecom, manufacturing and construction companies so dominate the Mexican commercial landscape it is often easy for Mexicans to find themselves talking over a Slim-operated cell phone at a Slim-owned shopping center waiting to pay a bill to a Slim-owned company at a Slim-owned bank. If the line is too long, they can catch a quick coffee at a Slim-owned restaurant.
Slim's Telmex company controls 83 percent of land phone lines in Mexico, and is also the leading Internet service provider. Another of his firms is the leading cell phone operator, and he wants to get into convergence services to offer television and interactive media.