Well, the report card just came out, and, Microsoft’s Bill Gates is no longer sitting on top! According to Forbes 2010 list of the World’s Billionaires, Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu has beaten out Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to become the wealthiest person in the world. After dominating the list 14 times out of the last 15 years, Gates was slightly edged out by Slim. Well, that "slight" amount was $500 million!! I’m sure Mr. Gates does not mind these days, since he seems to be a lot more involved in charity than business.
When you look closely at who made more money and from where in 2009, you can kind of get an idea of how the global economic recovery is going and where the money is being spent:
Emerging Markets and Commodities
I find it interesting that 3 out of the top 5 billionairs are non-Americans. #1 is "the Mexican", telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu, as the new wave of Internet Revolution (Mobile Devices) is taking place. #4 Mukesh Ambani and #5 Lakshmi Mittal are both Indians and are in the business of oil & gas and steel, respectively. This says a lot about the emerging markets and commodities. While the US billionaires had lost fortunes in the financial crisis of 2008, and regained some of their wealth in 2009, emerging markets are recovering and building much faster. Take a look at #8 Eike Batista, who’s from Brazil, in oil and mining. Mr. Batista added $19.5 billion to his personal balance sheet!!
People Still Need To Eat
More than $80 billion worth of wealth is still controlled by the Walton Family of Wal-Mart (#12, #15, #16, and #18). #8 Karl Albrecht (Germany, discount supermarkets) also added to his wealth. During hard times, people are shopping more in discount stores. It is interesting to note that Karl’s brother Theo, who developed Trader Joe’s in the US and was #9 on the Billionaire’s List last yesr, did not make into the top 20 this year. Ingvar Kamprad of Ikea (discount furniture) is still among the top 20.
The Wealthy Is Still Shopping
Bernard Arnault (France, Luxury Goods), who was #15 in 2009, jumped to #7 this year after making $11 billion!! #9 Amancio Ortega (Spain, Fashion Retail) added $6.7 billion to his personal worth. #17 Liliane Bettencourt of L’Oreal did better and squeezed into the top 20. Rich people are still shopping well and looking good!
Good night and HappyTrading! ™
Post a Comment