Warren is #1 according to Forbes in the Reuters article linked.  At $62 billion he replaced his very good friend Bill Gates.  Berkshire Hathaway (now hovering around $140,000 per share) has grown so fast during the past year that he overcame Warren's give aways of his fortune each year ($1 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation alone).

Bill's fortune increased too but he is only at $58 billion, whereas Slim is estimated to have passed him at $60 billion.  Note that Forbes uses the U.S. dollar to calculate billionaires so foreigners have greatly increased their value by standing still (the Euro is now 1.5 to $1, whereas it was 1-1 within recent memory, eh?!).

Carlos Slim Helu (known as Slim) is a Mexican entrepreneur, who was for a short time last summer thought to be the richest person in the world, is now estimated to be second (it is all estimates and depends upon the day one chooses stock prices and exchange rates!!).  His fortune vastly grew with the Latin American telecoms during the past couple of years.  See the article linked by his name for a few of the companies he runs.

We often chat in class about the topic of wealth so I wanted to share, especially since the dollar has so much influence now.  I want to follow the influences and what will happen as the U.S. currency loses its "reserve currency" status.