Slim lead
It's always both fun and depressing when Forbes magazine publishes its list of the world's richest people and even devoted Microsoft fans will be struggling to shed a tear for Bill Gates on hearing he's no longer the world's richest man.
He's been narrowly pipped to the top spot by Mexican Carlos Slim, who seems to own most of the country including America Movil. This is the third change at the top in three years after Gates won back the lead from superlative investor Warren Buffet last year.
Considering how strongly tech companies feature among the world's biggest companies, it's a bit surprising not to see more tech individuals on the list. Oracle boss Larry Ellison remains in the top ten, but Ambani has made his pile from oil and gas, as did Batista, while Mittal turns steel to gold.
Arnault owns luxury good giant LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy), his fortune showing not everyone has been struggling during the recession, while Ortega owns a bunch of clothing retailers, including Zara. Rounding-off the top ten, Albrecht got his euros from the Aldi supermarket chain.
As we go down the list a few other tech people crop up. Sergey Brin is a co-founder of Google and the other one - Larry page - has just as much wedge. Still in the top 50 we have Michael Dell, Steve Ballmer, Paul Allen and Jeff Bezos.
