(Newser)
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Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim is the richest person in the world for the second year running, according to Forbes' latest list of billionaires. The 71-year-old Slim, now worth an estimated $74 billion, widened the gap with No. 2 Bill Gates thanks to some canny business moves last year, including heavy investment in mining, Reuters notes. Warren Buffett, Louis Vuitton chief Bernard Arnault, and Oracle's Larry Ellison round out the top 5 of the world's estimated 1,210 billionaires, who have a combined net worth of some $4.5 trillion.
The list displays the rising power of both Asia and Facebook, NPR notes. Facebook co-founders Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz—the youngest billionaires on the list—have been joined by four other Facebook billionaires. Asia now has 332 billionaires, up from 234 a year ago and 130 the year before that, thanks to surging stock markets. The US now has 413 billionaires, up 6% from last year and more than any other country—but the city that calls the most billionaires home is now Moscow.
