Forbes Top 10 Billionaires list

Top 10 Billionaires

Below is the list of the top 10 billionaires.

Carlos Slim Helu retains the title of the world's richest man. He has held this title now for 3 years. I used to inadvertently work for him, when I managed the downtown San Francisco CompUSA store. I was once told that if he dropped a $100.00 bill, that he would actually lose money by stopping to pick it up. In May 2011, Slim was mentioned in Forbes' World's Biggest Givers after donating $4 billion to his foundation.

Gates was number one on the Forbes 400 list from 1993 through to 2007 and number one on Forbes list of The World's Richest People from 1995 to 2007 and 2009. In 1999, Gates's wealth surpassed $101 billion but has since decreased with all of the money that he has been donating through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has donated over 26 billion dollars to date.

In 2008 he was ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of approximately US$62 billion. In 2009, after donating billions of dollars to charity, Buffett was ranked as the second richest man in the United States with a net worth of US$37 billion. His net worth now ranks at $44 billion. In 2006 he announced that he would transfer $30 billion in stock over 20 years into the Gates foundation. He has since given away $8.3 billion.

According to Forbes magazine, Arnault is the richest person in Europe. The only thing I can find Arnault donating money is in 2011 when LVMH, a company in which Arnault is the Chairman & CEO, donated £3.75 million to the Japan Relief Fund.

According to Forbes magazine, Arnault is in the global top 5 ranks for the first time. Ortega promotes the establishment of Padeia, an institution, which helps children and young people with handicaps. This is led by his first wife. In the year 2001 the Amancio Ortega donation, a private mechanism without a profit acquisition goal, was furnished. It is to promote activities to culture, research, science and education.

According to Forbes magazine, as of 2012, he is the third wealthiest American citizen, with an estimated worth of $36 billion. In 2010 Ellison was quoted as saying "Many years ago, I put virtually all of my assets into a trust with the intent of giving away at least 95 percent of my wealth to charitable causes. I have already given hundreds of millions of dollars to medical research and education, and I will give billions more over time. Until now, I have done this giving quietly—because I have long believed that charitable giving is a personal and private matter".

According to Forbes in 2012, Batista had a net worth of $30.0 billion, making him the seventh wealthiest person in Brazil. Eike has given millions of dollars around the world. He plans on building a super-modern, digital city for about 250,000 people. He donated £38m to help fund a government "pacification" scheme which is attempting to rid the city of the armed drug gangs in Rio. He donated £9m for the campaign of a successful Olympic bid in Rio. Batista also donated $7 million for pop star, Madonna's, welfare projects. And has helped many hospitals in Rio with better and more updated equipment.

According to Forbes magazine, Persson had a net worth US$26 billion, making him the richest person in Sweden. Stefan Persson established the Erling-Persson Family Foundation in memory of his father to support various charitable causes worldwide. The Foundation donated millions of dollars to universities and foundations around the world.

According to Forbes magazine,Li Ka-shing is the richest person of Asian descent in the world. He is a firm believer in the importance of quality education; and has devoted himself to the improvement of education in Hong Kong and Mainland China throughout the years. To expand the influence and reach of his philanthropy, he formed the Li Ka Shing Foundation in 1980. To date, LKSF has given over HK$12.8 billion (US$1.64 billion), in addition to Mr. Li’s contributions made through the Cheung Kong Group.

According to Forbes magazine, Karl Albrecht is the wealthiest person in Germany as well as the oldest billionaire in the Top 20 list. Because Karl Albrecht has withdrawn himself from public life, little is known about him. I could not find anything on him donating to help others.

It seems that there are 3 different ways that these men became billionaires.

1) They started businesses when they were children.

2) They grew up poor and wanted to better themselves.

3) They were raised by successful businessmen.

It seems that most billionaires are not born with a silver spoon in hand. They start small and they keep at it, they think big and take calculated risks, they are committed and very competitive. Below are some quotes taken from rich and powerful men around the world.

“A good businessman must have nose for business the same way a journalist has nose for news. Once your eyes, ears, nose, heart and brain are trained on business, you sniff business opportunities everywhere.” _ Orji Uzor Kalu

“If you owe the bank $100, that’s your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that’s the bank’s problem.” _ J. Paul Getty

“Be careful when you take on debt. If you take on debt personally, make sure it is small. If you take on large debt, make sure someone else is paying for it.” _ Robert Kiyosaki

“The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets.” _ John D. Rockefeller

"Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1." _ Warren Buffett

"When you live for others' opinions, you are dead." _ Carlos Slim Helu

"I just love it when people say I can't do it, there's nothing that makes me feel better because all my life, people have said that I wasn't going to make it.” _ Ted Turner

"If you can count your money, you don't have a billion dollars.” _ J. Paul Getty

"You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new." _ Steve Jobs

"As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do." _ Andrew Carnegie