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11 de março de 2011The number of billionaires in leading emerging economies has surpassed the number of those in Europe for the first time and is quickly closing in on the US, according to new figures from Forbes.
The US still has the world’s most billionaires with 413 individuals with a total net worth of $1,500bn. At the beginning of this year, the Brics countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – had 301 billionaires, 108 more than in the previous year, and one more than Europe.
“The global billionaires this year reflect what’s going on in the global economy,” said Steve Forbes, chief executive of Forbes magazine, pointing to the growth in emerging economies.
In the US, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett held their places as the world’s second- and third-richest men behind Mexico’s Carlos Slim Helu, currently the wealthiest man in the world.
As the world economy recovered, the number of billionaires rose to a record 1,210 in 2011, boasting a total net worth of $4,500bn as of February 14.
The regional breakdown, however, reveals diverging fortunes.
In Asia, the number of billionaires has nearly tripled in the past two years to 332, with 115 in mainland China alone. The richest man in China is Robin Li, founder of the search engine Baidu, with $9.4bn. Stanley Ho, the 89-year-old tycoon who has long dominated the Macao gaming industry, fell off the list after transferring a controlling stake in his empire to his third wife.
India’s 55 billionaires have an average net worth of $4.5bn. Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries whose net worth is $27bn, helped to skew the mean higher in spite of reports that the company was being probed by Indian officials. Japan, once the economic engine of Asia, is now lagging with just 26 billionaires.
Europe’s fortunes are also starting to slow, with its number of billionaires overtaken by Asia for the first time in more than a decade. Booming commodity prices have helped Russian billionaires. However, Bernard Arnault, the French founder of LVMH, remained the richest European for the second year running.
The founders of Facebook, the internet site, demonstrated some of the most rapid wealth creation.
Mark Zuckerberg, its founder and chief executive, saw his net worth surge by 238 per cent to $13.5bn. He was joined in the billionaires club by co-founder Edwardo Saverin and Sean Parker, both with $1.6bn.
Dustin Moskowitz, a fellow founder of the social network, became the youngest member of the billionaire club at the age of 26.
Billionaires in the US are the oldest in the world, with an average age of 66.
