top 10 richest people of the world of 2012

1. Carlos Slim Helu
 Mexico
Title: Chairman, Telmex
 Net Worth: $ 69Billion
Source: Telecom, self-made
Education: BA/BS, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico Business magnate and philanthropist,

Carlos Slim Hemu, is the richest person of the world, in terms of net worth in 2012. His name is featured as the richest person in the world for the third year in a row, in the Forbes’ billionaire’s list. Helu retained the number one position despite having a $5 billion reduction in his wealth compared to the previous year due to lower share price for his company, America Movil, Latin America's largest wireless carrier.

 2 Bill Gates

Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
 Age: 56
 Net Worth: $61 billion
 Gates has taken a step back from being the richest person on the planet, to become its most generous. The once-titan of Forbes' annual list has taken to giving away most of his fortune, to the tune of $28 billion to date

3.Amancio Ortega Gaona

  born 28 March 1936 is a Spanish fashion executive and founding chairman of the Inditex fashion group, best known for its chain of Zara clothing and accessories retail shops. His net worth is uncertain as according to Forbes The World's Billionaires List, in 2012 his net worth was $37.5 billion  whereas the Bloomberg Billionaires Index lists Amancio Ortega Gaona as the world's third richest person with reported combined assets of US$58 billion, however the personal net worths of nearly all listed billionaires differ from the ones calculated by Forbes. He currently lives with his second wife in a discreet apartment building in the centre of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain.



 4.Warren Edward Buffett

Fortune Worth: $44 Billion 

Source: Berkshire Hathaway
 Age: 81
An American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th century. Buffett is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people. He was ranked as the world's wealthiest person in 2008 and as the third wealthiest person in 2011.In 2012, American magazine Time named Buffett one of the most influential people in the world

 5.Larry Ellison

Lawrence Joseph "Larry" Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is an American business magnate, co-founder and chief executive of Oracle Corporation, one of the world's leading enterprise software companies. As of 2012, he was the third-wealthiest American citizen, with an estimated worth of $41 billion. The bulk of Ellison's fortune comes from his 22.5 percent stake in Oracle

6.Charles Koch

Charles de Ganahl Koch  born November 1, 1935) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is co-owner, chairman of the board, and chief executive officer of Koch Industries Inc., the second-largest privately held company by revenue in the United States according to a 2010 Forbes survey.As of October 2012, Charles was ranked the 6th richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $34 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.He was ranked 18th on Forbes World's Billionaires list of 2011 (and 4th on the Forbes 400), with an estimated net worth of $25 billion, deriving from his 42% stake in Koch Industries. His brother David H. Koch, also owns 42% of Koch Industries, and serves as Executive Vice President. The brothers inherited the business from their father, Fred C. Koch, and have since expanded the business to 2,600 times its inherited size. Originally involved exclusively in oil refining and chemicals, Koch Industries has expanded to include process and pollution control equipment and technologies, polymers and fibers, minerals, fertilizers, commodity trading and services, forest and consumer products, and ranching, producing a wide variety of well-known brands, such as Stainmaster carpet, Lycra fiber, Quilted Northern tissue and Dixie paper products. Koch provides financial support for a number of public policy and charitable organizations, including the Institute for Humane Studies and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He co-founded the Washington, DC-based Cato Institute. Through the Koch Cultural Trust, founded by Charles Koch's wife, Elizabeth, the Koch family has also funded artistic projects and creative artists.
 In 2007, Koch's book The Science of Success was published. The book describes his management philosophy, which is referred to as "Market-Based Management"

7.Li Ka-shing

Sir Ka-shing Li, GBM, KBE, JP (born 13 June 1928 in Chaozhou, China) is a Hong Kong business magnate and philanthropist. He is considered to be the richest person in Asia. As of March 2013, according to Forbes, he is the 8th richest person in the world with an estimated wealth of US $31 billion.Presently, he is the chairman of Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL) and Cheung Kong Holdings; through them, he is the world's largest operator of container terminals and the world's largest health and beauty retailer. Considered one of the most powerful figures in Asia, Li was named "Asia's Most Powerful Man, Li Ka-Ching" by Asiaweek in 2001. His companies make up 15% of the market cap of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.Forbes Magazine and the Forbes family honoured Li Ka-shing with the first ever "Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award" on 5 September 2006, in Singapore. In spite of his wealth, Li has cultivated a reputation for leading a no-frills lifestyle, and is known to wear simple black dress shoes and an inexpensive Seiko wristwatch, which is at odds with the house he owns in one of Hong Kong's most expensive precincts, Deep Water Bay in Hong Kong Island. Li is also regarded as one of Asia's most generous philanthropists, donating over US $1.41 billion to date to charity and other various philanthropic causes.Li is often referred to as "Superman" in Hong Kong because of his business prowess. Li Ka-shing was born in Chaozhou in Guangdong province, China, in 1928 to Teochew descendants. Due to his father's death, he was forced to leave school before the age of 15 and found a job in a plastics trading company where he labored 16 hours a day. By 1950 he was able to start his own company, Cheung Kong Industries. From manufacturing plastics, Li led and developed his company into a leading real estate investment company in Hong Kong that was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1972. Cheung Kong expanded by acquiring Hutchison Whampoa and Hongkong Electric Holdings Limited in 1979 and 1985 respectively.


8.Liliane Bettencourt & family

Liliane Henriette Charlotte Schueller, married name Bettencourt (born 21 October 1922), is a French heiress, socialite, businesswoman and philanthropist. She is one of the principal shareholders of L'Oréal and, and as of March 2013 she was listed as the third wealthiest woman in the world with an estimate net worth of US $30 billion Bettencourt was born in Paris, France, the only child of Louise Madeleine Berthe (née Doncieux) and Eugène Schueller, the founder of L'Oréal, one of the world's largest cosmetics and beauty companies. Her mother died in 1927 when Liliane was 5 years old, and she formed a close bond with her father, who later married Liliane's British governess. At the age of 15 she joined her father’s company as an apprentice, mixing cosmetics and labelling bottles of shampoo.In 1950 she married French politician André Bettencourt, who served as a cabinet minister in French governments of the 1960s and 1970s and rose to become deputy chairman of L’Oréal. Bettencourt had been a member of La Cagoule, a violent French fascist group that Liliane's father had funded and supported in the 1930s and that collaborated with the Nazis during World War II. After the war, her husband, like other members of La Cagoule, was given refuge at L'Oréal despite his politically inconvenient past.Eventually the Bettencourts settled in an Art Moderne mansion built in 1951 on rue de Delabordère in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.They had one daughter, Françoise, who was born on 10 July 1953. In 1957 Bettencourt inherited the L'Oréal fortune when her father died, becoming the principal shareholder of L'Oréal. In 1963 the company went public, although Bettencourt continued to own a majority stake. In 1974, in fear that the company would get nationalised after the French elections, she exchanged almost half of her stake for a three percent (3%) stake in Nestlé S.A. As of 31 December 2009 Bettencourt owned 185,661,879 (31.0%) of the outstanding shares of L'Oréal (of which, 76,440,541 (12.76%) shares are effectively held in trust for her daughter), while the remainder is owned as follows: 178,381,021 (29.78%) shares by Nestlé, 216,384,762 (36.12%) shares are publicly held and the remainder are held as treasury stock or in the company savings plan. The Bettencourt family and Nestle act in concert pursuant to a shareholders’ agreement. Bettencourt is a member of the board of directors of L'Oréal, a position she has held since 1995. Bettencourt’s daughter and her daughter’s husband (Jean-Pierre Meyers) are also members of the board of directors


9.Bernard Arnault & family

Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault, KBE (born 5 March 1949) is a French business magnate and art collector. The value of his net worth is uncertain as according to Forbes in 2012 he was the fourth richest person in the world with a net worth of $41 billion but according to the Billionaires Index, in January 2013 he was the 18th richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $24.1 billion. Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault was born 5 March 1949, in Roubaix, France. His father Jean Leon Arnault was a manufacturer. Father's owner of a civil engineering company, Ferret-Savinel. After graduating from the Maxence Van Der Meersch High School in Roubaix, Bernard Arnault was admitted to the École Polytechnique (X1969) from which he graduated with an engineering degree in 1971. Bernard Arnault has been married twice,and is the father of five children. As the director for LVMH, his daughter Delphine Arnault is actively involved in the management of the luxury group. His son Antoine Arnault is Head of Communications for Louis Vuitton. His second wife, Hélène Mercier, is a Canadian pianist from Quebec. The couple have three sons. His nephew Harry Seaman is also involved in LVMH, overseeing sales and he is currently researching in the U.K. Bernard Arnault was a witness at President Nicolas Sarkozy's wedding to Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz. In January 2007 Kathryn Blair, the daughter of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, completed an intensive French language and culture course at France's Sorbonne University. Tony Blair has been criticised for accepting an invitation on her behalf from Bernard Arnault. During Kathryn Blair's course, which ran from 12 October 2006 to 26 January 2007, she is thought to have been provided with an accommodation, security and transport package worth around £80,00

10.Christy Walton & family

Christy Ruth Walton (born February 8, 1949)is the widow of John T. Walton, one of the sons of Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart. After John's death in June 2005, she inherited his fortune of US$15.7 billion. According to Forbes, she is the 6th richest person in the United States, and the 10th richest person in the world, as of March 2012. Forbes reported that she was the richest woman in the world for seven years running, and still held the title in March 2012.However, by May 2012 BRW estimated that Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart had exceeded Walton's wealth. As of August 2012, she and her family had an estimated net worth of $29.9 billion, the bulk of which comes from her shares in Wal-Mart, but also from First Solar, in which her husband invested. She resides in Jackson, Wyoming and has one son, Lukas. As of October of 2012, Walton was listed as the 9th richest person in the world Profiled by Condé Nast Portfolio magazine in The Giving Index, she is ranked as the highest female philanthropist according to the amount she gives as a percentage of her wealth. At a then estimated $16.3 billion net worth, she contributed a total of $3.5 million cumulatively between 2002 and 2006. Non-profit organizations in which Walton is actively serving include the national association of trustees and staff, corporate giving officers, and individual donors – The Philanthropy Roundtable. The San Diego Natural History Museum where she is a board member, as well as the San Diego Zoological Society and the Mingei International Museum are also institutions to which she makes donations. In 2006, Walton also donated her own old Victorian home to the International Community Foundation – Center for Cross-Border Philanthropy, which was built in 1896 for former National City, California postmaster Oliver Noyes and is of historical significance. Since her donation, she has endowed $4 million towards the edifice's preservation. Additionally, she supports her family's own charitable foundation, the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, which prioritizes education and benefits colleges such as the University of Arkansas, the College of Business Administration of the University of Arkansas, and several other colleges, community trusts, universities and foundations. In 2007, her family's foundation donated as much as $1.6 billion.