Forbes Billionaire List Grows Again

Thanks to a surge in demand for steel, Internet access and Scandinavian sofas, there are some new names among the richest of the world’s billionaires.

Indian steel mogul Lakshmi Mittal, Mexican telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim and IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad of Sweden knocked several Wal-Mart Stores Inc. heirs down a few notches on Forbes magazine’s 2005 rankings of the world’s billionaires.

The billionaires are richer and more numerous for the second straight year, but the No. 1 spot is unchanged: Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates led the list for the 11th year in a row with a net worth of $46.5 billion, slightly less than his $46.6 billion last year.

Investor Warren E. Buffett held on to second place with $44 billion, up from $42.9 billion in 2004.

Mittal climbed 59 rungs to No. 3 this year after his net worth grew by $18.8 billion to $25 billion. His gain in wealth was the largest among those on the list.

Slim came in fourth, up from No. 17 in 2004; Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal ranked No. 5; and Kamprad rose to No. 6 from No. 13 last year.

Rounding out the top 10 were Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen; German supermarket company owner Karl Albrecht; Oracle Corp. Chief Executive Larry Ellison, returning to the top 10 after slipping to No. 12 last year; and Wal-Mart Chairman S. Robson Walton.

The number of billionaires grew to a record 691 from 587 last year, and their total net worth rose by $300 billion to $2.2 trillion.

One of this year’s 131 new billionaires -- and one of the list’s 68 women, up from 53 last year -- was Martha Stewart, whose wealth swelled to $1 billion despite her conviction for lying about a stock sale and the ensuing five-month prison stint.

Jail time was harder on the fortune of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former CEO of Russia’s Yukos Oil Co. Khodorkovsky, who is facing charges of fraud and tax evasion, had the biggest loss in wealth. His net worth tumbled 85% to $2.2 billion.

Not counting the 14 billionaires who died since February 2004, only 30 people dropped off the list from 2004, including five of Khodorkovsky’s colleagues and hotel heir Robert Pritzker.

Among the big winners was two Californians: Google Inc. co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who made their first appearance on the list last year with $1 billion each. Both jumped nearly 500 spots to No. 55, their net worth growing to $7.2 billion each after the company’s initial public stock offering in August.

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State’s wealthiest

California’s top billionaires, with rank on the Forbes list, name, age, net worth in billions of dollars and source of wealth.

9. Larry Ellison, 60, $18.4, Oracle

41. Kirk Kerkorian, 87, $8.9, investments, casinos

42. Sumner Redstone, 81, $8.8, Viacom

55. Sergey Brin, 31, $7.2, Google

55. Larry Page, 32, $7.2, Google

71. Eli Broad, 71, $6.1, investments

117. David Geffen, 62, $4.4, entertainment

122. Donald Bren, 72, $4.3, real estate

122. Gordon Moore, 76, $4.3, Intel

164. Charles Johnson, 72, $3.3, Franklin Resources

170. Charles Schwab, 67, $3.2, discount stock brokerage

188. David Filo, 38, $3.1, Yahoo

194. Steven Jobs, 50, $3, Apple Computer

194. George Lucas, 60, $3,

Star Wars

210. Eric Schmidt, 50, $2.8, Google

219. Bradley Hughes, 71, $2.7, Public Storage

219. Steven Spielberg, 58, $2.7, movies

228. Rupert Johnson Jr., 63, $2.6, Franklin Resources

228. Jerry Yang, 36, $2.6, Yahoo

Source: Forbes

Los Angeles Times