Forbes' List Has New Names; Gates No. 1

[Career Prole]

Edited to add that this story hit the wire at just about the same time (to the minute) that voting started on the bankruptcy bill.
:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

Indian steel mogul Lakshmi Mittal, Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim Helu and Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad of Sweden knocked several Wal-Mart 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. founder Bill Gates led the list for the eleventh year in a row with a net worth of $46.5 billion, slightly less than his $46.6 billion last year.

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Four other Waltons took spots 11 through 13, with Alice and Helen Walton once again sharing the title of richest woman in the world with $18 billion each. The five family members of the late Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton are together worth over $90 billion.

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...

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=509&ncid=749&e=1&u=/ap/20050310/ap_on_bi_ge/forbes_billionaires

Walmart workers, prepare for a wage and benefits cut...your mistresses were knocked down a couple of pegs.