Forbes' Richest People: Number of Billionaires Up Significantly

Photo Credit: Bebeto Matthews/APForbes, the unofficial temperature-taker of the world’s fiscal upper echelons, released on Monday its annual list of the world’s richest people and, separately, a list of the 400 richest Americans.

Not all that much has changed at the top.

Bill Gates, worth about $76 billion, is the richest man in the world, according to this year’s list. If that sounds familiar, it should, because Mr. Gates has topped that list for the past two decades, but for a four-year loss to telecom mogul Carlos Slim, according to Forbes. Mr. Slim is second this year, valued at $72 billion.

Spain’s Amancio Ortego, of the Zara fashion outlet , came in at third at $64 billion – just as he did last year. Warren Buffett, who has placed in the Top 5 for the past 20 years, is the fourth wealthiest person in the world and the second richest American, at about $58 billion.

Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Charles and David Koch, gambling giant Sheldon Anderson, and Christy and Jim Walton, each valued at more than $34 billion, rounded out the Top 10 on the world list.