In a Monday, Jan. 14, 2013 file photo, Mexican telecommunications tycoon Carlos Slim speaks during news conference at the Soumaya museum in Mexico City. Forbes magazine says Monday, March 4, 2013, that Mexico’s Carlos Slim remains the world’s richest man for the fourth year in a row, while Warren Buffett dropped out of the top three for the first time since 2000. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, File)NEW YORK – Mexico’s Carlos Slim remains the world’s richest man for the fourth year in a row, according to Forbes, while Warren Buffett dropped out of the top three for the first time since 2000.
And Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg saw his ranking drop 31 spots as his net worth declined by $4.2 billion.
A record 1,426 people around the world made Forbes magazine’s latest annual tally of billionaires, up 16 percent from last year. Their average net worth was $3.8 billion, rising 3 percent from 2012. The total net worth for the list’s billionaires was $5.4 trillion compared with $4.6 trillion a year ago.
The U.S. continued to house the most billionaires in the world, with 442 of them. It was followed by the Asia-Pacific region, with Europe rounding out the top three.
There were 210 new faces on the list, with Forbes saying many were helped by rebounding equity markets and strong consumer brands.