India, China Rise on Forbes' Richest List

March 12, 2010

India and China may still be considered developing countries, but that has not stopped them from producing some of the world's richest people.

The annual list of richest people published by the U.S. magazine Forbes says China has 54 billionaires, more than any country outside the United States.

And although India has fewer billionaires than China, they are richer. Indian industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Lakshmi Mittal are among the world's top five richest people.

Forbes named Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim the world's richest person. The telecommunications mogul boasts a fortune worth $53.5 billion. Microsoft founder, American Bill Gates, is in second place with an estimated $53 billion.

Both India and China doubled the number of billionaires they had a year ago, driven in large part by rebounding stock markets.

Russia's super rich also showed signs of recovery from the global economic slump. The number of billionaires in the country nearly doubled to 62.