Gates is world’s richest man; 355 drop off billionaires’ list

July 31st, 2009 Man who was Iceland's 2nd richest is bankruptREYKJAVIK, Iceland — The second richest man in Icelandic history has filed for bankruptcy, his spokesman said Friday. Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, the brewer-turned-billionaire and former owner of the West Ham soccer club, applied for bankruptcy protection at Reykjavik district court, 96 billion Icelandic kronur ($759 million) in debt, Asgeir Fridgeirsson said.

June 9th, 2009 Economic downturn hits world's richest foundationSEATTLE — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation may be the world's richest charitable foundation, but that hardly shields them from the economic downturn. Between January 2008 and April 2009, the foundation saw its assets drop from $39 billion to $27.5 billion.

June 6th, 2009 Gates Foundation gets $10.4M in donationsSEATTLE — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's annual report says it brought in $10.4 million in individual donations in 2008, without making an effort at fundraising. That dollar amount does not include new money from Bill or Melinda Gates or their friend Warren Buffett, who gave the world's richest foundation's trust about $1.8 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock last year.

April 27th, 2009 LONDON - Dhani Harrison, the only son of the late Beatle George Harrison, is the second richest youngster in Britain, according to the country's most authoritative wealth list. Dhani, whose name means 'wealthy' in Hindi and is also a play on the Indian musical notations of 'Dha' and 'Ni', has been valued by the Sunday Times Rich List as worth 140 million pounds.

April 26th, 2009 LONDON - Indian origin steel magnate Lakshmi Niwas Mittal lost as much as 23.5 billion pounds in the last one year due to the ongoing financial crisis world over. The economic crisis has wiped 155 billion pounds from the fortunes of Britain's wealthiest individuals and has almost halved the number of the nation's billionaires.

April 24th, 2009 Britain's music moguls affected by recessionLONDON — The music industry isn't recession proof, with many industry stars seeing their fortunes fade during the past year, according to a study by a British newspaper. Singers such as Elton John, Robbie Williams and Tom Jones have lost around a quarter of their personal wealth over the past 12 months, according to The Sunday Times.

April 17th, 2009 LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI - The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has every right to have billionaires in its fold, like the other political parties, said a party functionary Friday defending the Rs.604 crore (Rs.6.04 billion) assets declared by a BSP candidate for a Delhi Lok Sabha seat. 'Do you mean to say that only the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) have the right to have billionaires in their party? The BSP is fighting for the cause of the downtrodden, but it doesn't mean that it is a party of poverty-ridden people,' said a senior party functionary in Lucknow, declining to be named.

April 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Despite plunging steel prices, Indian-born steel czar Lakshmi Mittal with a net worth of $19.3 billion remains the world's richest soccer club owner in the Forbes list of soccer billionaires. 'Anybody can buy a ticket to a soccer game; these moguls own the teams on the field,' the American business publication said about the top soccer 10 ten picked up from its list of the World's Billionaires published in March.

March 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Amar Bose, the Indian American founder-chairman of the famed speakers company Bose Corporation, has dropped off the Forbes magazine's list of the world's billionaires. Bose faced a similar fate in the recent economic downturn, according to the Worcester Business Journal.

March 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Where do the world's super-rich go for fun in these tough times? If the world's richest Indian Mukesh Ambani is turning his home in Mumbai into a playground, Lakshmi Mittal, the person he displaced as the top Indian in the latest Forbes list of billionaires, has been going to his Alpine getaway in St. Moritz, Switzerland, for decades.

March 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Twenty-four Indians have made it into the Forbes magazine's list of 'World's Richest' with Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal in fourth place. Four Indians made it to the top 10, including Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani and K.

March 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has overtaken the London-based steel tycoon Lakshmi N. Mittal to emerge as Asia's richest person, as per the Forbes' list of world billionaires for 2009.

March 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Mukesh and Anil Ambani, steel czar Lakshmi Mittal and K.P. Singh, now the richest real estate baron, have been named by Forbes as the four Indians among the world's top 10 richest people.

February 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - India-born steel czar Lakshimi Mittal and head of India's largest company Mukesh Ambani figure among Forbes list of 'World's Most Powerful Billionaires' who wield a staggering authority and influence far beyond their riches. Ranking third on the global list compiled by US business magazine is Lakshimi Mittal who 'controls 10 percent of the world's steel production through his company ArcelorMittal' despite his fortune falling $24.5 billion between March and November 2008.

December 25th, 2008 BEIJING - The China University Alumni Association has released a list of universities where the richest Chinese graduated. Peking University topped the list with 35 billionaire alumni.