TOP TEN RICHEST PERSONS IN THE YEAR 2007

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Top 10 World’s Richest People, 2006 -or- Sticky Wealth Dan Smith September 29, 2006 Know More: , Bill Gates, Microsoft, Money, Wal-Mart, Wealth, World's Richest People Back in 2004, I learned something that surprised me: 8 of the 10 world’s richest people were Americans. This is more than I thought there would be. But that didn’t strike me as hard as this then did: 7 of the 10 world’s richest people came from only 2 companies. Can you guess which companies? Not too hard when you think about it. Wal*Mart (WMT) had 5 and Microsoft (MSFT) had 2. Here are the Top 10 world’s richest people from 2004 (courtesy Forbes.com): Bill Gates Warren Buffett Karl Albrecht Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud Paul Allen Alice Walton Helen Walton Jim Walton John Walton S Robson Walton The fact that only 2 companies created such phenomenal wealth astounds me. Even though the Waltons’ wealth is inherited, the sheer combined volume of it ($100 billion vs. $46 billion for Bill Gates) is almost unfathomable. Then I thought, what wealth has stuck around until 2006, two years later? Who are the Top 10 world’s richest people in 2006? Again, Forbes.com provides us the answers: Bill Gates Warren Buffett Carlos Slim Helu Ingvar Kamprad Lakshmi Mittal Paul Allen Bernard Arnault Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud Kenneth Thompson & family Li Ka-shing A few things stick out to me from this year’s list: The Waltons have fallen out of the Top 10 (though they are still in the Top 20). Since 2004, the Waltons’ combined wealth has decreased to from $100 billion to $79 billion, while Bill Gates’ has increased to from $46 billion to $50 billion. Gates just keeps staying on top! He’s been the world’s richest person for 10 of the last 11 years. Finally, only 2 of the 10 are Americans. The others represent Central America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East. The riches of the world are seemingly becoming more globally distributed. I say this is a good thing for the world—perhaps it is the indication of an increasingly interconnected global economy.