Forbes rich list 2008

Warren Buffett, the American investor guru and occasional ukulele twanger, has been named as Forbes as the world's richest man. Dubbed the Sage of Omaha, Buffett accrued his $63bn (£31bn) fortune over more than fifty years of largely shrewd investing. His wealth grew by $10bn in the last year alone, partly thanks to backing Brazil's currency, the real, against the dollar. (Read the article) Photograph: Nati Harnik/AP

Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim was a close second place to Buffett with a $60bn fortune. Known for his fondness for cigars, his Latin American investments have soared in value over the last few years. His companies provide 90% of Mexico's telephone lines, and 80% of the country's mobile phones. Photograph: Rex Features

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, has lost the title of the world's richest man after 13 years at the top of the Forbes list of billionaires. Gates, worth $58bn, founded Microsoft in 1975 and built it into the world's biggest software company. He now devotes much of his time to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He is unlikely to begrudge losing the title to his Warren Buffett – they often play bridge together, and Buffett has pledged most of his shares to his friend's charity Photograph: Gabriel Bouys/Getty

Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal was fourth on the Forbes list this year, up one place. His $45bn fortune comes from his stake in Arcelor Mittal, the world's largest steel producer, where he is president and CEO. Mittal lives in Kensington, London, in a 12-bedroom mansion that he bought in 2004 for £70m, from Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone. Photograph: Jean-Christophe Varhaegen/Getty

India's Mukesh (right) and Anil Ambani, brothers and bitter rivals, claimed 5th and 6th place with their $43bn and $42bn fortunes. Their father Dhirubhai Ambani founded Reliance Industries, India's largest private company, which was broken up and divided between the two warring sons in 2006 after his death Photograph: EPA

Oleg Deripaska (right) broke into the top 10 for the first time this year after building Rusal, the world's largest aluminium producer. His $28bn fortune put him ninth on the list, ahead of fellow Russian Roman Abramovich. Deripaska, 40, thrived in the cut-throat world of Russian capitalism and is said to enjoy close links with outgoing president Vladimir Putin (left) Photograph: Dmitry Astakhov/AP

Yang Huiyan (right), is mainland China's richest person at the age of just 26. Pictured here at her recent wedding, Yang is worth $7.4bn thanks to her father, who transferred his stake in real estate firm Country Garden to her after it floated on the Hong Kong stock exchange Photograph: Public domain

Just four years after founding Facebook, the popular social networking site, Harvard drop-out Mark Zuckerberg is now worth $1.3bn. Forbes admits this is an estimate, as analysts are split about how much Facebook is actually worth. But with Microsoft paying $240m for a 1.6% stake, the 23-year old is certainly the youngest billionaire on the planet Photograph: Craig Ruttle/AP

For the first time, Forbes's list includes billionaires of black African origin. South African's Patrice Motsepe (pictured), went into the mining industry after the end of apartheid and now holds a $2.4bn fortune. Nigerian sugar trader Aliko Dangote is worth $3.3bn after floating his company last year, and Sudan-born mobile phone entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim also made the list with $2.5bn through his Celtel firm Photograph: Getty

The Duke of Westminster (46th on the list) kept his title of Britain's richest man with a property portfolio worth $14bn. He owns 300 acres of London's most valuable real estate, including sweeping areas of Mayfair and Belgravia. The Old Harrovian, aged 56, heads up the Territorial Army and is close to the Royal Family. Photograph: Patrick Ward/Corbis

Retailer Sir Philip Green came 107th on the Forbes list, and is Britain's second-richest man even though the Arcadia retail chain is owned by his wife Tina (not pictured) Photograph: David Levene/Guardian