Richest Men in the World

Karl Albrecht Biography

Karl Hans Albrecht (born 20 February 1920) is a German entrepreneur who founded the discount supermarket chain Aldi with his brother Theo. He is among the richest men in the world, with an estimated net worth in 2012 of $23.4 billion according to Forbes, which ranks him 10th in its 2012 world rich list. Albrecht is the wealthiest man in Germany.
Karl and Theo Albrecht were raised in modest circumstances in Essen, Germany. Their father was employed as a miner and later as a baker’s assistant. Their mother had a small grocery store in the worker’s quarter of Schonnebeck, a suburb of Essen. Theo completed an apprenticeship in his mother’s store, while Karl worked in a delicatessen shop. Karl also served in the German Army during World War II. After the end of World War II, the brothers took over their mother’s business (1946). The first Aldi (Albrecht-Discount) was opened in 1961.
In 1994, Karl Albrecht removed himself from the daily operations of Aldi Süd and took the position of chairman of the board. At the beginning of 2002, he also relinquished this position, thereby completely ceding control of the firm. Today, the business is no longer run by any of Karl Albrecht’s family members.
In 2012 his wealth reach out $23.4 B.

Li-Ka shing Biography

Nationality: Chinese.
Born: June 13, 1928, in Chaozhou, Guangdong, China.
Famous for : being East Asia’s richest man and philanthropist
Shing details : Born – China 1928 Lives – Hong Kong
Family: Son of Li Yunjing (primary school head); married Amy Li Ching Yuiet-ming (founding director of Cheung Kong Holdings; deceased 1990); children: two.
Career: 1944–1949, plastic-goods salesman; Cheung Kong Industries, 1950–1971, chairman; Cheung Kong Holdings, 1971–, chairman; Hutchinson Whampoa, 1979–, chairman.
Awards: Grand Officer of the Order Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, Panama, 1982; Commander in the Leopold Order, Belgium, 1986; Knight of the British Empire, United Kingdom, 2000; Grand Bauhinia Medal, Hong Kong, 2001; honorary Doctorates, University of Cambridge, University of Calgary, Beijing University, and five universities in Hong Kong.
Address: Cheung Kong Holdings, Cheung Kong Center, 7th Floor, 2 Queen’s Road, Central Hong Kong; Hutchison Whampoa, Hutchison House, 22nd Floor, 10 Harcourt Road, Hong Kong; http://www.ckh.com.hk; http://www.hutchison-whampoa.com.

li ka-shing Biography

Richest man in Asia and eleventh global fortune according to Forbes in 2012, Li Ka-shing is the boss of conglomerates Hutchison Whampoa, Cheung Kong Holdings and Watson Group, the world leader in port management.
At 17 years old, Li Ka-shing left his studies to sell watches in the store of his uncle. Quickly he becomes the best seller and at the age of 19, he is hired by a company to sell various metal items. Seller the day, he also works the night to monitor the manufacturing process. This job allows him to control the operation of a factory and the product’s commercialization.
In 1947, Li Ka-shing borrows some money to his family and begin selling artificial flowers. He creates a factory for the production and hires the best salesmen. The notoriety of the firm increases and Li Ka-shing signs profitable contracts. In a few years,he becomes the biggest provider of artificial flowers in Asia.
In the sixties, the Cultural Revolution moves lot of people to leave the country and the real estate’ price drop sharply. Li Ka-shing is convinced that prices will go up so he decides to buy a lot of lands. In 1971, he creates the real estate company Cheung Kong.
In a few years, the businessman appears like “the strong man of the real estate” in Hong Kong. Front of the globalization, he begins to invest in ports.
In 1979, Li Ka-shing takes the control of Hutchison Whampoa Limited which he holds 22%. From that time on, starts a rapid expansion which allows HWL to establish in Rotterdam and Panama. The group becomes the first global port operator.
Since, Li Ka-shing has continued to increase investment in areas such as telephony. In 1999, he sold his 48% shares in Orange to the group Mannesman for nearly 15 billion dollars.
First investor in the 3G, he is the leader in this area in Europe.
He has also invested $ 120 million in the social network Facebook (he holds 0.8%).
In 2005 he bought the perfumery chain Marionnaud. He also holds the airline Air Canada.

Eike Batista Biography

Born on: Nov 03, 1956 (Age: 55)
Born in: Brazil
Marital status: Divorced
Occupation: President, EBX Group
Eike Batista (born November 3, 1956), is a Brazilian entrepreneur and president of the EBX Group , which includes five companies that trade on the BOVESPA’s Novo Mercado, a special segment of the Sao Paulo stock market where enterprises with the highest standards of corporate governance are listed. The EBX companies listed on the BOVESPA are: OGX (oil and gas), MPX (energy), LLX (logistics), MMX (mining) and OSX (offshore services and equipment).
In 2011, Eike Batista was listed by Forbes magazine as the 8th richest person in the world and the richest in South America. His wealth is estimated at US$ 30 billion .Eike Batista was also featured in Bloomberg Markets magazine as the only Brazilian on the list of the 50 most influential people in global finance, published for the first time in September of 2011. The magazine focused on people “whose comments move markets; whose deals set the value of companies or securities; whose ideas and policies shape corporations, governments and economies”.
At the end of 2010, the magazine ranked Batista as the 58th most powerful person in the world, placing him as Brazil’s most powerful person after the current president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff. The newspaper Folha de S. Paulo describes Batista as an example of a “self-made man”, an entrepreneur with a fortune acquired through his own efforts (and not through inheritance).
The top-ranked Brazilian in March of 2008, on the Forbes magazine list, was Antonio Ermirio de Moraes, in 77th place with a family estate of US$ 10 billion. Another 17 Brazilians were on the list, including Batista (who in 2008 said his goal was to become the richest man in the world in five years). In 2008 Batista’s fortune was estimated at US$ 6.6 billion and he was ranked at the 142nd place on the list of the richest men in the world. In 2009, he moved up to the 61st position and was considered the richest man in Brazil.
According to the Brazilian weekly magazine Epoca, Eike Batista is one of the 100 most influential men in Brazil of 2010. IstoE magazine has also listed Batista as one of the 100 most influential people in 2010. In 2011, Eike Batista was included in the 1,000 CEOs ranking by Dinheiro magazine.
Eike Batista has benefited from three decades of experience in international business and has an ability to “generate wealth from scratch”. Since the 1980s, Batista created and put into operation eight gold mines in Brazil and Canada (Amapari, Casa Berardi, Crix�s, Musselwhite, New Britania, Novo Astro, Novo Planeta and Paracatu), a silver mine in Chile (La Coipa), and three iron ore mines in Brazil (Mina 63, Tico-Tico and Ipe).
From 2004 to 2010 Eike Batista created and put into operation five companies: MMX (mining), MPX (energy), OGX (petroleum), LLX (logistics) and OSX (offshore industry).

Larry Ellison Biography

Born on: Aug 17, 1944 (Age: 67) Leo
Born in: New York City
Marital status: Divorced
Occupation: CEO of Oracle Corporation

Best Known For

The founder of Oracle is one of the most flamboyant and outspoken businessmen of the century, not to mention one of the richest, with a net worth somewhere north of $50 billion. In an industry dominated by poorly dressed geeks, Mr. Ellison truly stands out with his tailor made Italian suits & shirts. He looks the part of the billionaire.
Larry Ellison Quote
” “If the Internet turns out not to be the future of computing, we’re toast. But if it is, we’re golden.” -Lawrence J. Ellison”
Larry Ellison Biography
Lawrence Joseph “Larry” Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Oracle Corporation, one of the world’s leading enterprise software companies. As of 2011, he is the third wealthiest American citizen, with an estimated worth of $33 billion.
In 2005, Oracle paid Larry Ellison a $975,000 salary, a $6,500,000 bonus, and other compensation of $955,100. In 2007, Larry Ellison earned a total compensation of $61,180,524, which included a base salary of $1,000,000, a cash bonus of $8,369,000, and options granted of $50,087,100. In 2008, he earned a total compensation of $84,598,700, which included a base salary of $1,000,000, a cash bonus of $10,779,000, no stocks granted, and options granted of $71,372,700. In the year ending May 31, 2009 he made $56.8 million.
For a short period in 2000,Larry Ellison was the richest man in the world.
In 2006, Forbes ranked him as the richest Californian.
On July 2, 2009, for the fourth year in a row, Oracle’s Board awarded Larry Ellison another 7 million stock options.
On August 22, 2009, it was reported that Larry Ellison would be paid only $1 for his base salary for the fiscal year of 2010, down from the $1,000,000 he was paid in fiscal 2009.
As of March 10, 2010, Larry Ellison was listed on the Forbes list of billionaires as the sixth richest person in the world.Larry Ellison is the third richest American, with an estimated net worth of US $28 billion.
On July 27, 2010, The Wall Street Journal reported that Larry Ellison was the best-paid executive in the last decade, collecting a total compensation of US $1.84 billion.

Amancio Ortega Biography

Nationality: Spanish.
Born: March 1936, in León, Spain.
Family: Son of railroad worker and maid (names unknown); married (wife’s name unknown); children: three.
Career: Zara, 1975–1985, owner; Industria de Diseño Textil, 1985–, chairman.
Address: Industria de Diseño Textil, Edificio Inditex, Avenida de la Diputación, 15142 Arteixo, La Coruña, Spain; http://www.inditex.com.
Famous for : Being the founder of the Inditex Group fashion company and for being the richest man in Spain. Ortega shuns the media spotlight and is rarely photographed or interviewed.
Amancio Ortega (born March 28, 1936) is a Spanish fashion entrepreneur. He is the founder, along with his then-wife Rosalia Mera, and chairman of the Inditex Group. He is ranked by Forbes as Spain’s richest man; Europe’s second richest man; and the seventh richest man in the world in 2011 . He currently lives with his second wife in a discreet apartment building in the centre of A Coruna.
Amancio Ortega arrived at La Coruna, Spain, at the age of 14, due to the job of his father, a railway worker. Starting as a gofer in various shirt stores in La Coruna, Galicia, in 1972 he founded Confecciones Goa (his initials in reverse), which made bathrobes. In 1975 he opened the first store in what would grow into the enormously popular chain of fashion stores called Zara. He owns 59.29% of the Inditex group (Industrias de Diseno Textil Sociedad Anonima) which includes the brands Zara, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Zara Home, Kiddy’s Class, Tempe, Stradivarius, Pull and Bear/Often and Bershka and has more than 92,000 employees.
Amancio Ortega keeps a very low profile and there are practically no photographs of him (except from one photo published at the Inditex website). He refuses to wear a tie, and likes to dress in blue jeans and T-shirts. He is said to take a very active part in the production and design process in the company.
When he made a public appearance in 2000 – as part of the warm-up prior to floating his company on the stock market in 2001 – it made headlines in the Spanish financial press. However, he has never given an interview, and his secrecy has led to the publication of books such as Amancio Ortega: DE CERO A ZARA (From Zero to Zara).
Amancio Ortega, announced his imminent retirement from the fast-fashion giant Inditex, parent company of the Zara chain, stating that he will ask Inditex vice-president and CEO Pablo Isla to take his place at the helm of the textile empire.

Warren Buffett

Name: Warren Buffett
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Birth Date: August 30, 1930 (Age: 81)
Education: Woodrow Wilson High School, University of Pennsylvania, University of Nebraska, Columbia University
Place of Birth: Omaha, Nebraska
Zodiac Sign: Virgo
Best Known For
Known as the ‘Oracle of Omaha,’ Warren Buffett is an investment guru and one of the richest and most respected businessmen in the world.


Warren Edward Buffett (born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as “legendary investor, Warren Buffett”, he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is consistently ranked among the world’s wealthiest people. He was ranked as the world’s wealthiest person in 2008 and is the third wealthiest person in the world as of 2011.
Buffett is called the “Wizard of Omaha”, “Oracle of Omaha” or the “Sage of Omaha” and is noted for his adherence to the value investing philosophy and for his personal frugality despite his immense wealth. Buffett is also a notable philanthropist, having pledged to give away 99 percent of his fortune to philanthropic causes, primarily via the Bill Gates Foundation. He also serves as a member of the board of trustees at Grinnell College.
In 2008, Buffett became the richest man in the world dethroning Bill Gates, worth $62 billion according to Forbes, and $58 billion according to Yahoo. Bill Gates had been number one on the Forbes list for 13 consecutive years. In 2009, Bill Gates regained number one of the list according to Forbes magazine, with Buffett second. Their values have dropped to $40 billion and $37 billion respectively, Buffett having (according to Forbes) lost $25 billion in 12 months during 2008/2009.
In 2008 he was ranked by Forbes as the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of approximately US$62 billion. In 2009, after donating billions of dollars to charity, Buffett was ranked as the second richest man in the United States with a net worth of US$37 billion with only Bill Gates ranked higher than Buffett. His net worth is up to $47 billion in the past 12 months.
Numerous books have been written about Warren Buffett and his investment strategies. In October 2008, USA Today reported that there were at least 47 books in print with Buffett’s name in the title. The article quoted the CEO of Borders Books, George Jones, as saying that the only other living persons named in as many book titles were U.S. presidents, major world political figures, and the Dalai Lama. Buffett said that his own personal favorite is a collection of his essays called The Essays of Warren Buffett, which he described as “a coherent rearrangement of ideas from my annual report letters” as edited by Larry Cunningham.

Name: William Henry Gates III
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Birth Date: October 28, 1955 (Age: 56)
Education: Lakeside School, Harvard College
Place of Birth: Seattle, Washington

Best Known For

Entrepreneur Bill Gates founded the world’s largest software business, Microsoft, with Paul Allen and became one of the richest men in the world.

Bill Gates Biography

William Henry “Bill” Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen. He is consistently ranked among the world’s wealthiest people and was the wealthiest overall from 1995 to 2009, excluding 2008, when he was ranked third. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of CEO and chief software architect, and remains the largest individual shareholder, with 6.4 percent of the common stock. He has also authored or co-authored several books.
Bill Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution.Bill Gates has been criticized for his business tactics, which have been considered anti-competitive, an opinion which has in some cases been upheld by the courts. In the later stages of his career, Gates has pursued a number of philanthropic endeavors, donating large amounts of money to various charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 2000.
Bill Gates stepped down as chief executive officer of Microsoft in January 2000. He remained as chairman and created the position of chief software architect. In June 2006, Bill Gates announced that he would be transitioning from full-time work at Microsoft to part-time work, and full-time work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He gradually transferred his duties to Ray Ozzie, chief software architect, and Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer. Gates’ last full-time day at Microsoft was June 27, 2008. He remains at Microsoft as non-executive chairman.
Bill Gates was number one on the Forbes 400 list from 1993 through to 2007 and number one on Forbes list of The World’s Richest People from 1995 to 2007 and 2009. In 1999, Gates’s wealth briefly surpassed $101 billion, causing the media to call him a “centibillionaire”. Since 2000, the nominal value of his Microsoft holdings has declined due to a fall in Microsoft’s stock price after the dot-com bubble burst and the multi-billion dollar donations he has made to his charitable foundations. In a May 2006 interview, Gates commented that he wished that he were not the richest man in the world because he disliked the attention it brought. Gates has several investments outside Microsoft, which in 2006 paid him a salary of $616,667 and $350,000 bonus totalling $966,667. He founded Corbis, a digital imaging company, in 1989. In 2004 he became a director of Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company headed by long-time friend Warren Buffett. In March 2010 Bill Gates was bumped down to the second wealthiest man behind Carlos Slim Helu.