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THE WORLD’S BILLIONAIRES
THE TOP 20 Eike Batista GLOBAL RANK: 7
$30 BILLION
Brazil’s richest man is riding high on oil fever. His oil and gas driller, OGX Petróleo e Gás, produced its first oil in a test well offshore in late January; his 61% stake in the company is worth $19.8 billion—two-thirds of his net worth. The bombastic entrepreneur is also betting on his former passion, gold: In March 2011 he spent $1.5 billion to take private Canadian-listed Ventana Gold, which owns what he says is an incredibly promising mine in Colombia.
Carlos Slim Helu GLOBAL RANK: 1
$69 BILLION
MEXICO TELECOM, DIVERSIFIED
Slim retains the title of world’s richest man for the third year in a row despite a fortune that’s $5 billion smaller than a year ago—primarily because of a lower share price for telecom giant América Móvil, which accounts for more than half his net worth. In April the company was fined $1 billion by Mexican regulators for monopolistic practices but is appealing the decision. 78 | FORBES
MARCH 26, 2012
FROM LEFT: RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP / GETTY IMAGES; JOAO PINA / REDUX; MARK BLINCH / REUTERS / LANDOV; SUSANA GONZALEZ / BLOOMBERG; JOSHUA LOTT / BLOOMBERG
BRAZIL MINING, OIL