By Madhuri Dey
Mar 11, (THAINDIAN NEWS) A well known business magazine has compiled the list of the wealthiest men in the world. An annual compilation, the list is based on, as is evident from the nomenclature itself, on the bank balance of these individuals. This time, there is a marked change in the list, in that at the top of the list features the name of Carlos Slim Helu. Not only is this significant in the fact that Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, is no longer reigning at the top spot, but also because of the fact that for the first time in the last 16 years, the wealthiest man in the world has turned out to be someone who is not of American origin.

According to the list compiled by the business magazine, Carlos Slim Helu is the owner of an impressive, and staggering 53.5 billion USD, just a bit ahead of Bill Gates, who is estimated as being worth 53 billion, and currently is the second richest man in the world. More impressive is the fact that Carlos Slim Helu took no more than a mere 12 months to build up his fortune, during which period his bank balance grew by 18.5 billion.

Carlos Slim Helu owns a telecom giant. He also owns shares in America Movil, worth $23 billion, and the significant rise in his wealth in the almost absurdly short period of time can be attributed to the fact that the shares of the company had risen by 35%. The fact that a Mexican has grabbed the top spot in the list of the richest people in the world, a position that has almost always been held by Americans, is being deemed as indicative of the gradual shifting of wealth from the country.