Meet The Richest Person From Every Major Country In The World

Net worth: $5.5 billion

Forbes rank: 219

Background: Their father founded Bridas, an energy company, in 1948. The brothers now hold large stakes in Pan American Energy, which was formed as a result of a merger between Bridas and Amoco. Pan American Energy is Argentina's second largest energy company.

Net worth: $6.5 billion

Forbes rank: 182

Background: Nassef Sawiris' father, Onsi, founded Orascom Construction Industries, which is Egypt's most valuable publicly traded company.

Net worth: $6.5 billion

Forbes rank: 182

Background: Ofer inherited his fortune from his father, Sammy. He is the head of Quantum Pacific Group, which has holdings in Israel Corporation, the largest company on the Tel Aviv stock exchange, as well as other companies.

He is also chairman of a Silicon Valley startup focused on electric car fueling stations, Better Place.

Net worth: $7.1 billion

Forbes rank: 162

Background: Mateschitz is the creator of Red Bull, the energy drink that is popular worldwide.

He also owns stakes in two soccer teams, a Formula One racing team, and a luxury resort in Fiji.

Net worth: $7.3 billion

Forbes rank: 158

Background: He is the grandson of the inventor of Legos, the ubiquitous kids' building block. Kristiansen ran the company for 25 years before stepping down in 2004. Currently, he is majority owner and deputy chairman of the board.

Net worth: $9.8 billion

Forbes rank: 112

Background: Tsai Eng-Meng's wealth has grown thanks in large part to the rising stock price of the company where he is chairman, Want Want China.  The company produces Chinese-style snacks.

He also invests in media, real estate, and financial services.

Net worth: $10.4 billion

Forbes rank: 106

Background: Petr Kellner created an investment fund by borrowing $1 million against an office supplies business. Through the fund, he acquired a controlling stake in an insurer during its privatization. He recently announced that he was selling his stake in the insurer for $3.6 billion.

Net worth: $11 billion

Forbes rank: 94

Background: Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken took over Heineken when her father, Henry Heineken, passed away leaving her his fortune. Carvalho-Heineken lives her life out of the spotlight. Unlike her father, who was known to show off his wealth, she lives an anonymous life with her husband and five kids.

Net worth: $11 billion

Forbes rank: 94

Background: Ernesto Bertarelli inherited his father's company, Serono, SA in 1996 which his family sold in 2007.  Today he is involved with Kedge Capital and Ares Life Sciences. Ernesto also founded a yachting team in 2000 and they won the America's Cup in 2003. Ernesto serves as navigator of the team.

Net worth: $11.4 billion

Forbes rank: 89

Background: Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor's wealth comes from his Grosvenor Property Group. His real estate group has holdings on five continents. Cavendish is also sixth Duke of Westminster.

Net worth: $11.5 billion

Forbes rank: 87

Background: John Fredriksen is a oil-tanker and shipping tycoon and owns company Frontline Ltd. With low ship prices and the tanker business slacking, Fredriksen is making a big bet by placing orders for more ships.

Net worth: $11.6

Forbes rank: 86

Background: Qinghou chairs Wahaha, a huge beverage company in China. Its profits have increased as the cost of ingredients has decreased, and the company has a number of new partnerships, including with Manchester United, to enable even more growth in the future.

Net worth: $12.5 billion

Forbes rank: 76

Background: Kuok made his fortune in the shipping, palm oil and cane sugar fields.

At one point it was rumored that he bought the world's most expensive yacht--a $4.8 billion, gold-covered monstrosity--but those rumors were quickly debunked.

Net worth: $13 billion

Forbes rank: 69

Background: Lee Kun-Hee is the chairman of Samsung. In 2008, he stepped down as chairman due to charges of tax evasion and breach of trust. But after being pardoned at the end of 2009, he resumed his position in March of 2010.

Shares of Samsung Electronics hit an all-time high in January 2013, increasing his net worth even more. 

Net worth: $13.3 billion

Forbes rank: 66

Background: Yanai has earned his wealth in the apparel industry.  He is founder and CEO of Fast Retailing, a brand that has had success as it expands outside of Japan.

Net worth: $13.9 billion

Forbes rank: 64

Background: Sarmiento started out in the construction industry and later expanded his empire into financial services.

He recently announced a partnership with Hyatt and plans to build a Grand Hyatt in Bogota.

Net worth: $15.4 billion

Forbes rank: 47

Background: Akhmetov's net worth is comprised of DTEK, his energy company, and Metinvest, his steel producer.  Recently, the value of DTEK has been increasing, while Metinvest has been decreasing.

Net worth: $16.1 billion

Forbes rank: 43

Background: He started out as a commodities trader and built his Dangote Group into a company with interests in sugar, flour milling, salt processing, cement manufacturing, textiles, real estate, and oil and gas.

Net worth: $17 billion

Forbes rank: 36

Background: Rinehart acquired her wealth through the inheritance of her father's mining assets. 

Recently she has been involved in a number of legal battles in addition to falling iron ore prices, and her net worth dropped about $1 billion since last year.

Net worth: $17.4 billion

Forbes rank: 35

Background: Iris Fontbona and her sons inherited control of one of the largest copper mining companies, Antofagasta. She also owns resorts and has interests in energy, transportation, and port services.

Net worth: $17.6 billion

Forbes rank: 34

Background: Usmanov originally got rich in steel and iron, but has since expanded his assets. He holds stakes in one of the largest cell phone operators in Russia, Silicon Valley startups, and even held a large stake in Facebook at the time of its IPO.

Net worth: $17.8 billion

Forbes rank: 33

Background: Lemann founded Banco Garantia in 1971 and sold it in 1998 for $675 million. He now holds stakes in the world's largest beer company, Anheuser-Busch InBev. He was also part of the group that recently bought Heinz, with Warren Buffett. 

He overtook Eike Batista, whose net worth dropped by about $19.4 billion this year.

Net worth: $20 billion

Forbes rank: 26

Background: This prince started young; he was chairman of his own company by the age of 14.

He's trying to sever ties with Forbes after disagreeing with the way the publication valued his wealth.

Net worth: $20.3 billion

Forbes rank: 24

Background: David Thomson is the chairman of Thomson Reuters. His grandfather Roy founded the company in 1934.

Net worth: $20.4 billion

Forbes rank: 23

Background: Michele Ferrero owns European chocolate company Ferrero. Ferrero created Tic-Tacs, Kinder Eggs, Nutella, and of course Ferrero Rocher. Unlike most Italian billionaires, Ferrero prefers to live life out of the spotlight and simply has a passion for creating great chocolate.

Net worth: $21.5 billion

Forbes rank: 22

Background: A Stanford dropout, Ambani is head of India's largest company, Reliance Industries. 

He's made headlines for the billion-dollar home he built in Mumbai.

Net worth: $26 billion

Forbes rank: 18

Background: Karl Albrecht served in WWII for Germany's army and used lessons from war and postwar Germany to build successful company Aldi Sud, a discount supermarket chain, with his brother.

Net worth: $28 billion

Forbes rank: 12

Background: Persson is the chairman of H&M, the budget retail store that has expanded quickly across the U.S. and Europe. His father founded H&M in 1947.

Net worth: $30 billion

Forbes rank: 9

Background: Bettencourt is 90 and is the world's richest woman.  She and her family own more than 30 percent of L'Oreal.

Net worth: $31 billion

Forbes rank: 8

Background: Li Ka-Shing is Asia's richest person and his fortune rose $5.5 billion in the past year.  He runs one of the largest companies in the world with 260,000 employees in 52 countries.

Net worth: $57 billion

Forbes rank: 3

Background: Amancio Ortega began his career as a manager at a clothing shop. After noticing only the wealthiest customers could afford the expensive clothing, he decided to make a line of his own. Over time, his business grew and profited and today he owns Zara, a clothing store known for having the trends at low prices.

He is also the biggest gainer this year, adding $19.5 billion to his net worth.

Net worth: $67 billion

Forbes rank: 2

Background: The wealthiest man in America did not even graduate from college. Gates dropped out of Harvard University his junior year when he had his idea for Microsoft.

Net worth: $73 billion

Forbes rank: 1

Background: Carlos Slim is the richest man in the world for the fourth straight year.  His stake in America Movil is largest asset, valued at $36.3 billion. He no longer holds an executive position at any of his companies, but he does remain involved and advises on strategy.

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