Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, Microsoft s Bill Gates and Zara fashion house boss Amancio Ortega of Spain have topped the Forbes list of the world s wealthiest billionaires.


Gina Rinehart is the highest-ranked Australian, coming in at number 36 with $US17 billion ($16.75 billion), followed by Rupert Murdoch at 91 with $US11.2 billion.James Packer ranks 198th with $US6 billion, Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest is 211th with $US5.7 billion, Frank Lowy is 229th with $US5.3 billion and Harry Triguboff is 276th with $US4.5 billion, according to the business magazine.

Slim, who controls Latin American telecommunications power America Movil and retail/industrial group Grupo Carso, came in first among the mega-rich for the fourth straight year, with a fortune estimated at $US73 billion, up $US4 billion from a year ago.Microsoft chairman Gates, a perennial top finisher in the list, placed second with $US67 billion, up $US8 billion from 2012.

Ortega, whose Inditex fashion group includes the popular Zara chain, vaulted from the seventh position into the third spot. His wealth is now estimated at $US57 billion, rocketing from $US31 billion a year ago.Slim and Gates were also in the top two spots last year.Warren Buffett, chief of US conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, ranked fourth with $US53.5 billion, and Larry Ellison, chief executive of US technology company Oracle, rated fifth with $US43 billion.

Asia s richest man, Li Ka-shing, came in eighth with $US31 billion. He owes his fortune to his sprawling transportation, trading and energy businesses.