Nine Indians figure in the latest list of billionaires released by Forbes magazine. This year Forbes reports a record 587 billionaires, including 64 newcomers. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates ($46.6bn) heads the list followed by investor Warren Buffet ($42.9bn) who ia now just a few billions shy of overtaking Gates. Both are Americans.

Indians in Forbes List

Rank	Name	Age	Worth in $bn
58	Azim Premji	58	6.7
62	Lakshmi Mittal	53	6.2
65	Mukesh & Anil Ambani	46	6
147	Kumarmangalam Birla	36	3.2
186	Sunil Mittal	46	2.7
231	Pallonji Mistry	74	2.3
277	Adi Godrej & Family	61	2.0
310	Shiv Nadar	58	1.8
552	Anil Agarwal	50	1.0

The richest Asian is Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud ($21.5bn) of Saudi Arabia. The richest woman is Alice Walton ($20bn) whose family controls Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer.

Of the nine Indians, L N Mittal is a Person of Indian Origin who lives in the United Kingdom.

Together, the Indian billionaires are worth $31.9 billion. The richest became richer in 2003 as the wealthiest added half a trillion dollars to their worth to touch $1.9 trillion.

The list of billionaires contains some real surprises also. In a fairy tale as fantastic as her popular Harry Potter series, the single mother-turned literary sensation Joanne Kathleen Rowling made her debut on the magazine's 18th annual billionaire rankings. So too, did two geeks who barely turned 30 - Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who created the ultra popular Google search engine and are expected to take their company public this year.

Also joining the exclusive club is Canadian impresario Guy Laliberte, creator of Cirque du Soleil and Hong Kong's Michael Ying, whose Esprit line of apparel is spreading around the world.

Thanks to rising oil prices, Russia minted eight new billionaires and now has a total of 25, the third-highest concentration of billionaires in the world, trailing only the US and Germany, Forbes reported.

External Link:
The Forbes List of Billionaires