It's been three years in a row that the richest person in the world has changed. This year, that man's name is not Bill Gates or Warren Buffett. Instead, Carlos Slim Helu, CEO of America Movil, a Mexican Telecom Company, was named the richest man in the world by Forbes magazine. Slim is now worth roughly $53.5 billion, compared with $53 billion for Gates and $47 billion for Buffett. It doesn't seem like any of these guys are struggling, but this is the first time the world's richest man is from the country of Mexico.

All of the billionaires became wealthier last year, as Slim saw his wealth increase by $18.5 billion, while Gates earned an extra $13 billion. Gates has held the title for 14 out of the past 15 years. Buffett's fortune increased by an additional $10 billion dollars to $47 billion. He is third on the list. According to Buffett, the last two years were a great opportunity for him to make money during the downturn. In his words, "When it's raining gold, we reach for a bucket, not a thimble."
Most of the richest people in the world watched their wealth grow a great deal last year, as the rest of the world was on the verge of economic collapse. Those who had available cash to make acquisitions were able to buy property and stock on the cheap, leading to massive returns on investment. Last year, the average billionaire was worth $3 billion, and this year, he/she is worth $3.5 billion. The stock market also grew a great deal, so those who were in the spirit of investing were able to make an absolute killing.

There are 1,011 billionaires in the world this year, up from 793 a year ago. That is lower than the record of 1,125 in 2008. Out of the billionaires on the list from last year, only 12% of them saw their wealth go down. The world's billionaires control a combined total of $3.6 trillion dollars, and Americans manage about 38% of that money. Getting onto the list of billionaires is difficult, but getting off is very easy. Most billionaire wealth is highly dependent on the state of your investments and property ownership. That is what makes the Forbes Billionaires list change so much every year.

The top 100 billionaires according to Forbes did not include anyone of African decent, but there are Africans and African Americans included in the list of 1,011 billionaires world wide. Read more about African billionaires on the list like Nigeria's Aliko Dangote with an estimated net worth of $2.1 billion at AllAfrica.com.

Lawrence Watkins is the CEO of The Great Black Speakers Bureau and an MBA student at Cornell University. For more information, please visit LawrenceWatkins.com.